I have both and so far I'm not impressed with either but maybe they are in the wrong spots. They are each over six feet tall (I have two V.S. plants close to each other and only one P.W. in another spot) but the flowers are not that big or plentiful. I opened the canopy earlier this summer (taking down some small neighboring trees) so they get plenty of sun - the foliage is robust and healthy so I will be patient and give them another year or two.

Limelight and Phantom do a lot better in bloom production for me in Hot Atlanta. Maybe the lesson here is they need lots of sun.

PW is way better at growing upright and not flopping. This being said, they will bloom about the same time and go through about exactly the same color change phases.

Thank you! Always more helpful to hear from actual gardeners. :) Much appreciated.

Proof is in, Heavy rain in Boston Area Today

I grow PW (it's large - 8' tall x 12' wide at about 8 years) and have seen VS. My PW never flops regardless of weather or Clematis climbing it, while VS, at least the ones that are less than 5 years old that I've seen, have looked like the branches weren't heavy duty enough to hold up the flower panicles.

This has been so helpful. Thanks!

Here in Toronto (5b) I have both PW and VS and this is their third full year in the ground right next to each other. They get full sun (about 6-7 hrs and a mix of morning and later afternoon) and both suffered in the July/August heatwaves of last year. Neither has been very impressive bloomers for me yet, but this year they are both getting some decent blooms forming right now.

PW is still only about 3.5 feet tall but seems more compact and bushier. VS is about 4 feet tall now but that is because of longer, single stems that look more prone to flopping over. I have left it mostly unpruned to give the stems a chance to grow and thicken, but after this year I may prune them back to try to get a more compact shape again.

So far it looks like PW is the better of the two, which is too bad because the advertised blooms on VS look so much nicer. Foliage is about the same but PW looks better overall because of it's more compact, rounded form.

This is my VS here in Virginia