I have a white clematis with bell-shaped flowers and cut leaves,
which I vaguely remember being labelled as The Bride, but it
looks nothing like the pictures and looks very much like an
alpina or macropetala cultivar. It is just finishing flowering,
so I am inclined to prune it like one of those regardless of
what it was sold as! Any comments?

And I have a dead The President. The location is light, but gets
direct sun only at 6' and higher and only in summer. The killer
is that it is at the bottom of a patio slope and so is very soggy
in continual rain. There isn't any problem normally, as the soil
is 60% sand, and drains very well - but last winter! Any ideas
for a replacement climber? It mustn't be too vigorous - say,
50 cm wide and 3m high.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.