Hmmm. My source, Clematis on the Web, says that this is an early large-flowered clematis, not a hard prune one, and so if it is more than a couple of years old should just have any damaged stems pruned now, and then a light pruning after bloom if you live in an area that has a long enough season to do a second bloom. Generally, where are you, such as nearest large city? IME if you or mother nature hard prunes an early large-flowered clematis now, it will delay blooming for a few weeks (not a problem), and if it is one that has the potential for double blooms like D of E, they will be single instead of double, which is an issue if you want the double flowers.

If it is a young plant, such as one planted last season, you can hard prune it so that it is encouraged to put out more stems. The buds have formed where the old leaves attached, so you can see the scar/leaf node and the tiny buds on the stem there. I typically hard prune down to one set of buds per stem.

The buds will be obvious if they are present at this time :-) Look for grayish green nubs in pairs along the stem where leaves were in previous seasons (the leaf axils). Mine are all showing strong bud formation but then I am in a pretty mild climate and yours may not be as far advanced.

Just to re-emphasize Bab's comments, you can hard prune these type II clematis if you prefer. It will push the initial bloom flush back a few weeks but I have not found it to deter the double flowering, at least with the early blooms. YMMV

ok thanks! great info! Yes, it is young- I planted it last year. I will take your advice/s & hard prune her although I may google exactly what a "hard prune" is since I'm a newbie and it's all new stuff to learn! ;-0

Oh WOW thank you! You are very kind to explain, I appreciate it!

just whack it back to a foot or less from the ground, give it a handful of alfalfa pellets and Rose Tone fertilizer and keep it well watered. It will thank you for the hard pruning.