All clematis need regular water. The Montanas will get too big. The roots don't really need shade, what they need is moisture and the shade helps retain moisture. I would go with Freckles but that's just an opinion.

Hello Brooke 28
I placed an order from Paradise Gardens in the spring of 2010 and I was more then pleased with my order.. See my order at this link.. Copy and paste the link to see my clematis from Paradise.or enter my name sandyl in the search buttom above to see all my post.. They have all done great and I'm very please with them all.. I had ordered Huldine and its not really turning out to be everything I was hoping for, but its still very young and can only get better I hope. The blooms are small compared to all my others. I'm very pleased with Barbara Harrington, she's been blooming since early spring and currently has 6 blooms now. I have three SAC and love them but the bloom time is just so short, 3/1/2 weeks and the blooms are gone, but the smell is wonderful. I have more then 23 clematis total and as you will see in several of my post you can't go wrong with Ramona, I didn't get Ramona from Paradise Gardens but she is a must have. You will see Sprinkles and Ms. Bateman in several of my post and Sprinkles is about 6 years old and I like it more and more each passing year, Sprinkles is a group 2 and I hard prune it after its spring flush and right now it has 6 blooms and is over 8 feet tall even after the hard prune I gave it early July after its first flush. And Miss Bateman is beautiful in the spring as you will see but she has only had three blooms on her rebloom this fall. She had probably over 100 in the spring. You also can't go wrong with a Jack.
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/clematis/msg041620449106.html

Sandy

clematis are not low maintenance plants, they all require regular watering, fertilizer and pruning.

clay soil is fine, rocks not necessary and neither is shaded roots.

not certain Freckles hardy in your zone or any of the montanas

Thanks for the response guys! Wanted to order my lil friend by now but ended up pretty sick and only had the energy to deal with the kids.

Bob414, Freckles is a unique one, which I love unique! Too bad the blooms don't last longer. I thought the Montanas would be too big, but do you think they would do good on a fence? Or still too heavy?

Sandyl, thanks for all the great info! You have a beautiful collection! Glad to know of someone else ordering through Paradise Gardens. Huldine is the one that I have been leaning towards, because of the reblooming. I read that he just needs a little time.

Buyorsell888, I understand they need to be watered regulary, pruned and fertilized, but I had in mind that I could prune then fertilize and leave it at that til the next year. Do I have that right? I have the Montanas showing up as hardy in my zone, do you know of someone that it didn't work for them in zone 7? I would love to eventually run one along the fence if possible.

So here's a stupid question....If I were to get group 3, use netting to have it run up a two story deck, then hard prune... well how hard would it be to take down all the dead wood?

Ok, so I don't need rocks for drainage, but I still should put top soil in the hole and compost on top? I've read some conflicting info. on that. Thanks guys for all your help! Can't wait to order my lil friend:)