Jodi..you are right Clematis "Multi-Blue" is a pruning group 2 and is recommended to be pruned AFTER it has bloomed to shape and keep in bounds..for it blooms on the vines grown from prior growing seasons..ie..old wood..You can prune it down by 1/2 after it finishes blooming to rejuvenate and then fertilize with either Rose or Tomato fertilizer...Hard pruning pruning group 2's will only forfeit some late Summer/Early Fall blooms for you BUT will make your clematis healtier..some people from up North treat their pruning group 2's this way..hopefully they will chime in and give their expertise' on this subject...Jeanne

I have cut my Multi-Blue almost to the ground the last three years in a row trying to get it to sprout more vines. It is working.

A few of us in the north experimented by cutting back Multi Blue after it's first bloom period and it didn't work, we never had a second flush. If I don't cut it back, I get a second, although not as impressive as the first, blooms that are not double, but still very beautiful.

For rejuvenating purposes, I'd cut it back as they say, even cut it back in March or Early April to a foot or two. It will reward you.

Just to clarify, I wasn't trying to get mine to bloom again when I hard pruned it. I was trying to get more than two or three vines up from the crown.

I had planted it and never once pruned it for five years and had dismal results.

I was afraid to cut back my 3 or 4 year old Huldine because I'd heard that cutting into mature stems might kill the plant, and I'd paid quite a lot for it, but through the encouragement of people here, I did it and it went from one spindly stem to maybe 10 or 20. I would do it next year early in the spring, personally.

Thank you all for your suggestions! I am still a little confused, though. Should I cut it after the second flowering or wait till early spring? Would cutting it at either of these times prevent it from flowering at all next year? It has beautiful blooms right now and all are double. I'd like to take it down to about a foot, as that is where the thicker branches stop. Should I try some pruning after the second bloom and then also go in the spring, or is one preferable over the other?

Enjoy the blooms now. If you want, you can cut it back after it blooms, but most of us in the cold north don't get a second bloom if it is cut back after the initial bloom. Otherwise, you can deadhead it and wait for the second flowering period. Whether you cut it or deadhead it, give it a little liquid fertilizer if you have it.

Here is how I prune Multi Blue and other group 2's In fall, once the night temps are consistently in the 30's and lower 40's, I cut it down a bit to get rid of the heavy top. Then in early spring, before the leaf buds break, I clean up the plant by cutting the vines at different heights -- About 1/4 at 1 foot, 1/4 at 2', 1/4 at 3', 1/4 at 4 or 5 if that much survives. I use these measurements because it's on a 6 foot support. Staggering the length of the vines will give you blooms all along the length of the plant. Then, nip off the petioles, and very gently, (it's easy to crack them) rearrange the vines and lightly tie them to the support.