A few years ago (can't exactly remember how many) I decided it would be fun to try and grow clematis from seed. I bought Clematis Montana "Rubens" to try, and of course the first year nothing happened. After a year or so, I got so impatient, I dug around in the soil (in an ordinary small plastic container outdoors). Nothing to be found, big disappointment. Left it in a corner, forgot all about it again. Months later, I suddenly noticed a couple of small green seedlings appearing. This is what one of them looks like now: Again, bit blurred, but you get the idea. It is much bigger than this, it's against a trelis climbing up via a honeysuckle. The latter will at some point be taken out completely. Below are 2 Clematis Cirrhosa sown December 2013, and Clematis Fusijama, sown so long ago I can't remember. All I know is that I had completely given up on the Fusijama & taken out it's label with sowing details. You can imagine the big grin on my face when I discovered these little green sprouts Growing Clematis from seed isn't difficult, all you need is a LOT (like, years) of patience. Worth it, though!
I've never attempted to grow clematis from seed either. After reading your post and seeing the results (even if they took ages) I think I may be tempted to try doing some seed planting myself. They say patience is a virtue so let's hope I have plenty to spare.
Now, that's what I call a result! That was good work, GardenE. I just put in a young Clematis montana 'rubens' this spring as well. My bride convinced me not cut the flowers off though...so the root development will be retarded. BTW-- do you prune your Rubens? I have tried pruning them and NOT pruning them. The majority of opinions that I have read on the internet advise against pruning.
Eileen, if I were you I'd go for it: choose which type of clematis you'd like to grow (there are sooooo many), buy some good quality seeds (or get them from friends), sow them & see what happens! Sjoerd, last year I did cut off a few straggly stems that were growing too long, but it hadn't flowered yet then. This year I won't cut anything off, because I want it to grow over the wall. I'll probably just give it a little snip here and there whenever it's getting a bit unruly. Oh, and cutting off the spent flowers means: no seedheads. They can look rather pretty in winter, when they are all frosted over
