I brought in several clematis late last year - I had plans to move them and so potted them up after dormancy and put them in the cool corner of the greenhouse. (this is the first year by the way, so I'm just getting the hang of things) Now, I expected them to start early, but they've come into growth far too early for my liking - they've been actively growing for a couple of weeks now - It's been unseasonably warm here. I don't expect to see the clematis in the ground to show itself until April - so that puts these plants 6 - 10 weeks ahead of the game.
So my question is, do I continue on as normal as if it weren't too early and do the normal pruning and plant them out when the time is right, OR, do I give them a double dose of pruning? I'm concerned that once I get them in the ground, where I want them to be, they'll be getting a bit big and hard to plant and train.
Or am I just getting ahead of myself and they'll be just fine?
There's one Chantilly, Blue Moon? and a Jackmanii. I think. I'm terrible at labelling pots.
Any advice is much appreciated.
Thanks
-claireF
Clematis in greenhouse in growth too early, advice?
The standard advice is that no one ever killed a clematis by pruning. Personally, I'd allow them to grow and just cut back anything dead but nothing more than that. By May you can probably harden them off for a week or more and plant them safely.
Labels are critical for placement as the Jackmanii is a strong grower and needs solid support where the others aren't as robust, at least not here.
Blue Moon takes a bit of shade quite well while the others do want full sun.
