I would suggest any of the blue/purple viticellas you can get your hands on. They tend to hold up better for me than any of the type IIIs do in the hot summer weather.

For cheap clematis (ie small ones that will need to be babied and perhaps grown out in one gallon sized containers) try having Donahues Clematis send you a catalog and order from them. The cost of each clematis will depend on how many you order. They are small plants but can easily be grown out. They also sell other blue/purple type IIs as well. Perhaps you have found they do well in your zone.

You may want to consider two US natives that are readily available and blue/purple--addisonii and pitcheri or a pitcheri hybrid. Brushwood sells both addisonii and a pitcheri hybrid.

You might also want to consider clematis texensis which is red but native to Texas.

Here is a link that might be useful: Donahues Contact Page

Thanks. Already ordered the catalog. I've never tried any 2s cause I wanted the pruning to be the same for all clems in my garden. But I'm reading here that many people prune 2s like they would 3s?

Yes, some of us do. This can be done in those zones where you have a longer growing season. You being in Texas should allow you to do so as well. Just realize that some of the double flowering type IIs need old wood and a winter chill and some just need old wood to have the double blooms so if you treat these type IIs as type IIIs, you might not get any double blooms. I say might because if you saw recently BorS showed pictures of her Piilu that she treats as a type III and she still got both single and double blooms. Sometimes clematis do what they want and not what the literature says they are supposed to do.

Another place to look for cheap clematis is Walmart. I would tend to stay away from those clematis in boxes that they sell most places (although some people have gotten them and they did fine with some babying and growing out). Walmart used to sell small clematis in orangey-rust colored square pots that were from Roseville and they only cost about $4.88 plus tax. I have purchased these in the past and potted them out and they have grown up to be fine plants (that is where I got my Piilu and Proteus). Two things to be aware of if you purchase these types of clematis is that first the tags may get switched up on these clematis and you might end up getting something that doesn't match up with the tag in the pot. Secondly, these clematis are often not watered or taken care of in the long term so be on the look out when they first arrive and buy them early.

Daniel Deronda is my longest blooming Clematis and it is dark purplish blue and I do mostly prune it as a III. This year I pruned it as a II because I want it to reach the top of the arbor it is on so I left some of the long vines with growth at the top but I clipped out all of the inner dead stuff. Since this took me more than an hour, there is no way I'd do this to all of my IIs, I have too many. I whacked the rest.

Come on guys, you all have lots of clems. Surely there are some more specific varieties that will bloom for me in the fall.
I've gotten quite a few at Walmart and the big box stores. Lost the tags immediately cause I figured they'd be mislabelled!
I'm really picky about not planting things that only bloom in early to mid summer and then quit for the rest of the year. EVERYTHING is gorgeous at that time of year. I want something that'll pop later and suprise me.

Do you have Rooguchi? It blooms from spring until fall for me. I have it planted with Crepuscule and it is a gorgeous combination. Jackmani Superba has a decent fall rebloom.

Carol

I'd look at the viticellas, viticella hybrids or other type III's. These bloom on growth produced the current season and so typically have a later (and often longer) bloom season than do most of the LFH's or type II clematis.

In my zone, most viticellas don't start their bloom cycle until midsummer - July - and continue blooming sometimes until frost. 'Etoile Violette', 'Royal Velours', 'Polish Spirit' or 'Venosa Violacea' offer the strong colors you are looking for. There are some species clems that bloom in fall as well, however they do not tend to offer large flowers nor very colorful ones.