The vendor says no, says to watch it. So I will..it is Princess Di
Does This Look Dead, to you?
Prune it to the ground and give some rose or tomato fertilizer and water well...one thing Melva about clematis in pots is that you need to constantly do the finger test to see if the soil is moist...is that a pruning group 2??the name??..how old is it?..when did you plant it?..It can still come back if it just wilted...Jeanne
I was told the plant is 2 years old. The name of the Clematis is Princess Di, I don't know the pruning group. I have only had it for a month or so...I plan to release it, with a rose, but I wanted to wait to plant it in the ground, until I could see that it was alive.
I planted it, when I first got it, so it has been about a month.
This message was edited Apr 19, 2007 11:30 AM
I also purchased a Princess Di and it is pruning group 3. Have you taken it out of the pot and checked the roots? I think if it were still alive you would see nice white roots.
Good idea, I will do that today.
I had a clematis do that last year. I was told by the wonderful people here to just leave it be and see what happens. Sure enough, a few weeks later, new green growth sprouted from the ground. It died back completely over this winter, but just today I saw a nice healthy green shoot poking up. So give it some more time and see. Good luck!!
Okay I looked at it closely and I can see a hint of green so I will leave it alone.
Thanks to everyone who responded to this.
This message was edited Apr 29, 2007 11:29 AM
I recenty bought 8 potted clematis and they pretty much all looked like yours. I planted all of them in my raised bed. When I pulled them out of the pots, I noticed that some had very dense root systems while a few had almost no visible roots and much of the root ball fell off. The ones that had a poor root ball are runts with only a foot or so of growth with one stem while the ones with healthy roots are almost 4' tall already with multiple stems.
Moral of the story - with clematis it's all about the roots IMO. If you pull it out of the container and you see roots you have a healthy plant. In fact, based on my experience, if I bought a potted clematis I would ask for a replacement if I couldn't see roots. I'm a little skeptical if my runts will ever recover.
This one has a huge root ball. I have 4 that I got from the same vendor and they all have a lot of roots, I was just worried, because the others now have a lot of top growth..the Princess Di is the only one without growth...but as I said it does have a hint of green, so I am sure it will be fine.
I sent a picture to the vendor and she had problems with the pot it is in, the soil mix, she told me that I had obviously overwatered it, or somehow burned it...it was not a pleasant experience. The Clematis is in the pot, until I decide what rose to plant it with. I think Princess Di, will go with Moulton Noisette, a white rose...the others I have are Lincoln Star, Lemon Chiffon, and Roochuci....
This message was edited Apr 21, 2007 10:31 AM
I'm new to DG (and LOVE it!). I had one of my clematis vines die back to the ground this spring due to fire ants mounding up right at the base (it had already grown about 2 1/2 feet tall before the attack). I killed the ants off and then pruned it back to the ground. I gave it a week and then watered with just a little Super Thrive (no fertilizer). It is growing back very nicely now. I agree with everyone else, as long as it has healthy roots I think it will do alright.
I had a tiny one last summer that didn't do much growing at all. When fall came, it looked like it had died so I just forgot about it. Now it has just jumped up out of the ground and is seemingly growing inches per day. I was so surprised to see it come back, .... but it did. I think they're good at playing opossum. :)
That is what the Vendor saidI was worried because the others that I got from her, at the same time had much growth on them, but Princess Di had none.
I have had Clematis play possum before...But I wanted to let the Vendor know there might be a problem..I felt personally attacked by her, she said the pot was unsuitable, and the soil mix was unsuitable...and that I must have done something to the Clem..overwatered it, or something. It was awful! I vowed never to order from her again...until I looked at her list again...I have another order with her, for a cute purply-looking Clem, the name is Marcelina...
Who's the vendor? Maybe save somebody else a headache..
I hate to black ball her...could be, she was just having a bad day....and the Clematis she sends have HUGE rootballs! maybe I just hit her wrong....but it was very annoying. My thing has been roses and it is a usual thing, to contact the vendor, when you think there might be a problem, so in the worst case scenerio, in which the plant dies...you have already contacted them...
I got the same type of repsonse from a well known nursery once and I also was reluctant to make a negative review. I think the problem is that many if not most of the people who they talk to are gardening neophytes and try to blame the nursery for plant failures. So they become real defensive.
When I talked to my nursery, I was not trying to blame them, I was trying to learn so I could improve my skills but they never gave me the chance.
That is pretty well sums it up...she was very defensive, no doubt for much of the same reason. What she told me, was much of the same things I have heard here..Clematis like to play possum...and they are real good at it. What annoyed me, was her finding fault with other things that I had done. I have never had a vendor find fault with the soil I used, or the pot the plant was planted in...The Clematis had been potted temporaily in 'nursery pots' the black plastic things that get a million degrees in the heat...but they are not going to stay in those. I think I have found roses to mate them with...except one...would you guys help me decide what rose to plant Florida Sielboldii with?
The others are: Lemon Chiffon....a white rose is a partner for that one...Moulton Noisette
Lincoln Star...Noisette Nastarana a white rose with some pink it is climbing a live oak .....
