Suggestions for Pruning Group 1 that grow in Louisiana

Howdy doo, I'm sitting here on a snowy day in Louisiana (yep, you read that right!) looking over clematis cultivars. I had always been under the impression that clematis would not do well here... mainly because the nursery owners here don't want to hassle with it and therefore have given the message that it's only a short-run annual in our climate. I have since been informed otherwise by my DG friends over in the Roses and Mid-South Gardening forums. Soooo, a new quest begins. I'm looking for clematis cultivars that will grow well trained on a high wire intertwined with hardy climbing roses. Because of this location, I would like to find some robust growers that do not have to be pruned. I would also like some that bloom more than once a year. Does anyone have some suggestions?

Thanks for any advice you can give! Ev =)

Ev, I think the reason you prune is to get multiple branch, hence multiple source for blooms and the "blanket of flowers" effect. There are some that I don't prune and as a result get skimpy flowers. Having said this, even the ones that I don't take good care of bloom twice a year. Should be the same for you.
Oh, I don't have any group 1s.

I have group 1's and they are lovely in the spring - and the foliage is really pretty the rest of the season. Montana Broughton Star is supposed to bloom more than once but mine hasn't done that. However, it's growing in a lot of shade.

You may have a misimpression about pruning though. They are very easy to prune. Type threes get cut down to about a foot (to a set of buds) and type twos get cut down only a third. I keep my Montanas trained as I go through the summer. If you want them to go to a specific place you have to direct them in that way through the growing season.

Here's Montana Ruebens trained on my porch. It's been in the ground 6 years.

Thanks for the feedback, voss and doss (LOL, y'all rhyme!). I wanted to stick with pruning group 1 because I plan on allowing these to go across the chains in the back, high over the back fence. It will be difficult to prune them much up there, as they will be interspersed with the roses and 9 feet off the ground. I can zip tie them along the chain at intermittent spots without nearly as much effort as full pruning. I'm looking for the lowest care possible for this area!

Than a Montana is for you. I understand that they can get quite large. I"m planning on cutting mine back and letting it start again if it gets too big for it's space. I wouldn't recommend Rubens though because it seems to be prone to get wooly aphids when nothing else in my garden does. There are so many other lovely ones. Broughtan Star sometimes doubles and the flowers are larger. Those are the only two I know.