It's not uncommon at all to see a new clematis vine emerge from the soil with a bud on it...I've got several doing that now..I don't pinch mine as I love seeing the bloom and want that vine to grow grow grow..LOL..Jeanne

I have pinched out the growing tips for years now and posted some pictures last spring on how I actually do it. However, if you have a bud coming up on a low lying branch, I would do as Jeanne suggested and let it flower and then pinch the stem out. That way you get the best of both worlds. Pinching out growing tips can be done at any time of the year and at any height on the plant. It stimulates the axillary buds in the joint to break dormancy and you get two stems where you originally had one.

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Oh! You pinch off far more than me - I thought I was just supposed to be taking off the tiniest bit of new growth from the top when I was doing it.

Borrowing your pic... I've only been taking off the new green growth here and there. About this much:

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Regardless, you and Jeanne answered my question. Thank you! I'll be leaving the buds alone. :0)

Violetta, you can never pinch out too much as far as I am concerned. Too be quite honest, the plants got going too fast for me to pinch sooner, but pinching out can be done to various extremes with no ill effects.

Agreed, let it flower then pinch. :)