Looks like Ramona to me! The coloration, the anthers and filaments and the way the flower folds back on itself. Don't know where you looked to identify it but you will often find pictures confusing because of the camera the picture was taken with, the age of the bloom, the amount of sunlight it is exposed to, etc.

As to how to take care of it and whether to plant it, it really depends on how mature the clematis is. How big of a pot is it in? Does it appear that the plant's roots fill the container? Where do you live and what gardening zone are you in? That info would help out any advice we could offer.

From what I can see of the plant it appears to be decent sized. I would go ahead and plant it in the garden but will await more info from you before offering any additional advice.

Thanks for your response. All the Ramonas I've seen photos of are much lighter than this guy, which is a deep purple (my photo washes out the colour ever so slightly)

I'm in Maryland zone 7, and it's in a moderate-sized pot - er, maybe 1 gallon (sorry - newbie just learning how all this works). I'll check its roots later today. I was actually convinced it wasn't doing so well but then today - interestingly, after a REALLY heavy rain nand a couple of days of cooler weather - it put out those further blooms. It's a beautiful thing!

PS I did some more looking, and the one I thought it might be is Yamato, but I have no idea if that one is normally in bloom at this time of year and, as you say, it's very difficult to judge from photos by colour unlesss you know what you're looking at and for (which, as every word I write proves, I do not!). I'm thoroughly confused (and even more so regarding the "groups" for pruning etc.) Thanks so much for any further help!

Looks like Ramona to me too. The shape and the stamens. Blooms are often darker when they first open. They also fade in strong sunlight. Photos are often not accurate especially posted on the web.

Divamum, like BorS said, in our zone 7 Ramona can fade very badly. Following is a picture of Ramona in my garden showing several blooms that are severely faded out in color after a few days of strong sun compared to one which was not faded as badly. If you have had rain and cloudy days, your flower will show the more true coloration of the flower and it will be deeper in hue than others you might see pictures of.

{{gwi:573500}}

Yup..ditto it's Ramona

Never one to argue with expertise... I guess it's Ramona! Thanks for the info and explanations.

Next questions: what do I do with it now?! lol

Thanks for all the help!

Plant it and it will grow! ;)

HA! That'll teach me :)

Seriously, does it have any specific requirements etc? I've read up online and know that it will like shadier, moister roots (which, in the site I plan for it, it will get as I'm hoping the low deck we're currently building will give the lower half of the plant some afternoon shade without blocking all the sun).

How fussy is it about soil? We have somewhat acid soil here and it's not great quality (although I plan on tillering and adding a bunch hof compost).

Most importantly, the the pruning groups and how to prune it is somewhat confusing to me, especially since on this one - which I gather is a group 2 - you can also treat it as a group 3 (but only on months with an R in them if the sun comes up in the west ;)

Plus, of course, all my previous gardening was done in the UK where Clematis was a BRUTE to grow - one of those "if you can grow clematis you can grow anything" plants. I was trepidatious when I got this one, but the blooms were so gorgeous and it was on sale for 50% off, so I caved :)

THanks again (both for the advice and the humour! Sorely needed today :)

And a ps to my response above: ultimately, I'd like to get this one growing up the side of the wall (so it will have the low deck to its left, but growing up the wall to which said deck is attached) and then up and over the back door - bigger and bushier the better. I figured I'd need to attach some trellis or something for it to climb.

Will this clematis be good for that?

I've been reading the pruning thread so I see that you can hack them way back (although the "when" is still a little mysterious, and the "where" even more so), but if I want to to grow bigger and bushier with an established "tangle" of vine, will that work in my scenario? Cottage-garden look, nothing formal or regimented.

Again, many thanks to you all!

Divamum, this clematis is no more difficult to grow than any other clematis. You never have posted exactly where you live and what gardening zone you are in. My experience with any of the type IIs in my zone 7a garden in NC is that they tend to brown out terribly during the heat of the summer. This is not an issue since all I have to do is cut them back severely, keep it well watered and fertilized, and the plant puts out new growth and I often get second flushes of growth in the fall.

As to soil conditions, I have clay based soil in my garden. I amend the planting hole with some amendments like cow manure or compost or something like that. However I don't go overboard because when it does rain, the planting area will absorb water faster than the surrounding soil and the clematis will end up drowning since it sits in water. Clematis like moisture but they don't like to sit in water. Adding an organic mulch around the plant will assist in moisture retention and will break down over time adding organic matter to the soil.

