Oh! Those double blooms are gorgeous! See now that is what I want mine to do! So when you say you hard prune do you mean all the way down to 6" or half way?

I read that the first flush of flowers in May-June are usually double or semi-double measuring up to 12 cm across and are produced from the previous years old wood, with single flowers later on from new growth in September. But if you are hard prunning then maybe it doesn't matter on wether the wood is old or new but rather on cold weather...

Thanks for sharing! Just beautiful... I love how it has doubled for you.

I prune it down to between six and twelve inches. Every year.

Clematis don't read books so they don't know what pruning group they are in or on what wood they are supposed to flower ;)

If I didn't hard prune it would not fit on that obelisk

Interesting, Maybe I will try to hard prune it in Spring. I thought that hard pruning them made them bushier so I was afraid to prune it. Also mine is really tall how do you get yours to stay short?

My Piilu, 3 years old, potted, never bloomed in doubles. Hard pruned every spring. Stays short naturally.

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Hi Alina ~ I think I've seen you containerized Clem before & have been wondering about your zone ~ do you leave Pillu where she is or bring her to an over-wintering site? What size pot do you keep her?

I have 4 still in #4 nursery pots as I figure where to finally set them permanently. I have a plastic pen 3x6 ft where I kept them properly protected last Winter.

TIA!!!

I am not usually a big fan of pink or double, but I think that I might have to make an exception for Piilu. She's quite lovely.

Ditas,
You probably saw this 2010 picture of her (the second year in the pot):

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I keep her in 14" pot. I am in zone 6/7, MD. Never used any special protection. This winter was mild, so the pot just stayed at its permanent spot. Last winter we had some hard frosts - I moved my pots close to the house wall.

I actually always admired Buyorsell's pictures of her Piilu with double blooms. Does not seem to be a consensus on how to get these doubles :)

Nhbabs, you will not regret if you will get this beauty. I even got a second one last year. I do not have any space for new Clematis in my garden and I already have more than 60 of them, so go figure :o)

BTW, I got both my Piilu at the local Lowe's. 1 gallon plants for a bit less than $13 each.

Buyorsell, do you get a second flush of blooming on your Piilu?

How beautiful B-o-s ~ I don't particularly care for my Josephine's double petals ~ I feel them a bit heavy. However Piilu's double layer looks light & simply lovely!!!

I will join the Piilu parade... :-) This one was planted last spring to grow into the 'White Moth' hydrangea at the edge of the Chinese wisteria tree's low canopy, so it's not meant to be a stand-alone feature. This picture is from yesterday; the double flowers are just about finished and fading fast but singles are appearing now:
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All of these, single and double are lovely, some look more purple than pink, is it just the picture? Is Piilu mostly pink and white or purplish pink?
roseberri

I guess it is just my camera - my Piilu is pink, not purple.

It's a cool pink (i.e. slightly towards the blue end of the spectrum...) so that's why the color is hard to capture 'true' in pictures I think...

As a former florist I would call it orchid/fuchsia rather than pink or purple. ;)

I do not get another flush in the fall.

I do LOVE this Clemmie. I highly recommend it.

Here it is in full bloom with some starting to be done. It does not fade in full sun for me, not much at all compared to others.

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All I could say is WOW!!! &&& drooling!

How much sun does she get?

Almost full sun all day. There is a crepe myrtle tree that provides some shade for a few hours but this Clemmie gets more sun than most of mine.

The blooms in the center of the second picture are just opening up and they are barely darker than the older ones.

Hagley Hybrid, Richard Pennell both would fade to almost white in that same sun exposure. I had to move them to morning sun.

What a show!

That is gorgeous.!!!!!!