I am also zone 5 and on the lookout for a not so tall clematis. I have found a few at Home Depot and Meijer but they weren't that great looking. I plan to head to garden centers this week.

I have seen them at my local grocer (Fred Meyer). I didn't look closely- I wonder if they do well?

Thanks! I did call 2 places- one is a grocery and one is a nursery. Huge difference in price as expected. :) The nursery was confident it would bloom this year. I went to a friend's home who has a very, very extensive garden and she said she has never had great luck with Clematis, which I find so weird compared to what I have seen around town (tons on mailboxes, etc).

Jackmanii is a great one to start with. My mom (a total nongardener) had one put in by a landscaper, and with her total neglect in clay soil it grew and bloomed every year until she sold the house. If I was visiting during the cold season, I would prune it for her and give it some mulch, but otherwise it was on its own. Great plant! The summer blooming plants are the easiest to my mind. The few clematis I've found to have issues have been the early large-flowered, though some have been trouble-free such as HF Young, Rebecca, and Piilu. One of my favorite summer bloomers is Mikelite, which starts blooming (just a few flowers) from a two year old quart plant in its first year in my garden. It blooms a long time; I have photos of it blooming from mid-June to mid-August, though it is most full from late June to late July. Here it is July 20, just over a month after it started blooming, and this is its second year in my garden.

To get a large plant, it will be more expensive . . . I have also found around here that sources such as big box stores and other non-nurseries are more likely to only have type 2 prune plants, the early large-flowered varieties, since they are blooming when many folks are looking for some color to plant. I've found plants in big box stores are more likely to be mislabeled or unlabeled. I have looked, but here they aren't less expensive than the few I've found in nurseries, but I live in an area with not a lot of choices.

If you decide to mail order : Joy Creek has a lot listed on their site (they're in Oregon, so it closer to you.) I've had good luck purchasing from Donahues and Brushwood but (they closer to me in the midwest) their plants are smaller- I'd say it would take at least 1 year to bloom not what you'd get from somewhere local.

This year I'm thinking of adding more of the scented varieties for my own garden (no moving for at least 6yrs/or until the kids are out of school for me).

From your original post if moving wasn't a factor I would have recommended you check out sweet summer love, sugar-sweet, or many of the Montanas because the have fragrance. It wouldn't be quite the jasmine/honeysuckle fragrance you mentioned but the sugar-sweet varieties claim to smell like gardenias and orange blossoms.

***I've had some success from grocery/big box stores here in Michigan

We also get what can only be termed pop-up nurseries that grow out of parking lots there's one I buy from almost every year

The same wholesale grower that supplies nurseries across most of the PNW also supplies places like Fred Meyer and various grocery chains that sell a lot of plants. I know because I used to work for them :-)) The only difference between the nursery plants and the other retailers is a slightly smaller sized container and a lower price. But these are all at least 2 year old plants and should bloom their first season. In fact, they are often presented to the retailer in bloom, as blooming vines tend to sell better and faster.

So far at Home Depot, Fred Meyer, and Walmart only have nelly moser which Iacks the punch of color I want. All around $12. My friend got one at Lowes that is magenta so I'll run there before o go to the pricey nursery.

I would buy at Fred Meyer over Home Depot, Lowe's and Walmart. Fred Meyer buys locally grown plants. I have had a ridiculous amount of mislabled plants of all species from the latter three and not from Freddie's. Freddie's in general has nice garden centers, I buy from them every year as well as local independents. I have found many type III Clems at Fred's not just II's.

Ok- I got a Jackmanii (hard to find at box stores so bought at a nursery) and a Henyri (white) at Fred Meyer. Of course, when I got home, I realized they aren't the same prune type and it seems mixing them would be a mistake. That's probably ok, since I think my smaller climbing trellis should probably only handle one. Now, I need to figure out where to plant the second. My one thought was to get it to grow up my shed with some system of string and hooks. They are both sunny spots and I will shade the roots with some sort of plant. Other ideas? What about growing a clematis up a small 3 foot Aborvidae (with the Henryi)?

Henryi will swamp a 3' arborvitae if not this year, then next, since it is a large clematis. If you have a really large shrub like a lilac or large panicle hydrangea, those would work. I like the idea of strings on the shed. Put wire U's upside down deep in the soil and a line of nails along the top of the shed and run the stings in between. Or hang netting off the shed and use wire the same way (as soil staples) to hold the net down.

Love it. I really want to do the shed idea. I'm still working out the idea. Unfortunately the soil next to it gets blocked by the sprinkler bc of the aborvidae. but how much will it grow in one year? Zone 5. I might be able to string it towards the shed. What do most people do to water? Hand water or irrigation?

Love it. I really want to do the shed idea. I'm still working out the idea. Unfortunately the soil next to it gets blocked by the sprinkler bc of the aborvidae. but how much will it grow in one year? Zone 5. I might be able to string it towards the shed. What do most people do to water? Hand water or irrigation?