Clematis: A few minor questions on clematis..., 0 by ClematisGuru

ClematisGuru wrote:
i deadhead a little, but not religiously. i find it extends the first bloom season by a bit. so with your large flowed cultivars that only get a few blooms ( i assume i am not the only one who has those) i think it is good to deadhead. vitacellas and more profuse bloomers it is too hard to deadhead, so i do mini pruning (more than a deadhead, but less than a pruning)and see if she keeps blooming. when she has shut down from blooming completely and/or does not respond to the mini prune i do a medium or hard prune depending on how healthy the foliage looks and usually get good regrowth and second flush of blooms.
i think linda beutler in her book calls this "freestyle pruning" as she would the practice of treating 2's like 3's. what ever works for you. sometimes it is better to delay the early blooms as they come on when you may enjoy them more.
bottom line for me is that i do not tolerate a ugly, brown bottomed plant that looks horrible for the sake of saving the size of the plant. i decided a few years ago that they plant being and looking heathy is my first objective and the flowers will be a result of that. and sometimes that means it has to be whacked down.
here is avante garde taken today..she had been blooming quite a while now and has needed no interference form me all season!