i would not have put a newly potted plant of any kind in sun.. for at least a month.. to let the roots settle down.. to be able to pump the water needed.. especially for such a large transplant ... double especially for a plant in bud stage .. one might theorize that there is not enough water pressure in the cells to hold the flower up properly ...

you probably should be happy the flowers just didnt abort ... that would be an indicator that transplant stresses were very high ... but you say the leaves arent burning.. etc.. so stresses cant be all that high ...

stone as a mulch.. can retain heat.. long after the sun is off the pot ..... i would remove it ..

ken

Thanks Ken. The thing that amazes me is thst these plants have tripled in size in a couple weeks. What would you recommend as a milch to keep roots cool? i didnt wsnt to use anything dark sincd they face south.

i would put a cardboard box around the pot.. and shield it from direct sun ... for a few weeks ...

mulch isnt going to do anything.. since the sun is hitting the side of the pot .. eh???

of course.. it will temper water evaporation ...

any wood based mulch would work ... not stone or rubber pellets ...

also .. its getting blasted by reflected light and maybe heat from the house siding ... at least that is not a dark color making it worse ...

and the stone patio is retaining heat into the night .. go walk out there with bare feet 2 hours after dark.. on a 90 degree day.. you might be surprised ... unless you are PNW or some such ...

and to come full circle.. that is why i would have hardened it off after the potting.. before i put it where i see yours ....

hindsight is 20/20 ... and yours isnt fried to a crisp.. so you did rather well ... and loss of flowers right after a transplant is completely normal ... so there isnt much to do other than water properly .... but im just talking at you so you can think of variables in the future...

in a perfect world.. you would have left it alone.. enjoyed the flowers.. and then repotted it after the show.. and you would have no current complaints .. but the potting might have been a bit late in teh season.. so you should have left it in shade a bit longer oafter the potting.. to settle down before moving it to this spot ...

ken

ps: where are you.. big city name ... and do you have any experience with dealing with pots over winter?? .. is there any reason you couldnt plant them in fall.. in mother earth???

We are zone 5. Closest city is Springfield, MA. We put them in pots because they are supposed to be good for containers, and the previous owners loaded up the area next to the house with tons of gravel. I figured i would overwinter them in our basement

My newish (1started from bare root last spring) venosa violacea had several flowers facing down/dangling initially but they have started behaving themselves since then. I think it may have had to do with lack of sun/too much heat -not sure which one, the weather is all over the place this year. They are in a 12 inch pot outdoors on my balcony and survived just fine through the winter. I have at least 4 clematis in pots that I leave out. Of course it may not work for zone 5 but you do have bigger containers.