I have been growing clematis for many years and think I know a lot about them. However, here is one problem I have this year. Due to the weather and also having a broken arm, I am rather late getting out into the garden. I am pruning my group 3 but find they are already leafing out strongly up to about 4 ft. but are bare for the first 2 ft. I usually cut them back to the first strong leaf in Spring (Here in Ontario - zone 5, we have to wait until the potential last frost which can be as late as the end of May) but this will mean cutting off a lot of healthy new growth. I have never encountered this problem before. How shall I go about pruning this year?
