and i cant mine to grow for the life of me. Send some on over my way.

I love Jackmanni clematis!

Jackmanni is the clematis I always recommend to people who want a really easy, big, tough clematis. Mine is about 10 feet tall right now.

But, I've found some other really easy, vigorous clematis in recent years. One is Polish Spirit, which I gave to my neighbor and she loves it. It's a deeper purple. Another is Venosa Violacea.
This is a very young plant of Venosa Violacea:

We have two C jackmanii in the yard, the one in the hottest part of the ornamental beds does better than the other one. More heat the better. And we didn't do a big hole and amended backfill like the other clematis want, either.

Dan

I just stick mine in the ground - and like everything else, slather on a layer of compost in the spring, and mulch with grass clippings.

I did notice one thing - once they start blooming, it pays to water the roots every few days, particularly when the temps get into the 90's. The petals stay on longer. I sure notice when I forget to do so.

I love clematis so much and I'm not growing any yet. Clearly a big mistake on my part.

I have a jackmanii too, and if it got more sun it would be spectacular. It does fairly well where it is tho, blooming its head off now. I have a ruby colored (supposedly) clematis at my mailbox and it has never bloomed. I wonder if it's the sun issue, or something else?