Thanks for responding. I don’t have this clematis. I’m considering purchasing one, but wanted some insight about dieback before doing so. Since it blooms on old wood I didn’t want to get it and then end up with a few blooms on short vines because of dieback.

Unless you get an exceptionally cold winter (below a z5), there should be no significant dieback with this type of clematis. As I mentioned above, it may look like it has died back but that is pretty much the typical late winter appearance of any deciduous clematis. 'Markham's Pink' is one that doesn't get routine or annual pruning so you just leave it be and it should bloom reliably sometime in early to midspring. If at some point you do need to prune, you do so right after it finishes flowering.

I have a bunch of different macropetala and alpina and don’t have any dieback issues, so you should be fine in zone 6. Mine bloom just fine, even after winters that get below -20F.

Thanks NHBabs for your insight. That’s the exact information I was looking for

As GG 48 said, this group has some of the hardiest clematis. I love that they bloom so early.