Princess Di...another Noisette, Fewell's which is what they call, a white blend, it often has a bit of pink
Roochuci...a yellow rose, Teasing Georgia
I think a Lavendar climber would look nice ...I planted my "Florida Sieboldii" with clematis "Ruby Glow" and my rosa "Angel Face" started growing over there so I tied up some canes and thought the two were gorgeous together!!..What do you think...Jeanne
This message was edited Apr 23, 2007 3:12 PM
That is lovely Jeanne! I have a corner where it would look nice in the spring, like now, most of the roses there do not repeat but for a few weeks it'd be awesome! Imagine it with these...
I mean the Florida Sielboldii
Girl!!..You've got some gorgeous Roses!!..Shame we aren't neighbors we could have a ball making everyone else jealous..LOL..I can see those together..yummy!!..I also have Florida "Alba" planted with "Venosa Violacea"..they are both setting flower buds and will be open soon!!
Your gonna want this one..can you imagine planting this with a vibrant red climbing rose..Like Don Juan or Dublin Bay?!?!
That would also look pretty with the red Climbing Tea, Noella Nabonnand
Another one ya just gotta have..LOL..Is "Purpea Plens Elegans" can you see this with a white climbing rose such as "Mme. Alfred Carriere"?
I got Florida Seboldii last summer. The place I got it from said it was hard to Zone 5. Since then, I've found out it's really not.... So, off to Texas to my sisters it goes. (I kept it in the house all winter.). Ratz, I really like it...
Diann
Jeanne, you are killing me!
Diann...I am so sorry but you have better luck with Alpinas and atragenes and we can't grow those because they need your cold winters!!..I keep telling people NOT to try and Grow the Floridas below zone 7 but some just grow them in pots and bring 'em in for the winter...
Melva..hon..I can't help it..I love roses and clematis so much..I will never admit out loud how many I have..LOL...
I have an Alpina and it seems to do okay. Jacqueline du Pre, isn't that an Alpina? It is in a North position so it gets the cold north wind....
I wrote down the name of Purpa Plens Elegans it would be lovely with MAC, and I just happen to have that rose!
I remember seeing a pic of your Alpina..maybe I can grow it too?..Where do you live??..I live on Lake Conroe in Willis Texas..are you further north?..Where did you get your alpina??..share a pic please....Jeanne
That's the PIC!!..I don't know how I missed it on your post..I just planted Climbing rosa "MAC" and "Devonisis" with two purple clematis...I'll have to look to remember which ones..LOL...Jeanne
I live in Denton, which is about 40 miles North of Dallas. I think I got the Alpina from Chalkhill.
OH that is why..you get alot colder winters than me!!..I'd rather live without Alpinas than go through a cold miserable winter..brrrrrrrrrrrrrr...
Cold miserable winter? Texas? LOL sure. :)
Diann
Relatively speaking, yes, we get cold...it is normally for a few days at a time and not months like you Northeners...but we get some cold weather!
Uh-huh. ;) that's what my nephew's keep telling me as they are bbq'ing in January by their swimming pools. :)
Diann
Diann..what part of Texas is he from..there is a HUGE difference from MY winters and People around Dallas and the Panhandle..heck they can get snow and ice..we rarely do....Jeanne
Jeanne, I'm just teasing you. I know Texas can have terrible winter weather. My sister use to live in Caynon 40 some odd years ago... They are now in Houston. It's all realitive as to how bad you think your winters are. People in Minnesota and Canada scoff at an Iowa winter. Kansas and Misouri get rotten ice storms for the norm. We have cold winters in Iowa, but not horrible for the last 10 years or so. We really didn't have winter till mid-January this year. We got snow, but nothing like other people got... I have a brother-in-law that lives in Mexico City and he whines when it gets above 80 and below 60.... It's all relative. :) Everybody has gotten their share of yucky weather this past year.. We're all due some nice stuff for a few years. :)
Diann
Diann..it's so true about relativity!!..I live just North of Houston!!..so you can imagine my weather..it's usually anywhere fom 10 degrees cooler than Houston and since I live on a lake I always have a wonderful breeze which helps in the humid months...Jeanne
Lake Sam Rayburn? My husband have cousins that live up there..... I've been lucky, most of the time I've visited Houston have been when the humidity and heat were nice....
Diann
No..I live on Lake Conroe..if you've been to Houston then you may remember that Conroe is just North of Houston and I am just North of Conroe..I can be in The Woodlands to shop at the mall in 15-20 minutes...Jeanne
Yes, I've been through Conroe. My sister actually lives in Spring. I really like Old Spring town, it's quite neat. :) The Woodlands mall wears me out looking at it. :) You could take both of Iowa's biggest malls and put them in the Woodlands mall and still have room left over... Oh well, that just means I save more money for Clematis... :) (note the tie in to the actual thread. :) )
I just came back from looking at Lowe's and they have their clematis in, but there isn't anything that really tripped my trigger, so... I'll continue looking. Deb at Silver Star may get some of my money yet. :)
Diann