2 things - depending on how tiny they are you may want to pot them in a larger pot for a season. I did a search on this subject and found many passionate arguments on both sides (pot vs ground). The main issue is that it gives the tiny plants a season of protection inwhich to work on thier root system before being put in the ground. Use the search engine here and see all this helpful info.
On the other hand, again I learned this from searching info about newly planted Clematis . Everyone says you should keep them pruned quite short for the first 2 seasons to force the plant to grow roots rather than stems so I think you just gave this one its first prune. I am sure that whether you plant it in a pot or in the ground as long as you take good care of it , good light and water, you will see new shoots coming from the leaf juncture before you know it.

If you use the GardenWeb Search Engine (within the Clemtis Forum) search "Newbie" for alot of very good info as well as "potting new plants"