Clematis Blooms

I never thought I would get this excited about 6 flowers... but my Clematis 'Jackmanii' is finally blooming! I planted this (from a dormant root/rhizome/whatever) three years ago.

The first year, it made a single stem, which promtly got eaten by something.
The second year, it made another single stem, which got broken by the rain (?!) and never got longer than about 6 inches.

But this year, it grew (again a single stem) and some leaves. The leaves started to get eaten again by some unknown pest, I think earwigs. But it made it to being a foot long, so I built a support for it. Then it got even longer, so I built a trellis for it out of bamboo. And then flower buds started to form. I was so excited, and checked it every day. The flowers on lower on the stem bloomed first:

Clematis 'Jackmanii', 5/19.2012

Those were barely open when I took that picture. A week later, all of the flowers were open and blooming:

Clematis 'Jackmanii', 5/25/2012

There are six of them, most with four petals, although one has five. One of the blooms got eaten while it was still a bud (something ate the inside?), but the rest survived. And it looks like there might be another few buds still to come. The whole vine (still a single stem) is probably about 3 feet long. I really hope it keeps growing, and maybe grows another stem (or more). Sunset says to fertilize monthly during blooming, so I'll try that. I think its in a good spot for a clematis - its roots are in the shade (and under mulch) most of the day, while the stem gets sun for the morning and early afternoons.

The lesson learned here is, I think (besides that I get way too excited when something works!), to plant Clematis from transplants, not dormant root/things. I'm thinking of getting a second one, to start growing on the other side of the trellis. This one obviously blooms on this years stems, so maybe a similiar type would look good? But I'll definitely be buying that one at a little bit more mature starting point!