Winter beauty ( clematis)

That's funny, as I have no success (apart from NellieMoser) in very sandy soil in Oxfordshire with any clematis, although I love them.
Petra I think the problem is with the mild weather, things budding too early?Have you looked at the RHS site online?

I have no success with clematis on our sandy soil here in Dorset but when growing them in clay soil in Oxfordshire I had beauties. I put a bit of lime on them occasionally as they do not like an acid soil apparently. They do like to be planted deep and I have often covered them with stones. I hope you have more luck than me. The only one out of five planted here that survived is a Nelliemoser which is OK at the moment.

It's very warm here for the time of year. Maybe that is why you have a rampant passion flower! I loved my passion flower but it died during a bad winter so maybe think about a bit of fleece for it if the weather becomes really cold?

Yes, I had heard that it is important about how deeply the roots of a clematis are planted. If you have time, maybe go to your local garden centre for advice? There is a man at our local one who can answer any question but he usually sells me something too.