ville de lyon, ramona, niobe and multi blue pruning ?

I have these four clematis and am thinking about just going out and 'whacking' them down to about 2 feet or less. Do you think this would be okay?

My Ville de Lyon gets tall, but is only a stem or two at the bottom and looks very spindly. I wish I could get more stems coming up from the roots. I probably didn't plant it deep enough because when I bought it, I didn't know about planting them deeper. ;o( Isn't it a group 2 pruner though? Below is a picture of it and I think it's been in my garden for a couple years now.

And I've been reading different things about Ramona too. Some places say pruning group 3 and others say group 2. I'm getting so tired of trying to figure this all out every year and just whack them all down as group 3's and be done with it! ;o) Sorry, just frustrated with it sometimes and need more time in the day to read all about it!!!

Thanks for letting me vent guys!

Sherry

Sherry, Definitely cut back Ville de Lyon to two feet or just about a set of emerging buds. I would do the same with Ramona. Niobe and multi blue are group 2's. I would not prune them if they are older than 3 years in the group until after the first flush of blooms. If not you can treat them as a group 3 for the first two years to build up your root systems on them.
Arlene

Wow, thanks for the quick reply! I went to look at my (not perfect) records and it looks like they have been there since 2005 or 2006 depending on which one I'm talking about.

So with Ramona, which was 2005, should I let it bloom then cut it down to 2 feet or so? It never really completely quits blooming, if I recall correctly. The picture below is on 07-05-09. Will it grow back and bloom again?

Is it too late to get new stems to come from the roots since they've been in the ground since 2005 or 2006?

Thank you so much for your help!
Sherry

Last March 13, 2009, we had a private landscaper prune a lot of our shrubbery for us and he pruned our clematis(Dr. Ruppel, Westerplatte, and Comtesse de brouchard to about 12-18 inches from the ground and fed them lime. He never asked me what group they were in but guess after doing this type of work for over 35 yrs. he just knows. Westerplatte, we purchased in 2008 I believe and if it doesn't show up this year, it's history. Comtesse de Brouchard was planted by original owners, so when we moved here 5 yrs. ago, it was here already and does very well. After that feeding and prunning, Dr. Ruppel did outstanding! Everybody that drove by or walked by made a remark how beautiful it was and some wanted to know what kind of plant it was. I've got my eye on at least one more for the same flowerbed, by the garage and I might start one in back yard, by the sunroom.