The base isn't supposed to be cool, it is supposed to be moist. Clematis are full sun plants they just need to be well watered.

Most don't bloom all summer, depending on what variety it is stopping blooming could be perfectly normal.

Do you know it's name?

You can try cutting it back by half and fertilizing it and it may bloom again.

Danaoh,
Shade the roots with anything.
The roots have to be shaded.
A broken pot, another plant, nice big pine bark mulch, anything.
It will be fine if you do.
Good Luck!

Hot heads, cold feet. I never heard about it needing extra moisture, just an average amount. The variety of my clematis is 'Crystal Fountain' and it blooms in late Spring, then again in late Summer to early Fall. Mine are moderately mulched and grow on a windmill. Their feet are also shaded by other perennials...

Clematis needing cool feet is a falacy that is continually perpetuated. Clematis love lots of moisture and this is accompanied by cool feet since mulch helps hold in the moisture. With over 120 clematis in my garden, I can wholeheartedly agree with BorS's statement. Do not continue to propagate these old wives tales about clematis. Try growing clematis in the south and you will learn about the need for moisture.

My Clematis may not NEED shade at the bottom, but they get mulch and then other plants are planted in front of them to shade their little toesies. It certainly never has hurt them to do it that way. Mine do need lots of water because it is soooooo hot here and our ground is seldom moist enough for ANY plants.

Danaoh,
Please click on the link below for proper clematis planting and care.
The link is an advertiser of this site, in fact their ad is directly across from your post.
They mention the roots needing some shade.
I bought 2 honeysuckle vines from this nursery and they were gorgeous by the way! Good nursery, all they grow is vines.
I wouldn't mislead you, I have 3 clematis and they are doing beautifuly in full sun all day long!
Good Luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: Professional Clematis care tips.

Dan Long at Brushwood Nursery, the link provided above, liked my posting on his website, The Garden Forums.org on how clematis don't need shade, they need moisture that he included it in one of his emails that he sent out to his customers. I will email him and let him know that he needs to update his website if it is causing confusion in this matter.

Thank you very much, Miguel. You're absolutely right about moisture being the key and your explanation at that other forum is as beautifully written as it is accurate.

Folks- It's just a simplification to say cool roots (since this is usually accompanied by adequate moisture) and my clematis care page must be updated to reflect that. The fact is that temperature isn't an issue (except for extremes) and you can see for yourselves by visiting any production nursery actually growing clematis. You would see them growing in black plastic pots in full sun on gravel. The soil temperatures regularly approach 100F. The key is that they provide ample irrigation to the plants.
I apologize for providing inaccurate information on the site and will update it immediately.
-Dan

Thanks Dan for chiming in here. I appreciate your helping to dispel this fallacy about clematis needing cool roots to be happy and healthy. It is written over and over about in countless books and I wonder if the authors know how much confusion they are causing.

For anyone interested, following is the post I made previously which Dan personally wrote to me about and thanked me for my concise and accurate reflection on the subject.

A common fallacy out there is that clematis like cool roots. What clematis really like is an adequate supply of moisture during the growing season. Mulch aids because it helps maintain a more constant soil moisture level so by all means continue to mulch. In addition to keeping soil moisture levels constant, mulch, depending on the type you use, attracts earthworms to the area where they help digest the mulch and deposit their castings. These castings act as an organic food source for the clematis. Also as the mulch itself just decomposes, it adds more organic matter to the soil which in turn helps to maintain soil moisture levels. So there is a definite advantage to mulching with organic material that in turn benefits the soil microorganisms, the soil, and the plant itself.

Another thing to consider with clematis is to plant them deeper in the soil then they were planted in the pots they arrive in. The same goes if you pot them up to one gallon sized containers to grow out. The reason for this is that the act of burying dormant nodes along the clematis stems helps the plant to survive if the top growth is chopped back by animals, weed eaters (yikes!) and any other maladay that the plant may be exposed to including clematis wilt. Burying dormant nodes provides nodes that can come into play to allow the plant to make a reappearance in the case of any of the aforementioned conditions. Burying dormant nodes also aids in making for a bushier plant-especially if the plants are pruned properly during the first year or so of their lives.

Pruning is another important point to consider with clematis. The first years in the ground are the most important for the vines. They need to establish a strong root system to support all the top growth that comes in subsequent years. There are some that say that clematis succumb to clematis wilt because the plant's top growth outpaces its root growth and the plant wilts back on top to allow the root system to catch up. Don't know of any scientific evidence to support that claim but it certainly seems plausible to me!

What is generally recommended is that all clematis regardless of pruning category be trimmed back severely the first year in the ground. What this means is that let's say you plant a type II clematis this spring. It grows over the course of the year and next spring you expect a fantastic flush of flowers because of all the growth the clematis has made over the year (since most type IIs flower predominantly on old wood). Well what you really should do is trim the vines on that type II back to within 6 inches or so of the ground. Sounds like a horrible thing to do since you are in essence cutting off all those potential flowers. But in the long run, the clematis will be better for it.

I know that most people plant a vine and anxiously look forward to blooms at the earliest possible moment. However the plant will be better off in the long run if it is treated as I noted above regardless of the pruning category it falls into. I routinely also pinch the growing tips out of my vines during the first year I have them since this forces new side shoots to develop in the leaf axils. When I have time I still do this to my older vines because again it helps develop a bushier plant. Nothing is worse in my opinion than having a plant with one long straggly looking vine. In my opinion, you should shoot for your clematis to have as many branches as possible and pruning back and pinching out growing tips helps to accomplish this.

Very well written Miguel. Clapping hands. Thanks to Dan too. A most excellent source for mail order Clematis.

Having been in horticulture for a living and having almost fifty clems in my garden I have always known the cool or shaded roots wasn't correct. I've seen hundreds of them grown in full sun in black gallon pots by wholesale growers. Plus my own are not shaded or covered by rocks or other plants unless it is part of my design.