Aren't the blooms on your group 3 clematis getting pretty high ? If you are happy with things the way they are you don't have to prune, but you would get better results if you did. Here's what I do in zone 9. This month I prune all group 3 clematis by cutting each stem back to just above the lowest leaf node on that stem. All group 2 and group 3 I prune back the same way after they are through blooming. I get good rebloom on all of them. My method is not for the colder zones, but I can't see why it wouldn't work in zone 8. I think Jeanne is in zone 8 in Texas and she gets 3 bloom cycles a year on some clematis by this method. You can't permanently damage a plant by trying but you have to decide for yourself.

Okay - this helps. I haven't understood the process so I've just been too scared to do anything. I will give this a try. So, for now, if I understand correctly I don't need to do anything to the group 2 - just the group 3. Right? Thanks!!!

On group 2 you only have to trim out dead vines, or prune to shape if you desire.

Bob is correct...we have a longer growing season and get can more "bloom cycles" than our Northern Counterparts...I hard prune my pruning group 3's down again after they have finished blooming and fertilize...here is my Clematis "Venosa Violacea" after I hard pruned and fertilized her on Feb 14th last year
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If my pruning group 2's are newbies in my garden..I treat them as hard prune/3's the first pruning season after planting them and then treat them as 2's from then on..that allows them to get a bigger and more established root system...Jeanne

And for yet a sligtly different approach......I prune both my 2's and 3's hard each spring (right about now, or as soon as I have time). It results in only a slight delay on the 2's. I don't prune again after the first flush, simply because my schedule at that time of year doesn't often allow it yet I still get a rebloom but perhaps not as heavy as I would if I did a tounch up. Type 3's in my climate are mid to late summer bloomers and will be in flower pretty much consistently until frost so I have never seen a need for any additional midseason pruning on them. There is just one long bloom season here for 3's, perhaps because our summers are very mild. Jeanne's summer heat may create a different bloom situation that further pruning improves.

Thanks everyone! This helps soooo much! I'll be hard pruing my 3s while I'm out there pruning my roses! I'll also prune the 2s after they do their thing in the spring! :)