I have for 4 yrs, a type 2 (early spring ~ skip to late July to frost, magnificent Will Goodwin Clematis on lamp post & wall arbor 10 ft. to 12 feet, bushy and unblieveably beauiful for weeks and weeks of summer.. Dog-wakers & others taking photos. Both places in 2010 had few spring blooms and crinckled up brown lower leaves by fall. And no fall blooming. Never heard of Clematis "wilt" plus mega other things of pests, wilt & invasive plants until reading in all my 2011 gardening Mags. But sounds both have Clemetis death wilt. Probably should rip them out and do my best to take out mega areas of soil and dispose of. Any advise? Sadly, my old computer & even older camera (no connection) so can't send you pics. of dying (before early fall) the leaves of these once outstanding plants. I'm super sad, as they were once so beautiful for weeks and weeks. ALSO FREAKING sick of this Northeastern WINTER like most folks of all walks of life, young & elders like me. Happy Easter to all.
CorinneKL@aol.com
CLEMATIS WILT/KILLER ?
VtRoots, so sorry to hear of your loss of the beautiful 'Will Goodwin' clematis. I haven't experienced with the problem before so I'm at a loss. Winter is tough enough down South. I can only imagine how bad it's up North. Hope someone with good suggestion will come along. Best wishes.
My 'Blue Light' got clematis wilt the month I brought it home. I cut it to the ground and cleaned up all the leaves and threw them in the trash. A couple of weeks later, there was new growth. The next year (which was last year), it bloomed and grew beautifully.
I would try cutting it back and make sure to clean all the debris out and use bleach on your tools after use. You don't want it spreading to other plants. If it's possible, try scrubbing down the arbor and lamp post, too.
Good luck! 'Will Goodwin' is beautiful.
Kwanjin is right - cut it back and hope for the best.
I am wondering if clematis wilt is what is wrong with the new Omoshiro that I planted a few weeks ago. After the first bloom opened, the foliage began to wilt. I checked to see if perhaps I had broken the stem when I planted it, but I did not see any breaks. I am thinking of cutting off the stem, digging and potting it, and waiting to see if any new growth puts out. I was so looking forward to growing Omoshiro after seeing your picture, Pirl, and had been on Brushwood's waiting list since last spring. Any suggestions of what I should do? Should I dig out the soil in the hole and replace the soil before planting another clematis there?
Doris
Doris - write to Dan at Brushwood immediately and tell him what happened. A photo would help. Good luck.
Thanks, Pirl. I will take a picture today and send it to Dan.
pirl, I emailed Dan at Brushwood. He said it is probably transplant shock. I am hoping that is it. I am going to start at the top of the stem and keep cutting until I find green if there is any. I will check the base to see if there are any signs of life. I am feeling optimistic. If it doesn't live, I'll just order another one when it is available again. I have ordered 7 more clematis and will repace Omoshiro with one of the new ones. I'll pot up Omoshiro and keep it where it will get regular watering. Thank you for your suggestion.
Doris
You can always try a drink of Epsom Salt - one tablespoon to a gallon of tepid water and see if that encourages new growth for sweet Omoshiro. I hope it grows better than you can believe. Good luck.
I will do just that! We have epsom salt that we put around our daylilies. Actually, I had planned to sprinkle a little around all the clematis and have not done that. Thank you.
I used to just spread a handful around each clematis and then read it is more beneficial to mix it with tepid water so that's what I do now. I even do it indoors for new clem's.
Then I will mix it with water. Thank you.
Does anyone know if it will help any to use epsom salt and water before the clems start to show in the spring? None of mine are showing yet, but thought if it will help them, I would water them now. Course, if they need to be up and leafing first, no problem, I can wait, lol!
I did it yesterday with a no show clem. I pulled off the brand new growth, by accident, when I was weeding last year and thought for sure I killed the clem but it's always the roots that are the important part of the plant. So yesterday I went searching and couldn't find it despite digging for it.
I was about to give up and kept digging to prepare the soil for a transplanted clem when I found it - 'Josephine'. To help encourage it I did give it a drink of Epsom Salt mixed with the leftover lukewarm coffee water. I will keep an eye on it and hope for the best.
It just seems to take so long for anything to get established good here, and I have several that are just a couple of years in the ground here. Of course, they are showing nothing yet, as it's too early still, but thought that they might appreciate it and was hoping I could do something to kind of give them a boost and help them along.
The ES should help but probably won't rush them.
Thanks! I figured I have plenty of time, since the only thing showing any signs of life right now are the crocuses, and a few irises are starting to poke out their heads. But, if it would quit snowing, things would pick up some, lol!
Yes, I'm sure snow is a pain when trying to find new growth!
I hope this will keep you encouraged. I had looked for two weeks, hoping to find any sign of growth on 'Etoile Rose' (from Koi), and finally I was rewarded:
pirl, I wanted to tell you that I dug up Omoshiro today and detected new growth coming up from the roots. It may not bloom this year, but we should get a nice show next spring.
Doris
Eek! Why did you dig up Omoshiro? New growth is always great to hear since mine is still sound asleep and believing it will bloom in four weeks is just too difficult as all I see are brown stems with no leaf buds. Thanks, Doris.
