Jackmanni Clematis - Spring Pruning Chicago IL

[sue123]

I pruned my clematis a couple weeks ago. I was afraid to cut all the growth back because I thought it might be a variety that blooms on old wood. I just read that I was supposed to hard prune it in late winter or early spring to avoid it looking leggy on the bottom. It is looking leggy and I was wondering if it's too late to hard prune it now. Will it still bloom this summer if I do this? Will it just bloom later?

Thanks for any info you can provide.

[Jess]

Do you have leaves growing further down the stem? If so you can cut to just above the lowest ones and it will still flower this year. I doubt it will delay it much if at all. I forgot to do one of mine a couple of years ago and pruned it late. Flowered better than in previous years as we had a late frost and the others were knocked back but the one I forgot wasn't

[JPlovesflowers]

You didn't mention how old it is. I found that after the third year you can just about abuse them as much as you would like and they will bloom like crazy regardless. Also if you give it a light pruning after all of the blooms are gone, you are likely to have a nice flush of late summer/fall bloom depending on what zone you are in. Or you can choose to let the flowers set seed and provide for your bird friends. Both choices are a win!