Betty Corning, is it scented?
One of my favourite clematis.

I'd agree with 'Betty Corning' :-) Oddly, viticellas (and most other type III's) do not start blooming here until quite a bit later in the season.....late June or early July typically. I am always surprised when I see them in bloom earlier in other parts of the country.

Thank you for your replies.

gardengal48 - I am also confused with the early blooming if this is Betty Corning. My Venosa Violacea is growing well and if there are any buds, they are tiny. Our weather here in central PA has been warmer (darn right hot) this spring so maybe that has something to do with it. Betty ??? is really growing well, even though this is her first year at this location.

Thank you. Jane

Since I am 'scent challenged' my husband took a sniff and he said this clematis does have a fragrance. It is very overcast today and in the mid 70s. Earlier this week it was in the high 80s, but we did not check to see if it was fragrant then.

Thanks again for your help. Jane

Our springs here are cool and wet and that seems to delay flowering on a lot of plants. I have friends in colder (in winter) climates that get more sun in spring who have blooms a lot earlier. I have some friends in New York and PA that have waterlilies close to two months before I do.

Today when I looked at this clematis the color was a deeper blue/lavender purple. I don't know why it changed. I am still not sure this is Betty Corning, but I cannot find any match when I check Clematis on the Web.

Jane

Here are a few more photos from different sources:

http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/Plant.asp?code=B842

http://www.clematisinternational.com/page49.html

http://www.joycreek.com/150-060-1.htm

http://www.greatplantpicks.org/print?searchtype=&id=9478&searchterm=all

http://www.gardenersworld.com/plant-detail/PL00001659/7186/viticella-group-clematis

Janet, thank you for taking the time to get the websites for me. I really appreciate it. I checked out each one, with the exception of the last. My service is dial-up and the Gardeners World never went beyond the first page, probably because my computer is so slow. We live in a rural area and I can only get internet access by dial-up.

I checked the clematis this morning and I am now convinced that it is Betty Corning.

Thanks again to all of you for your help. Jane

My pleasure Jane. I was trying to match up clematis yesterday, so I was checking multiple sources for color, so I checked BC at the same time.

It's such a pretty clematis, one that I don't have yet.

Betty grows like a wild woman, her vines don't even try to grip my trellis. They go off in different directions. Her leaves are small and she is one of the very few with fragrance.

Sounds like BC would make a good ground cover.

It looks just like my Betty Corning. Betty began blooming two weeks ago here in eastern Pennsylvania. Everything is early this year.

Buyorsell described Betty exactly. She is the run away train of the clematis world.