The link below will provide you with all you will ever need to know about starting clematis from seed. Just realize that Toki is a hybrid and any plants you get from seeds of hybrids may or may not look anything like the parent plant.

From the reference I have linked, you will see how to start seeds in pots and not in the ground. Hope it helps.

Here is a link that might be useful: Clematis from seed

thanks for the link, its alot of reading!! i also decided not to plant the piilu in a container because i dont want to lug it in and out of the garage every winter so i made an arbor out of three trellises and planted them right in the ground. on the other side i planted a prince charles and somewhere in the middle at the top perhaps they will meet!! i know i have asked this question once before about pruning hard new clematis for the first two years but my crystal fountain has about 5 vines and it is full of buds and blooms as we speak (about 25) so will i still need to hard prune it in late winter/early spring? i also planted the praecox on the fence with a trellis and it has grown up the trellis already... i cant wait until next spring when it really takes off... i am beginning to like clematis more and more and during the winter i will be doing alot more research on them especially seed cultivating... thanks forall the good info i get from here and next spring hopefully i can post some beautiful pics here...

Izzy, whether to prune or not your Crystal Fountain will be up to you. Just realize that doing so will help increase the number of stems coming out of the ground and only delay its blooming next year. Hope you don't have any cold weather before you get those blooms out and open!

I like jouiana praecox also. It is quite a vigorous plant and can root where the stems touch the ground if the ground is moist enough.

Look forward to the pictures.

yes i will prune it in spring because after all it was only in a 2" pot when i got it and it is beautiful now... i did cover it last night due to threat of frost. it did get down to about 40 but i covered both the crystal fountain and the madame le coultre because it too has many buds but both are just fine and i cant wait till it blooms... when i figure out HOW to post pics maybe i can post some even though they are not as mature as your plants are but in time they will be...

as for the praecox im letting that one do it's rooting now and i will eagerly wait for spring to see it' beauty...

as for the toki seeds i will use them as my first attempt. which clematis can i take seeds from to propagate that will give me true seedlings of the parent? i have prince charles, piilu, crystal fountain, madame le coultre, betty corning and the one in my yard that i have NO clue of the name.

thanks again for the advice, comments and patience for a novice like me... i truly appreciate it!!

Izzy, all the clematis you listed are hybrids and plants from their seed may look similar to the parents or may look totally different. This is true if they self-pollinate or are cross pollinated by other clematis in your garden. Only the species clematis come true from seed but that is also only true if they are self-pollinated. If a bee brings pollen from another type of clematis, the luck of the draw will determine what the seeds of such a plant will result in. Of course, these crosses and self pollination of hybrids are what give rise to new hybrids.

Of the ones you listed, Betty Corning has no fertile pollen on its flowers so if you get any seeds on it, then the plant will have been pollinated by another clematis plant.