The American Horticultural Society's Encyclopedia of Gardening (which happens to be identical to the Royal Horticultural Society's Encyclopedia of Gardening, word for word, picture for picture) says about Clematis propagation:

Clematis can be propagate by seed sown in the fall and overwintered in a cold greenhouse or frame, but cultivars don't come true from seed. Cultivars are usually increased by softwood or semi-ripe cuttings, layering or basal stem cuttings. Internodal cuttings of semiripe wood or softwood are preferred to nodal cuttings.

My experience is that propagation advice about a species tends to be generic, how to do, say, internodal semi-ripe cuttings is found in discussions of propagation in general.

The information I'm looking for is when is the best time to take cuttings for different plants. I know their are softwood and hardwood cuttings, and that soft are spring summer and hard are fall winter. Some plants root more easily taken at different times.

Google the plant name and 'cutting propagation'. Most better (i.e.. .edu) sources will provide all the necessary details - timing of cuttings, whether a rooting hormone is suggested, best starting media, heat or misting requirements, how long before successful rooting, etc.

I have good sized plant library. My DH was delighted when I said I wanted books and tools at Christmas. He used to joke that he used to get me jewels then that changed to tools.

I have 2 books that I use often. I will provide the ISBN since that can simplify ordering if you are interested.

The Complete Book of Plant Propagation by Graham Clarke & Alan Toogood distributed in the US by Sterling Publishing Co. Inc. ISBN 1-84188-144-9 It is very complete in the methods of propagation in general and for individual plant methods.

Ball Perennial Manual - Propagation and Production by Jim Nau published by Ball Publishing ISBN 1-883052-10-6 They include a passage in each method for home gardeners along with their methods, plant descriptions etc.

Both were published in the nineties. I go back and forth between the two. (Ball has a more detailed Clematis write up) but I probably use the other book more often.

I ordered the " The Complete Book of Plant Propagation by Graham Clarke & Alan Toogood".

I google things all the time, but sometimes the info is not as comprehensive as I'd like. I will have to pay attention to the .edu sites and give them a first look when searching.

Also being an old fart, sometimes I just like to look at a book. :o)

The information I'm looking for is when is the best time to take cuttings for different plants.

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unless the author is your neighbor.. any opinion on timing would not apply to you in your location ...

ergo.. you are down to the info provided which says.. 'when the wood is soft' ...

so you have to be able to walk out to the mother plant.. and understand if it is still semi soft .. or if it has hardened off ...

this was one of the very high hurdles that stopped me in my tracks ... not having that lifetime of experience to know buy touch and feel and eyeballs.. of course.. no

WWW back then .. so who would some city boy ask??? .. have dad drive me to the library some evening.. since mom didnt have a car.. and it was to far to ride my bike there....

ken

You want to take hardwood cuttings when the tree is dormant and some time before they break dormancy. That way, the cuttings have time to make a callous, from which new roots will sprout. This is why people do hardwood cuttings in late fall, early winter.

I know about softwood (spring summer), semi-hardwood (fall) and hardwood (late fall/ winter) cuttings and the general time of year and plant condition that indicates it's ready for which type. What I search for is what is best for a specific plant such as blueberries. You can find sites recommending all three types, but which is best? I did finally find a site that said you may get better root production from softwood blueberry cuttings.

I did semi hardwood cuttings of physocarpus this year, mid fall. All winter they have looked like dead sticks. I read recently they do best when taken in mid spring and I was sure they wouldn't root. But just the other day I noted some buds swelling at the nodes, so some may still root. This year I'll take them in spring and compare.

I'm hoping this book will have that type of information.

“Making More Plants: The Science, Art Art, and Joy of Propogation” by Ken Druse is excellent, but I don’t recall if he had information specifically on clematis.

@erasmus_gw What you have written here is some of clearest instructions I've run across. Thanks.

I'll see what the book I've ordered has to say about Clematis before buying more. I'm interested in a wide variety of plants, so books that cover more than one plant have more interest. But you never know. You might find me sitting, waiting for the ferry and perusing my newly acquired book on clematis. :o)

I could second the rec for Making More Plants, Druse. I dont know if clematis are specifically addressed there. It's a Costco trip day and DH is beginning to pace but I can look when I get back - book is not within reach just now. But I have gotten much helpful information from that purchase. Now if it just could tell me what to do about the ever present deer.....

Clematis was just an example, any particular book doesn't need to cover it specifically. Just looking for good, general references.

For the deer I offer what is likely unhelpful advice, an 8 ft high fence. It is what I did, but I realize it's not practical for everyone, but it works.

Almost an acre inside city limits, where 8' fencing wouldn't meet max height code ;) Not all usable footage - the back so steeply sloped downwards, I can't really stand or climb on it. DH does - wearing caulked boots.