Question
I am a real beginner and I have several issues for several different plants, because as usual for me I never seem to have learned the lesson of "start small".  *grin*  However, I will focus on one right now.  In one of my many trips to plant stores, I found and fell in love with a clematis.  I chose it because it looked healthy and it had the prettiest light blue flowers.  It was in a gallon-sized pot with a built in trellis.  After I got it home, a strong wind blew the plant (and plastic container) off of the ledge I'd placed it temporarily.  The pot lost about a quarter of the dirt, but didn't seem to damage the plant.  I transplanted it to a pot about the same size (along with the trellis), set it in the sun, and began to care for it with water every day (if the soil was dry) and inspection.  Within the week, the petals to the blooms dropped off.  I knew it had been thoroughly traumatized.  But then I knew any plant gets traumatized with the replanting process.  I figure that the plant has recovered if you see new growth and new blooms.  However, of all the plants I brought home and re-potted, I haven't seen any new growth for the clematis and it definitely hasn't bloomed again.  But neither does it look like it's dying.  The leaves stay green and don't wither.  

I live in Allen (Dallas), Texas and I believe I'm in Zone 8, but I'm not sure.  My clematis gets morning sun and shade with lots of indirect light after around 11am; the pot stays outdoors under my canopy.  Oh... I forgot to mention that I put some Miracle Grow plant spikes in at re-potting time.  Will my clematis bloom again?  And what do I need to do to help that along?

Answer
For the record, you are smack in USDA Zone 8a, near Dallas.

Am I correct to figure you are not going to be planting this Clematis in the ground?  You are growing it on an outdoor patio?  It may need some protection in the Winter if it is very windy up there.  Let me know.

Now let's get down to basics.

You had every good reason under the sun to buy this plant and try to tackle it at home.  This is everygardener's typical story.  We see things we love, we want to grow them at home, and then we're doing sometimes ridiculous things to make them happen.  Right now I have a platter of chilling seeds that germinate in cool weather IN MY REFRIGERATOR.  Do you know how many gardeners turn over the fridge in Winter to Spring Bulbs?  Welcome to the Club, my friend.  No turning back now.  You are one of us!

Now a lesson Clematis.

Clematis fall into three Groups, based on ways to prune them.

GROUP A (Group 1) - Clematis that bloom in early Spring on growth from the previous year.  This includes Clematis alpina, C. macropetala, C. armandii and C. Montana.  A healthy specimen of ANY of these species will get pretty big and they should be pruned to keep them attractive and manageable... BUT they must be pruned immediately AFTER flowering; pruning them toward the end of the year, before they flower in the Spring, removes all the flowers.  Look through this site and you'll find people all Spring writing in asking me, What's wrong with my Clematis, it never flowers?!  Your Blue flowered plant MIGHT be one of these -- if I understand you correctly, it was blooming vigorously when you bought it, and that may be because it was a Group A Clematis.  If so, once done blooming, it will not bloom again that year.  Not all Clematis bloom all Summer; this may be one of those.

GROUP B (Group 2) - These are Clematis with BIG flowers -- hybrids you see in catalog pages of Wayside Gardens and White Flower Farm.  A Group B/Group 2 Clematis blooms on OLD wood.  You prune it ONLY to remove spent flowers -- which you should do because you don't want all that energy to be wasted on making Seeds on these plants.  There's a name for this little exercise: 'deadheading'.  It simply means you are cutting or pulling off the used-up, finished blooms BEFORE they start to make Seed.  It's VERY good for any plant to deadhead it.

There are also two Subgroups of Group B: 'Group 2a' and 'Group 2b'.

A 2a Clematis blooms in Spring and SOMETIMES blooms again in the Fall.  A 2b Clematis blooms in the Spring and sporadically throughout the Summer (some of those blooms appearing on NEW wood growth).  If you grow one of these, you'll get a lot more flowers later in the season if you deadhead carefully during the first season's flush.

GROUP C (Group 3) - This includes Mid-Summer blooming Clematis -- C. viticella, C. Jackmanii, C. texensis, C. integrifolia, C. recta --- build all their flowers on NEW wood.  Group C also includes LATE Summer bloomers such as C. terniflora -- called 'Sweet Autumn Clematis' -- and C. orientalis.  Since Group C Clematis flower on new wood from the current season, you have to CUT them down to 1 to 2 feet once a year, preferably late in the Winter while they are dormant.  People who don't prune these kinds of Clematis end up with long woody vines with no flowers or leaves.

You should also know that there is a system of classifying Clematis by Parentage.  Under this system, you might find, say, the 'Montana Group', for hybrids developed from Clematis Montana.  Most Clematis(not all) in one Pruning Group are also members of the same Parentage Group.

I want to recommend for you an outstanding article on Clematis Types and ways to train them -- with so many photos included its one page qualifies as a small book -- at the 'Container Nursery' website, prepared by two Warsaw expats and horticultural authorities, Dr Szczepan Marczy駍ki and Wladyslaw Piotrowski.  Scroll down the page for all kinds of uses for these plants, complete with references to Class as appropriate.  Worth its weight in gold:

www.clematis.com.pl/wms/wmsg.php/11855.html

Now, which Clematis do you think you have?

Do you have a tall Trellis set up for it once it takes off?

Do you have any idea what NAME this hybrid has?  Usually there's a clue, or even a label, somewhere on the pot.  Possibly the merchant who sold it to you will volunteer this information.

rsvp and Thanks for writing.

THE LONG ISLAND GARDENER