1. Does it really matter if you dead head the seedheads after blooming? I try to get in there and remove some of them but I have often wondered if it really makes any difference...?
2. Type 2 Clematis. I know they say only to prune a bit after flowering to shape it.....my question is.....over the winter and my clematis gets all dead looking....do new leaves and stems sprout from all those dead crinkled up leaves? Mine looked so bad this spring (not sure if I waited long enough) that I actually cut it down to about 2 feet. I just wasn't sure if those branches would come back to life??
A few minor questions on clematis...
I never deadhead my seedheads and always have repeat bloom.
In your zone, it is most likely that your clems will die all the way down to the ground in the winter that you probably won't have any new growth on old vines. Unless they are protected somehow. I treat my G2's like G3's. I lose the early flowers but I don't mind.
Dawn...deadheading is a good thing..think about it...If you allow your plant to make seedheads THEN it is using its energy to create those seedheads rather than growing more vines and creating more blooms and I would lot rather see mine bloom more and hopefully send up more vines from the soil!..I know it is hard to get all the seedheads but I do pinch 'em or prune them off when puttering around in my gardens..I always walk around with my pruners in hand as I have tons of roses as well that I deadhead..instead of letting them make hips...
Now about your Pruning group 2 pruning question...Pruning group 2's don't really need to be pruned unless they are needing to be shaped ..for instance if they have gotten too tall...too wide...shape to fit the space you want them in or to fit their trellis...lots of people will prune their pruning group 2's back like threes OR half way back...BUT they will lose either their early spring blooming period or late blooming period because most of the pruning group 2's bloom on old vines grown from seasons past..this method is really benefical to those in longer growing seasons as myself because your season is too short to do this type of prune...I "believe" pruning by 1/2 is used more by my Northern compadres but will let someone more familiar with your zone address this..
All our clematis start looking crappy by end of Summer and the leaves get what is called "Brown-out"...you really should water more if you are seeing this as the plant is not receiving enough water to keep the leaves supple and in all honesty..it's common and some people just don't bother...the old ugly leaves will fall off and new ones will emerge from the leaf axil next Spring...that is why I plant climbing roses with mine as it helps to hide the ugliness of it all..being in a colder zone I imagine it's not condusive to grow climbing roses?...You have such bad winter die back?
Jeanne, the "Canadian Explorer" climbers can take the winter here to Z3. There aren't many other climbers that can handle the cold.
I'm lazy when it comes to my clems. I don't deadhead, and I don't prune except for the spring "cut down to the node above the ground" prune.
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!
Thank you everyone - that is some really great information!
Niobe..Your Clematis "Avant-Garde" is stunning...I planted two of her a few years ago...how old is yours?..Jeanne
jeanne, i have three of them. two in that photo i posted. they are in third year. kind of a medium fast start. absolutly no issues ever with them. like little dreams. no wilt, no browning at bottom. i have euyonoumous planted at the base of them. the center of the bloom used to be whiter, it is really a pinkish center this year, but there may be a tad more shade in the area as things mature. blooms have lasted a long time this year and still blooming. very happy with them. especially glad to have them as i had to cut my purpurea plena elegans down a few weeks ago. it looked horrible and there was no choice but a re start for it. so it will be blooming in oct......
Mine are three years old as well...one in full sun and the other in morning sun for about 4 hours and afternoon sun for about 3...can't wait for mine to get that big