Clematis: What's this I wonder?, 0 by 2racingboys

2racingboys wrote:
ok ya'll. Here's the deal.
I noticed today the fuzzyish part of a bloom in the center of both of these leaf sections all still kind of together. (hope that makes sense)
Anyway, I gently moved the mulch over, then in front I gently scooted the dirt aside with my finger and it is indeed part of the will goodwin I planted last fall.

Look closely at the pics, there is yet another broken section towards the very bottom where the white shoots begin. This is the old wood. I'm wondering if possibly a squirrel did this because that was not like that when it was planted. I am extremely careful with my plants.

Nevertheless, my question is: do I leave this as is and just let it do it's thing or are these new shoots supposed to be trimmed back? I wouldn't think I would need to on one this small but I've only had one clematis and it was a pretty decent size when I got it.

I will say that I will not order from park seed again because I feel like this plant was just entirely too small. My neighbor just raved about how great they are & how nice their thing were, but not this time. Perhaps I should have let it grow a little more before I put it out. A lesson learned well here. :(