I am confused about Rosemoor. I see that "officially" is is rated as a 2 (light prune). The tag on the plant says "Group C". Jeanne, I see in a post from DG that you treat it as a 3. What do you think is the best way to treat Rosemoor? Thanks.
Rosemoor Prune type 2 or 3?
Mary, are you familiar with "Clematis on the Web" (COTW)? It's a gold mine of information for the overwhelming majority of clems. The only ones I've found missing from their database seem to be the newest intros. Here's a link to their A-Z database.
http://www.clematis.hull.ac.uk/new-clemalphasearch.cfm
and here's a link to Rosemoor:
http://www.clematis.hull.ac.uk/new-clemdetail.cfm?dbkey=2955
They have it listed as a Group 2.
first couple of years handling as a 3 is better for any small plant . after that gauge condition of vines in spring. if damaged sometimes pruning them in spring, even down to one or two leaf axils form the ground, a g 2 will give a longer bloom time and better full season even tho the older vines may bloom earlier or larger but then "poop out " earlier in the season.
COTW is the ultimate resource as mentioned above.
In your zone, I'd treat is as a 2 because it blooms on both old and new wood.
I like this description of Rosemoor from the Guernsey Clematis Nursery website:
"An Evison/Poulsen cultivar introduced at Chelsea in 2004 as part of the Bicentenary Plant Collection. This “rose” coloured large flowered clematis has a distinct reddish/purple colour with yellow stamens, which contrast spectacularly with the colour of the sepals. Its flowers are 5-6ins in diameter and are borne both from the previous season’s stems and on current season’s growth, giving it a flowering period from May to September. Very good repeat flowering. Deep red with yellow anthers. It too can be grown with roses and other wall trained shrubs. It looks marvellous with ceanothus especially the pale blues, but other grey foliage shrubs with blue flowers make a marvellous foil for this cultivar. The volume of flowers it produces over such a long period of time is rather staggering. This is available as a premium Raymond Evison Clematis and further information, cultural guides and stockists can be found at our clematis store, www.raymondevisonclematis.com."
treating these as a p group 3 for the first couple of years will establish a much better plant. especially with an evison p 2. the plant needs to develop roots as a primary objective for the gardener before maintaining old vines. most evison p 2's need time to attain the description above. so have a realistic expectation and keep us posted on the progress. i just put a small rosemoor in this spring and find it is acting as i thought it would, taking time to establish.
Thank you all for your great advice!