As to soil pH, the pH of the soil in my garden is acidic and I have never had to add lime to it to get the clematis to grow. Clematis liking limey or basic soil is an old wive's tale since many of the original species clematis found in England were found growing on limey/chalky soil and it was assumed they liked basic soils.

As to pruning groups, all clematis the first year or two in the ground should be treated as type IIs. Cut them back to within a couple of inches of the ground in late winter or early spring. Doing so will help the plant concentrate on root development and also aids in forcing the plant to send up new shoots from the crown allowing for a thicker and more luxurious looking plant. After those first one or two years, treat the plant as a type II--meaning just remove deadwood in the early spring and prune it to keep it in bounds. However, don't forget if the plant browns out in the summer, you can always whack it back severely to get more blooms later in the spring.

One additional tidbit, plant the clematis in the ground several inches deeper than it was in its original pot. This buries dormant nodes which will allow the plant to resurrect itself if it suffers wilt or is cut back by a rabbit, accidentally by a human with a wild weedeater, or something similar.

As to climbing a wall, you can attach a trellis to the wall for it to climb on or you can construct a trellis that is freestanding to place in front of the wall. If you have a brick or rock wall, you can also purchase a mortar drill bit and lead anchors. Drill holes in the mortar with the drill bit, hammer in the lead anchors, and screw eye hook screws into the anchors. Thread stainless steel wire or something similar from one eye hook to the next and allow the clematis to climb the wire you have attached to the wall.

Good luck!!

Don't worry about shading the rootzone. It just needs to be kept moist. Somehow shade got confused with moist on websites and in books.

Proper hard pruning the first few years and deep planting will get your Clematis off to a good start.

I have hard pruned Ramona twice this year and am very happy with the results.

Don't be like I was, I was afraid to hard prune Clematis at first and grew long scraggly bare vines with few flowers.

My Ramona was not pruned for approx 7 years and it had 2 or 3 8' bare woody stems with half a dozen blooms at the top for years until I was sick and tired of it and whacked it down. I whacked it by half last year then down to 6" twice this year.

The same scraggly growth and poor bloom happened to Henryi, alpina Willy, macropetala Rosy O'Grady, armandii, and several others all because I failed to properly prune.

Type II Clematis will not grow huge lush vines covered with hundreds of flowers without pruning.

Montanas and Sweet Autumns will and so will a few others but they are the exception not the rule.

I'm in Maryland zone 7.

The only question which remains - you guys are amazing with all that info, for which thanks! - is should I plant it out in the next couple of weeks or leave it in a pot over the winter?

Thanks again so much!

Hi Divamum, I recently purchase a few new clems for the garden and plan on planting them in the ground this week. I've planted them in the fall in previous years with good results. I will also be cutting them back before I plant them.

All my best,
Tracy

I would agree with Tracy if the plant is mature enough. You never really told us how mature the plant was and how much the roots filled the pot. I have quite a few clematis that I plan on receiving the last week of September that will be planted directly in the ground. I do however have some that will be small that will be potted up in one gallon sized pots and left in them over the winter partially buried in the ground to allow the root balls to get bigger prior to planting in the ground either next spring or next fall.

Ok, I think I finally figured this out :)

2g pot and about 18-24" high at the moment. Had some flowers when I bought it a coupla weeks ago, and just put out a couple more after the rain last week. Seems to be thriving.

My native soil in the place where I want to put it s atrocious - rocks, clay, sand, just about anything but DIRT it seems - so I'll be adding lots of compost mixed with some bagged topsoil to try and improve it. I've been mulching with tanbark in general, although we have lots of (read: too many) trees and will be making some leaf mulch too as the trees start to shed.

From what y'all are saying seems like it will be fine to go in the ground, probably next weekend after this deck is supposed to be finished and it can then be undisturbed.

I can either let it climb the house wall, OR put it under a mulberry tree and climb into that. Any thoughts on that?

Thanks again for all this fantabulous info!

Either place should be fine divamum provided you give the plant something to climb the wall on and if planted under the tree, that it is provided with adequate moisture and nutrients and that it will get enough light under the tree.

I meant to mention that mine never fades as much as Miguel's though I do have Clems that do.

Plant it deeper than it is now and at an angle towards what it is going to climb.

I would also cut it back when you plant it.