Clematis ‘Etoile Violette’ or Clematis viticella 'Etoile Violette' grows to 12 feet in height and is covered in early summer with deep purple, 4-inch blooms with cream centers. In fall the fluffy seed heads are attractive. Clematis like their roots in the shade and their heads in the sun, so inter-planting between lower growing plants provides the shade component, and training the stems up an arbor, along a fenceline, or letting them scramble through a tree are all successful approaches to giving the top sufficient light. In the Chicago area viticella clematis usually die back to 18 inches above ground every winter. Once the buds start to swell in late winter/early spring, carefully prune off the dead stems above the live buds.