I planted Clematis "Ascotiensis" this past Fall..I bought mine from Jerome at Koi Garden Clematis Club..It is a pruning group 3 and should be hard pruned each late winter/early spring for it blooms on the new vines produced during the growing season..so far mine has been typical of a baby clematis and shot up a couple of vines and bloomed...I hard pruned again after those blooms were done...as usual it will get better with age...that is all I can say about mine since it hasn't been in my gardens but 10 months...Jeanne

I got mine as a 2 year old plant in 06. I think it was in September. It got planted in a not very hospitable place in my gardens, about 6 feet back from the road on the North side of the property.I remember is was rather hard to dig there because of the rockiness of the soil. It grows in the center of a fence made of 2 brass bedposts with other brass pieces to a height of about 6 feet.This support is covered with American Bittersweet which reaches up into a very tall old Ash tree. Also growing along this fence are Ville de Lyon, Jackmanii, Amelopsis (variegated), and Jackmanii Rosea in the ground. Later I added a tub with Minuet and another with a koi Madame Baron Veillard bought last September. Clems in tubs seem to do a well for me as those planted directly in the ground.

Anyway, Ascotensis (which I fondly call "Scotty") had 2 vines last year with a big beautiful flower on each. The stems are thicker than any of the other clems planted here.The flowers also have a thick substance and stay intact on the vine for a longer time than some of my type 2s with flowers as large. I noticed I have a picture taken on 7/10/7 and 2 on 8/18/7, but this may have been the first flower blooming and then the second one a few weeks later rather than a continuous bloom of one flower.

This is an 8/18 picture.
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Tall Sedums are growing in the clay pots, not any clematis. This stem had been trained downward along the white telephone wire that connects the fence to a corkscrew anchor stake (original purpose was to connect a dog's chain to). The fence has a tendency to lean back due to the weight of the vines and needs to be shored up with the wire. This may be hard to visualize as I am half asleep now and not too coherent.

I hard pruned this April and have several "stemlets" growing off the 2 main vines, and there are several buds getting fat now. I suspect that with continued hard pruning that this plant will continue to put up more stems (and blossoms) as it matures. But even if it stays the way it was last year I still like it a lot.

Marie

Thanks for all responses.

Marie - That looks beautiful. I guess what you were telling me is that it takes a while to get many blooms in it?

I am actually growing it in a container because I live in a condo and it will be out on a balcony. I already have Etiole Violette and Princess Diana growing out there. The Princess Diana I just got this year and it seems to be doing well out there. The Etiole I got three years ago at a farmers market and it is growing like crazy this year with many blooms. It is in a very large container and they all get afternoon sun.