I just purchased two clematis (Nellie Moser and Duchess of Edinboro) from a local nursery. They are just coming out of dormancy with very short stems (few inches), but a couple of clear buds on each one. They are currently in rectangular pots, probably 2 quart size.

I'm wondering if I should let them stay in the pots for a while, to get more established, or go ahead and plant them soon. I'm inclined to wait a bit, but not sure what state of growth I should be looking for, to plant them.

I have two established clematis already (2 years old, group 3), and they are a bit further ahead in terms of budding and sending out shoots. (We're having quite a warm February in SF Bay Area!) I suspect these I just bought were probably imported from somewhere else, given there was a whole shelf of them at the nursery. So they may still be acclimating to the climate.

Also, I am guessing that I will be lucky if I see any blooms on either of these this year... true?

Thanks in advance!

I'd say go ahead and plant them
you could get blooms this year--many say to prune them to prevent blooming their first year such that they concentrate on expanding their roots and branch better. I'm too much of a flower floozy to do that

Check the roots. If you see that the roots are well developed and you're holding a plant that grew in this pot for some time, go ahead, plant it. If you notice that roots still not well developed keep it in the pot till fall. In my experience - the bigger the root ball the better outcome. Keeping in the pots might be tricky in the hot summer as they getting dry way too fast and the plants will be slow to grow. I killed several this way. Now I plant small sized plants in 3 - 5 gal pots so they don't dry too fast, keep them there for a year or so and then plant in the ground.

Thanks, mishkab, for this info. One plant seems more robust than the other, and it's the smaller one that I've been most concerned about (it's a Nellie Moser). I am currently keeping an eye on it to see how quickly the stems/leaves actually develop. Very slow so far, in contrast to the other one.

I'm glad to know you've had luck keeping them in pots for awhile.

mishkab said:Check the roots. If you see that the roots are well developed and you're holding a plant that grew in this pot for some time, go ahead, plant it. If you notice that roots still not well developed keep it in the pot till fall. In my experience - the bigger the root ball the better outcome. Keeping in the pots might be tricky in the hot summer as they getting dry way too fast and the plants will be slow to grow. I killed several this way. Now I plant small sized plants in 3 - 5 gal pots so they don't dry too fast, keep them there for a year or so and then plant in the ground.

I would plant them now, becasue I also hate to wait till year two for blooms and Im not great at fall planting. I get so caught up with leaves, and I don't like the cold. I do have one that lives in a plastic pot 12" deep, 18" diameter all year every year for probably 8 years (becasue I didn't have a spot for it..) and every year it blooms up my back porch railing.. so pots are fine, but its no where near as beautiful as its "litter-mates" lol that did get garden spots. Whereever you decide to put it, leave it there till the fall for the best chance to bloom this year, in other words, if you put it in a pot, don't transplant into the ground until fall- you can move the pot all you want, lol.

Just remember, as my grandmother used to say- head in the sun feet in the shade- she had the most stunning clematis ever, growing all over the place, but she always planted it on the north or east side, right next to the corner of whatever it was going to grow up, and mulched them high and religiously. I've noticed mine do best this way too. They'll turn the corner and come toward the sun up whatever latice you supply, but they do seem to like cool feet.