Rampant Clematis

Referring to Clematis Venosa Violacea. According to all reports, this is a Group 3, late flowering clematis.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/plants/plant_finder/plant_pages/7191.shtml

However, the one I have bloomed in early Summer and since then has put on almost double the amount of growth it did before blooming. There are also new flower buds appearing. My question relates to pruning it early next year. As it's supposed to be a Group 3, I was intending to take it down to approx. 75cm from the ground, but as it's put on so much growth I am reluctant to do this.

What do you think? It isn't a case of it being mislabelled - the flowers definitely correspond to pictures online. It was planted this time a year ago, so this has been it's first proper flowering season. It's also on a East facing wall and seems to stand up to strong winds most admirably.

 

Aaron, yes go for it! I love these viticella clematis, they seem to flower for a good while and they do make lots of growth every year after being cut back hard in the Spring.

 

Actually, only just noticed you say you are thinking of pruning to 75cm...I would cut it back to more like 30cm. So long as each stem has a good couple of buds on. They only look woody and untidy if you leave more. All the flower buds are produced on the new growth, I do mine late February'ish'! C. Venosa Violacea grows about 8 feet every year, even after being pruned hard.
I suppose if you wanted the flowers to be really high up, you could leave a longer section of old stems, but you'd need to plant something to cover these up if they looked unsightly.

 

Yes, that would be a problem. I don't want flowers just at the bottom.

Will do as you (and the books, advice, etc!) advise and prune as usual in late Winter. It just seems a shame when it's put on so much growth, but I do notice that the foliage lower down looks very tatty already, so it will probably look worse next year!

Many thanks:thmb: