No need to be confused. The pruning group question is one that I, BorS, gardengal and various other posters here have said time and time again is not written in stone. Many of the new varieties are being introduced without the pruning class specified. The pruning groups, especially the type IIs, are general guidelines that are not written in stone. Clematis don't read books and will often perform in conflict with what is written about them.

I will say this one more time: Most type IIs can easily be treated as type IIIs. The only exceptions that I can think of are the type IIs that bloom double on old wood only. Even them, if I had them, I would put to the test in my garden to see if that is really true or something that is repeated time and time again and assumed to be true.

I challenge all clematis growers regardless of the zone they garden in to perform a simple test. When planting a type II in your garden, treat it as a type III the first two years it is in the ground. Cut it back for two springs after it is planted so that the plant can concentrate on root growth (this is recommended by many clematis gurus). The third spring, treat it as a type II and don't prune it back. See how it blooms, see when it blooms, and just take general notes on its vigor. The fourth spring, treat it as a type III. Prune it back hard and then observe the same things that I noted previously: when it blooms, how many blooms it has, etc. Decide then if the particular type II you are growing does best being treated as a type II (no prune or just to control size or remove deadwood) or a type III (hard prune to within several inches of the ground). That is the only way each and every clematis grower will know best how to treat their purported type IIs.

End of speech on soapbox!!