Lovely setting there Carrie. If you want something that will look similar to terniflora you might consider virginiana. The leaves are more serrated than terniflora but you will get a mass of white flowers but they won't have the fragrance. It also blooms about a month earlier than terniflora in my garden. Here is a picture of the leaves of virginiana.
{{gwi:585149}}

Virginiana is not as invasive as terniflora since each plant only has male or female parts. Therefore you need a plant of each sex close by one another to get fertilization at all.

Another option that will allow you to keep your terniflora is one that I have used successfully on my terniflora. It is to cut the old faded flower heads off and you don't have to worry about seeds developing since you will remove them by removing the old faded flowerheads. I use an electric trimmer to do most of the removal and then hand clippers to remove what can't be removed with the electric ones.

Two more suggestions for you to try if you want clematis that have fragrance would be triternata rubromarginata or Betty Corning. I am not sure how big Betty Corning might get for you but TRM can get every bit as big as terniflora. The only downside to TRM is that the Brits seem to have an issue with it rotting out over their wet winters. Several people on this form have had it and don't seem to have that issue with it. I had one that survived last winter but after flowering this year, it browned out and died back completely. Still hasn't resurrected itself but I am already planning clematis to replace it with since I planted it where it really didn't have enough room to become as majestic as it could have otherwise.

Hope one of the suggestions will solve your issue.

Thanks Miguel,

I removed c. virginiana from my garden when it started layering itself in all over. Even though it is a native, which I love, and I much prefer virginia foliage to that of terniflora, in my garden, it was far more of a thug than terniflora has been for me. I do have a Betty Corning elsewhere in my garden, and love it. Someone else suggested TRM and that may very well work.

This morning, at a local garden event, I purchased a c. Japonica. Will start a new topic on it for general info, but am thinking maybe that (even though it is a type 1, and not 3) might work here.

Carrie, C. virginiana had never layered for me. I am considering removing the one in my garden because it is just too overpowering for the Mrs. T. Lundell I have planted close by.

Do you have seedlings of SAC coming up all over your garden? I have grown SAC for 9 years and have never had one seedling yet. If you don't have seedlings coming up then it can't spread. If you do than you can remove the seedheads like Miguel suggested. I would do that first before replacing it.

No, I've never had a terniflora seedling show up in my garden. But how can I assume that it may not show up somewhere else, just because it hasn't seeded in my garden? I've had people swear to me that their purple loosestrife was not a problem because it didn't seed in their garden...

Wow, Karen. Never a seedling in 9 years?? Must be the weather up your way!! LOL I cannot tell you how many SAC seedlings I have exterminated in my yard prior to using the technique that I described to solve the issue.

Miguel, I don't seem to get any seedlings from the so called invasive clematis. I have never had any seedlings from SAC, or serratifolia, or tangutica. I have had lots of seedlings from hybrids though. They are always popping up all over the place, especially Nelly Moser. That women is prolific!

Carrie, if your SAC isn't seeding itself in your yard it's not coming up anywhere else. The birds don't eat them. I would keep your SAC and not replace it. Climate has a lot to do with a plant being invasive. What's invasive in one area may not be a problem in another climate zone.

c. terniflora is definitely invasive in my climate. I can't drive down any area highway without seeing huge expanses.

Karen it must be something about your climate. SAC and tangutica the species, amongst other tanguticas, were very seedy in my garden. This year other clematis in my garden have loads of seed on them. I am collecting quite a few for sharing with others who have asked. I am thinking about just digging holes around the natural areas and burying seeds to see if they will volunteer on their own.

In my z5b garden, I get about 2-5 seedlings each year, though in my partner's home town in Pennsylvania, they're all over the place.

Another option might be either C. flammula, or C. mandshurica, though the former is a little larger and more scented. Both bloom earlier than C. terniflora, though are white and similarly sized. Miguel's suggested TRM has flammula genes in it.

Mike if you are seeing seedlings in your garden, it could also be seeding in nearby gardens as the seeds can be transported by the wind, although your garden seems to be in a more urban setting so perhaps it doesn't have as many hospitable places to germinate in???

It does seem however that the seediness of some clematis seem to be dependent on location. Not a big surprise since even the vigorousness of any particular cultivar seems to vary from garden to garden. That is why I have said over and over again that experience is the best indicator of how any clematis will do in your own personal gardens.

Thanks Miguel, and everyone else.

I think that I will live with my terniflora for another year or so. If/when I am ready to give it up, I think that c. ternata robromarginata might fit the bill beautifully!

CarrieB