A Hardy Annual - Clematis

This clematis viticella plant lives in a pot on our patio outside our back door. As the patio is 4 or 5 feet below the level of the back door and we have to go down steps to access it, the clematis has to climb the trellis to flower and it has been doing just that for many years now. Over winter it shrivels away until there is little to see in the plant pot but come the spring it begins to sprout. This year the flowers have been particularly vibrant and certainly deserved a blip.