'Comtesse de Bouchard' is the only Comtesse on record with COTW, so not really any others to choose from. There is a cultivar registered as 'Comte d' Assembourg' that is listed as a white large flowering type however it is also supposed to be lost from cultivation since 1935!! There are several 'Countesses' listed but none seem to match yours........

How about Marie Boisselot https://www.dobbies.com/products/plants/clematis/clematis-marie-boisselot/

Annette

I want to thank both of you for your help. I don't know why I had "Comtesse" or "Countess" stuck in my mind (perhaps one too many old romance novels?). I have looked at countless Google images and I agree with you, Annette. It does look exactly like Marie Boisselot, right down to the stringy yellow center.

I have photos of this vine saved in my computer from 2006 and 2007. All are labeled "big white clematis." I know better than that! I am going to call it Marie Boisselot until I dig out my oldest stored hard drive and go through that. I know I wrote it down somewhere!

I grew the plant shown above while I lived on the military base here. When we moved off base I transplanted a lot of the flowers I had growing around the house. I had just moved two hostas from the base to our new/old house in this town 20 miles away. I drove back to get the two clematis, and some confused soul had gone into my yard, dug out the vines, and took them, leaving a deep gaping hole where they had been.

They knew we had not yet cleared housing. We were still living there, packing, and getting ready for the movers.

Once people have cleared their base housing and the neighbors know they've left, anything in the garden is then fair game - but not when they you you're still there. The curtains were still fluttering in the windows, and the second car was in the drive.

Some folks' nerve! LOL

Annette, you can download a copy of that book from the Internet Archive, I just got one and will read it, sounds like that tv show you once told me about!

Happyday, I didn't let any grass grow under my feet , once I knew the title I found a copy on Amazon :). The show was probably The Victorian Kitchen Garden, I have the DVD's but you can catch episodes on You Tube.

Annette

aesthetic!

That's the one. It's on Youtube now? That's great! It's a charming series :D

I am about to go out and buy some clematis to replace one I lost, and happened to be looking at an article that rates Clematis grown in Chicago. They list this one as the best white clematis of the many they tested.