If you really want to make the investment, The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Clematis, Toomey and Leeds, is probably the most detailed. Runs around $140 though, although you can find it used at Amazon for much less. My personal favorites are Gardening with Clematis by Linda Beutler and Clematis for Small Gardens by Raymond Evison. Both have lots of photos. And don't be fooled by the Evison title -- these are not just puny little vines he discusses but more than a 100 different vines for all sorts of garden situations.

I second the recommendation for the Raymond Evison book mentioned above. In it he writes about a wide variety of clematis in addition to the vines he has bred. He suggests planting combinations for many of the varieties he discusses. All of the photos are gorgeous, and although only some of the photos are of entire vines covered in flowers, very few of the photos are close-ups of only a single flower.

Because I live in a hotter climate and grow mostly viticella hybrids, my favorite book of all is "Trouble Free Clematis the Viticellas" by John Howells. I purchased my used copy after seeing it recommended on these forums last year. He has at least 4 photos for each of the 34 varieties that he writes about in depth - closeup of the leaves, close-up of a bud, close-up of the flower and a shot with many flowers open at once. He also discusses and has photos of many more varieties, and has many full bush (or large area of bush) photos as well as some photos of combinations.

One thing I particularly like about this book is that he has 11 plates where he lays similar flowers side by side so you can more easily see how these flowers compare to each other. For instance, one plate shows 'Blue Angel', 'Kasmu', 'Emilia Plater' and 'Prince Charles' - this allows you to compare their color, shape and size since all have a somewhat similar color. He includes a number of drawings and diagrams that show different ways to grow clematis that I had never seen before, and he discusses propagation methods. This book does contain a few photos which are not as clearly focused as could be desired, but I did not find this to be a major distraction like some reviewers at Amazon did.

In addition to these books, one could easily spend a lot of time looking at photos on the Clematis On the Web website. Varieties are listed in alphabetical order, and many entries have several photos.

Kathy

Here is a link that might be useful: clematis encyclopedia at Clematis on the Web

Thank you so much for the suggestions on what books to buy. I have become much more interested lately in the Viticellas clematis. Thanks again!

I appreciate the recommendations. I have the Linda Beutler book and like it, but the Evison and Howell books sound like just what I'm looking for.

I just found both of the above books on ebay for about $4 and the encyclopedia for $7.