Rare in moist woods of the southeast, this plant weaves its way through the brush and trees and dangles its summer flowers throughout and up high. But in cultivation and with proper pruning, this non-aggressive vine has smooth green leaves with 2 to 4 pairs of leaflets, and from the leaf axils of new growth come 1" bright pink flowers that are formed nearly all summer long. The solitary, bell-shaped flowers are on 6" long stalks and are deep pink with yellow on the insides of the flared openings. It is sometimes called Leather Flower because the flowers are thickened almost like a thin banana peel. While new flowers are forming, the old ones develop into very ornamental fluffy seed heads which start out glistening gold, turning whitish, then maturing into a deep brown.

This Clematis likes good soil with regular moisture and partial sun - could take full sun in the north and more shade in the south. It wants to grow around 12 to 15 feet per year but flowering occurs on new growth only. So for use on a fence, trellis, or post where you want to see the flowers up close and down low, pruning should be done any time after the plant has gone dormant in the late fall up to early spring. Cut back to two strong sets of buds or nodes on the stem as close to the ground as possible. Blooms should appear within 2 to 3 feet of where you pruned the stem. Or, if you wanted it to twine around a porch railing that was 10 feet above ground level, you could prune the old stems to about 6 or 7 feet above the ground. If you want to grow it up through a tree or shrub, don't prune at all. It may take some time to reach that height.

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