Charlie Pridham writes
"It is probable that more climbing plants of clematis are produced than
all other climbing plants combined. The fact that so few good specimens
are encountered in cultivation indicates both the general publics
ability to kill them off and their resilience in wanting to try again!"

I can vouch for the resilience! I had a rather nice clematis that just
didn't appear the second year. Or the third. Come the 4th or 5th year I
was rooting around that area of the garden, and I dug up a root which
turned out to be that clematis. I deduced it's non-appearance was due to
snails taking out the new shoots. So I potted it up and kept it in the
snail free environment of the greenhouse for a couple of years, by which
time it had produced about 6ft of woody stem and was safe to go back in
the garden again.

You really have to admire that determination to keep growing!
--
Kay