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Best late flowering clematis?
had a nice pm asking for recommendations for late flowering clematis for west wall and with easy pruning. I've suggested some that I grow but I know there are some real clematis experts here to offer better advice ....maybe even with pictures. 
I assume by late flowering she means the large flowered summer varieties.......mid to late summer.
Any suggestions folks?
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Viticellas or viornas flower July to September-ish, easy pruning, butcher them to the floor in February, 8, 10, 12 ft of new growth in a season, masses of flowers, or the yellow tanguticas, orientalis family, all bombproof hardy.
Or, another group known as the LLFH, late large flowered hybrids, plants such as Hagley Hybrid, Niobe, Prince Charles etc. fall into this group. Larger flowers but not as many as on the viticellas.
Or, the texensis group, Princess Diana, Lady bird Johnson, several others.
Clematis Rebecca (Group 2) is still flowering for me (southern Scotland) ... and is a fabulous dark red .... see below for info.
http://www.taylorsclematis.co.uk/clematis-rebecca.html
Mine was a "rescue" plant from Homebase a few months ago ... a snip at £5 .... just needed a drink and a bit of a tidy!
A single bee creates just one twelfth of a teaspoon of honey in her lifetime
Etoile Violet, is my favourite, colour as suggested, flowers from August to late October in my garden.
too wet to go and take a picture, but it is a beauty.
When you don't even know who's in the team
S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
Rebecca is an early large flowering hybrid. Etoile Violette is one of the best viticellas, reputedly more flowers than any other clematis, no vices and an RHS Award of Garden Merit.
In her latest splendid book Making a Garden, Carol Klein has devoted a chapter to the clematis growing in our garden at The Hawthornes in Lancashire, text and pictures.
She has chosen to include 2 pictures of Etoile Violette, 1 of them growing on an open trellis fence, the other growing over a yellow shrubby potentilla, the yellow and purple look stunning together.
I find Blue Angel is much better than Prince Charles. Princess Diana is very good and flowers till quite late on. My caerulea luxurians on a north facing wall still has new flowers coming and I imagine it would love a west wall.
The trick to getting them to carry on flowering late is, in fact, to dead head regularly, just like with roses but not many people bother. I haven't this year as they've all been splendid and I have a mix of 430 or so group 2s and 3s about the place but grow them all as group 3s with severe pruning in early spring and a good feed.
2 very good tips there from obelixx, deadheading is well worth the effort ( unless you collect seeds as I do ) and also try treating your group 2's as group 3's, in other words prune them hard in Spring.
While we are on the clematis subject ( you started it ) another vital group of clematis for a stunning Summer border is the herbaceous group, mainly integrifolias, but some of the integrifolia x viticella ( x diversifolia ) are superb when grown through obelisks or canes in the mixed border. Arabella probably 1 of the best.
I think it's hard to beat Etoile Violette. Mine is laden, and has been since July. West facing fence, doesn't get hammered by mid day sun. Never any problems with it either.
I also liked Rouge Cardinal when I grew it, but don't think it's as prolific and not sure if it flowers as long
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...