It is difficult to offer advice for clematis that you don't know the names of. Posting pictures would aid in the identification although I am surprised that the containers at WalMart didn't have labels. Quite often Walmart sells clematis in rusty orange colored containers that are from Roseville. I have quite a few that I have purchased from them and planted in the garden. Generally speaking, all clematis benefit from being cut back drastically the first spring after planting. Any additional information you can offer would be most advantageous.

I'm not really interested in the names...but it might be nice, but more interested in what to do with them. Being a long time gardener I planted them in well drained humusy soil in full sun and made sure the roots were shaded, watered when dry and fed a little organic stuff....and that's that.
Here's one:
{{gwi:603884}}
And the other 3:
{{gwi:603885}}
{{gwi:603886}}
{{gwi:603887}}
All hints gratefully recieved.
Linda C

Even though you don't care what their names are, the name suggests to other people what type the clematis could be without seeing its picture.

I don't know the first and second ones. The 3rd one looks like "Etoile Violette". The last one looks like "Betty Corning". Is this one fragrant?

Both are group III. They benefit from pruning maybe 12"-18" from the ground each spring. Sometimes they get whacked to the gound and still grow. They will grow very tall once extablished, especially "Etoile Violette". They are excellent growers. BC has a dense and heavy foliage and will bloom all summer long. I have one right by my door so I can sniff the flowers as I go in and out of the house. Lovely fragrance.

The first looks like Ville de Lyon which is also type III. I don't know the second.

The first looks like Asoa to me but the picture is somewhat misleading, the second looks like Pagoda, the third looks like either Etoile Violette or possibly Blue Belle(definitely not Polish Spirit due to the lack of dark anthers), and the last looks like Betty Corning.

If my guesses are correct, Asoa is a type II and the others are type IIIs. Whether you can treat your first one as a type III really depends on the lenght of your growing season.

Pagoda rings a bell...
Now what is meant by group I group II and III? Or where can I go to find out more.
I was just planting them behind the roses so I didn't have to look at the ugly garage.
Thanks for the help.
Linda C

Linda, that's why it's important to know the names of the clematis in question. Different clematis are pruned by different methods, at different times and with differing degrees of severity, depending on how they are classified. Knowing the specific cultivar names will help you to determine to what group they belong and therefore the most appropriate pruning method.

However, all is not lost if you don't know or can't remember. Timing of the flowering is one indicator and evaluating also how and where on the vine the flowers appear is another. I posted this link from the International Clematis Society in response to another post, but its information and advice is just as relevant to yours

Here is a link that might be useful: ICS pruning recommendations

The first one is Ville de Lyon, it is a type III.

Asao is a similar color but has long pointy tepals that fade badly in sun and don't have a darker border on the edges.

Well, now I am thoroughly confused...as according to the link they are all type 1 or 2 as all bloomed around the first of June....and the one someone said looks like Pagoda is blooming on stems that came from the base....as it was rabbit pruned and hit severly by a very late cold spell after a spring warm up.
So the telling factor is blooming from shoots on old canes? Are they like some roses that bloom on old canes or on new canes but later in the season?
How much should I cut back in the fall after frost? Or should I do like I do with roses and only cut back what has winter killed?
Linda C

I personally don't like the use of when a clematis flowers to help determine the type of pruning class. This is due to the fact that any type II clematis that is pruned back in spring, either intentionally or unintentionally by rabbits or whatever, is going to bloom later in the season than a similar plant of the same cultivar that has not been pruned. Also when the types start blooming in anyone's garden is going to depend on their growing zone and local weather. I know of people in Oregon who are in a warmer zone than I am in and their type IIIs start blooming much later in the season than mine. Also using bloom times from the ICS is further going to complicate matters since that information is mostly based on British data and no one in the US, except for possibly those living in the PNW, have weather like the British do. Bloom times are therefore approximate and are to be used as general guides only.

Linda, some type IIs require old wood for blooms and some type IIs bloom on new shoots that develop off of the old wood. The ones that typically fall into the first class are the type IIs that have large double first flowers. The others generally fall into the later class.

Of the ones you have, they are all type IIIs assuming the first is Ville de Lyon. If so follow the pruning advice offered in the posting by pitimpinai. Unlike her BC, mine does not flower all summer however. Such a pity since she does have a delightful fragrance.

Whatever you do, don't prune in the Fall. Pruning encourages new growth that could be injured by the colder weather coming soon.

Jeanne has said the time to prune, whatever zone you are in, is when the Forsythias are in bloom. For me that is around May 1st. But most of my newer ones were already pruned by the Winter and were only starting to peek above ground then. But I did get a bit bolder than before with cutting the Hagley Hybrid, Jackmanii & Etoille Violette (type 3s). But I sure hated to cut off the new stems emerging from the old vine, they looked so nice & green. But they responded so well I'll be even more daring next year.

Marie

Thanks, Dude....and Pitimpani...
Now does that mean I prune before anything begins to leaf out? Or after they start to leaf out?
And I have been reading today....heavy feeders? Rose food? Or Hosta food? I'm pretty natural when it comes to feeding...compost, alfalfa, blood meal, bone meal and bagged composted cow manure... All OK? Or should I lay off the alfalfa?
Linda c

Linda,
I can't believe you got a Betty Corning and Etoile Violette in Walmart! None of the Walmart stores in my area ever have anything unusual.I bought both Betty and ET at a nursery and I keep looking but have not seen either one since.Both of these are type 3 and they have been blooming since the last of May.Lots of blooms.
I cut back in late spring and fed with rose food then. I do not fertilze all summer. I have good rich, black, heavy soil and you probably have the same in your area.
Lois

Linda, prune them before anything leaves out. For us, it's usually early or mid March. When the weather is warm enough in Feb, I may go out and clean the yard and get the tangled vines down too. :-)

I use aged manure, compost and mulch. Sometimes liquid kelp if I can get my hands on it. Alfalfa? I don't know. That reminds me; a GW friend sent me a huge boxful. I'd better start using that.

This clematis thrives on what I just said. I have not used rose food or whatnot in ages.
{{gwi:603888}}

Good advice pitimpinai. Everyone fertilizes their clematis with different things and it works out for them so don't feel you have to use rose fertilizer or tomato fertilizer. Everyone just uses what they have been told by others and then adapts to whatever works best for them and what is available in their area. If you happen to be blessed with very rich organic soil, you probably won't need to use anything but few of us are so blessed!

Was poking around in in that garden and found a tag at the base of the 3re one pictured thats aid "Viticella Betty Corning"...
So...at least about that one, Lois was right.
I also looked carefully at the stems and old canes....and there is lots of stuff coming out of the old canes...the other one with the little droopy bell like flowers had nothing left from last year...and there was precious little left alive on Ville de Lyon.
Maybe this next wilnter will be kinder to flowers and trees....and bats! The bat population is noticeably diminished. They broke dormancy before the last long cold spell...and I guess there wasn't enough bugs to sustain them. So we are now in mosquito-ville!
Linda C