Soon!

I'm trying to hold off until about Feb 15 here in Portland. Weather is nice now though and I'm having a hard time waiting.

Yes, you do want to cut them that short.

Thanks BorS,
I appreciate your help. It's been pretty cold here for the last couple of days. The ground froze overnight and you could see frost heave in the soil. I think I will hold off for another couple of weeks or so too. Thanks for the tip. All my best to you.

It's best to resist the temptation to cut back too early :-) Pruning/cutting back encourages the plant to push new growth, which it may very well do during warmer periods. However, we can still get some pretty cold weather and any new growth that might be present will be damaged or killed. So pruning early will not necessarily put you ahead of the game but could even set you back.

Mid February to early March is the target date, weather depending, or when the forsythia is in bloom. And it won't hurt the vine at all if cutting back occurs a bit later.

I always hard prune my pruning group 3's on Valentine's Day...or to calibrate for your area...same time you prune your Roses or when the Forsynthias are in bloom..I "shape" my Pruning group 2's & 1's after they are showing their new leaf buds..so I'll know which vines are still viable after their winter nap..Jeanne
ps..don't forget to feed them their Alfalfa Tea and Rose or Tomato Fertilizer at the same time..

This is good advice. I will certainly wait awhile longer. Thanks very much to each of you for your helpful advice.

jeanne: Thanks for letting me know what to feed them and when to feed them. I will definitely do this. I appreciate your help.

My Jackmani has new shoots about 4 inches long, way up at the top of the vine. Is it too late to prune them back so the blossoms are lower?

Go ahead and prune it. It won't hurt the plant. I've pruned them when they had more new growth than that and it didn't hurt them.

Need to plant something in front of and beside my Comtesse de Bouchard clematis. The clematis is planted at corner of garage, up against the brick facing. The area is about 5 ft.long and about 18 inches deep. Clematis like something planted at their feet to shade their roots. There is about a 3 ft. blank space of brick facing that needs something there, no taller than 2 1/2-3 ft. Preferrable a perennial that will reseed and go with the clematis color. That area would be getting the afternoon sun. I'm thinking of maybe a mass planting of coneflowers, Becky Daisy, lupine, bee balm, maybe peach leaf campanula, even old black eye susans or something similar that would reseed and cover that space. Possibly Profusion series of zinnias?
Zinnias are an annual though.

The Clamatis "Paniculata" is advertized as Sweet Autum Clamatis also. I am wondering whether they are the same plants or different plants.

What I really want is the Clamatis Paniculata.

Can someone clarify this?

Thank you.

Clematis Paniculata, Clematis Terniflora (Sweet Autumn>.