I lifted it up with plans to pot it up and replace it with a new one that I got from Brushwood this week (so I would have blooms in a few weeks). But, since there is new growth I left Omoshiro in the ground. I have other spots for the new ones.
Okay, now I feel better. My Omoshiro is still playing dead but I still have high hopes for it.
Many thanks to those who made suggestions about my 5 yr.old Will Goodwin Clematis allegedly w/ Clematis "killer wilt." I did note more dead stuff from top to bottom on both sets (2 plants on giant wall trellis, & 3 plants around light post. Bottom 2 ft. still looking deader than dead. (Not able to feel safe on 2-stepper stool wiggling in loamy soil below unless on stratigically-placed boards, & at my age, still kinda' scary!!) So one rainy day decided to rip out roots & just pull all I could to the ground. HOWEVER, upon rec. your encouragement the night before, I did not ~ plus what wing-nut, Sr. citz., wants to stand on a stool in any of the 25 days of pouring rain & melting snow this past April? What a shock in early May after 2 days of sun, there were buds on all. Only "remaining ruin" is the 1st 2 ft. from the ground. (WILT?) So I tiptoe-reached (2 ft. short of tops) clipping as carefully as possible down to where green shoots are everywhere. Have monster 6 yr. old Daylily in front of wall "clemmie" (badly needs to be divided by dynamite) which made clipping challenging from side to side. That daylily will hide the ugly bottoms of that 'clemmie' & I will put taller annuals around the "yuck factor" of the 'clemmie' on the light post. And enjoy what I can of a slight miracle, plus zillions of perennials I'm kinda' not able to keep up w/anymore!! Does DAVE'S GARDEN have a FORUM for Senior Gardeners/tips, etc. I haven't noticed one! Thanks again!
CKLawson in "very-slowly" drying out VT
Sounds like you did what you could. We want pics of results if and when they come in. ^_^
I am personally of the school that clematis wilt is from an immature root system that can not handle the top growth..that is why hard pruning regardless of pruning type for the first few years will almost totally eliminate this in years to come...but even if it does happen..prune down to soil level..keep moist and poof it will return..even years later..I planted clematis "Sunset" last year and it wilted and I was pleasantly surprised to see it re-emerge this year and bloom..I've had 'em disappear for a couple of years and come back...have faith...Jeanne
My new Omoshiro (planted in March) was doing fine. Had a beautiful bloom on it and was putting on new growth.
I came out yesterday afternoon and it was wilted and the leaves had turned mostly black. My plan is to cut it down to the ground and leave it alone. (I may give it epsom salts).
Is wilt contagious to my other clems? I have a dozen or so in my yard and I do not want it to spread.
I'm upset because she was my new baby and I have only had her for 2 months. I got her from Silver Star Nursury. Debbie has always had top grade clems. Is this clem wilt something I should let her know about so she can protect her nursury stock?
Here she is new and looking good.
Here she is yesterday. boo, hoo
Up close and ugly...
So sorry to see that, mstish. Will you be cutting it back? How old is it?
I've had her 2 months. I don'y know how old it is befor that.
Clematis Wilt isn't contagious..I've heard some people refer to it as you would black spot on roses..but from my experience it isn't so...I've had them side by side and one wilt and the other keep on ticking like no tomorrow...cutting back even to the soil like and watering is key..always keep it moist..not soggy..and it will re-emerge..I just pruned one back after it wilted two weeks ago and she is already sending up new shoots
I've had similiar experience like Jeanne does. Once I planted my Belle of Woking next to my Niobe. B.o.W wilted the first year. I trimmed it back thinking it was a gonner. Niobe kept on growing that first year. Next year....B.o.W. returned and joined Niobe. Now they make a fine couple. :))
Lily..I bet they do..please share pics I wanna see that marriage..yum yum...:)
Jeanne, check this thread out. I had many a picture of the 'couple'. lol
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1169262/
OH MY..absolutely DELICIOUS together..and now you make me wish I had a cherry tree..what a stunner...do you live on a lake as well?...Jeanne
Yes, Jeanne. We're very fortunate to be by the water. Only draw back; DH doesn't fly fishing!!! I wished he is that kind of contemplative, and patient kinda guy. lol. But he isn't. Can't have my cake and eat it too. lol.
We love living on the lake and my husband is "eaten-up" with fly fishing..he is certified and just spend two day giving classes in San Antonio, Texas...Here is his website..now you tell me this man ain't eat up with it..LOL...Jeanne
http://gulfcoastspey.com/
ps...that is my cutie pie in the blue shades
Very nice, thanks Jeanne for the website. Your cutie pie is certaintly a cutie pie and eaten up with the wonderful hobby of fly fishing.
mstish, I had the same thing happen to my Omoshiro this spring. I got it from Brushwood Nursery and planted it in March. It had a bloom and a few days later began to wilt and turned brown. I was so afraid that it was dying. I even posted my concern and asked above about clematis wilt. Pirl advised me to contact Brushwood and let Dan know what had happened. He said it sounded like transplant shock and that it should come back. I looked at it today, and it has new growth about 6" high. I cut the dead foliage back to the ground and gave it a good drink of epsom salt dissolved in water which pirl recommended. Keep watering it and don't give up.
Doris