It is common for them to grow new vines up from the crown. Most of us consider it a good thing.

I am pleased about it, but it is not all at the crown; all these new sprouts are quite some distance from the original crown. that`s what i find so strange, and wondered how common it is. Some are on the other side of the bush, more than a meter away!

That isn't normal. Was a vine perhaps buried by mulch that could have rooted?

there is no mulch around there! There is much farther away a clematis virginiana that has stems growing this far, and i thought perhaps it, being rampant, had taken root from stems. but i pulled off some leaves to compare, and the leaves are definitely the willy and not the virgin`s bower. well, i guess i could dig up a couple of the sprouts and give them to friends. i did think it unusual!