Clematis: What are some of your best Clematis?, 1 by NEILMUIR1

NEILMUIR1 wrote:
My dearest, KimmyCoCoPop thank you for your comments. I am most glad you like my Clematis I will enclose another picture.
However I do not trust your zone maps or anything about them. For my Clematis is said to be hardy in zone 9 but the temperature dropped to Minus 16.2 ℉, and my Clematis was covered in snow as were my tree ferns, yet it did not touch them at all.
So I asked this as it seems there are a few problems with the system.
Your Zones that members use confuse me, I understand the nicely coloured maps, but they are irrelevant and totally meaningless!
I live in the U.K. (London), so that only adds to more confusion, this is from wilkipedia, regarding Zones!
Possibly the largest drawback is that they do not incorporate summer heat levels into the zone determination. Sites which may have the same mean winter minima, but markedly different summer temperatures, will still be accorded the same hardiness zone. An extreme example is the Shetland Islands and southern Alabama, which are both on the boundary of zones 8 and 9 and share the same winter minima, but very little else in their climates; in summer, the humid subtropical climate of Alabama is about 20 degrees Celsius hotter than the oceanic climate of Shetland, and there are very few similar plants that can be grown at both locations. Due to its maritime climate, the UK is in AHS Heat Zone 2 (having 1 to 8 days hotter than 30 degrees Celsius) according to the AHS (American Horticultural Society), whereas Alabama is in Zones 7 to 9 (61 to 150 days hotter than 30 degrees Celsius). It is by consequence most relevant to combine the hardiness zone with the heat zone to have a much better picture of what can be grown in such or such places.
Another problem is that the hardiness zones do not take into account the reliability of the snow cover. Snow acts as an insulator against extreme cold temperatures, protecting the root system of hibernating plants. If the snow cover is reliable (then present during the coldest days), the actual temperature to which the roots are exposed is not as low as the hardiness zone number would indicate. As an example, Quebec City in Canada is located in zone 4 but can rely on an important snow cover every year, making it possible to cultivate plants normally rated for zones 5 or 6, whereas in Montreal, located in zone 5, it is sometimes difficult to cultivate plants adapted to the zone because of the unreliable snow cover. But snow cover is a most unreliable event, and although a colder zone might have more snow in theory, just a single dry winter will remember the gardener or farmer how deep the soil can freeze in his/her region.
Other factors that affect plant survival but are not considered in hardiness zones are soil moisture, humidity, the number of days of frost, and the risk of a rare catastrophic cold snap. Some risk evaluation – the probability of getting a particularly severe low temperature – often would be more useful than just the average conditions.
astly, many plants will survive in a locality but will not flower if the day length is inappropriate or if they require vernalization (a particular duration of low temperature). With annuals, the time of planting can often be adjusted to allow growth beyond their normal geographical range.
Then last year we were classified as Zone 9, now due to the bad winter weather, we are now classified as London, England 8-9?
Then most users have a Zone with a/b in them, according to the net I quote:
The 2006 map appears to validate the data used in the 2003 draft completed by the AHS. Like the AHS map, it also did away with the more detailed a/b half-zone delineations, this refers to the new U.S.D.A. map!
So we are rather confused here in poor old England for many reasons.
Firstly most people (apart from the youngsters), refuse to use Celsius as they use Fahrenheit , T.V. and Radio stations usually do it in both!
We have Pounds and Pennies, they have Euros. The EEC insist we have Beer in Liters, but we still have Pints, yet Petrol (gas) is in liters not Gallons! They have Kilometers we have miles, they insist our food is weighed in Kilos, but most grocery shops still do it pounds and ounces as well, then are Cricket pitches are measured at 22 Yards, yet we are supposed to use centimeters, not feet and inches.
Yours a very confused Englishman!
Regards from London.
Neil.