What's this I wonder?

I'm wondering, but I don't think this is a clem.
I took a pic of this area last week but this wasn't there. It popped up just a couple of days ago.
Could this be part of the Will Goodwin I planted last year???

If you look closely, you will see the brown twigs at ground level right in front of the trellis.
Just in front of that is this new growth.
I moved a tiny bit of mulch to get a closer look deeper and it is white underneath.

The only other thing I had in this area is a ghost fern which is completely dormant and other stuff is further on down the bed.

I have no idea. Certainly wondering if I need to cover my stuff too because it's supposed to be freezing (25-28 degrees) over the next couple of nights. Of course I have buds & hostas everywhere including my big clem on the mailbox. UGH!!!

nuther pic

My guess is that it is the clematis. You wouldn't have put another plant that close in front of the clematis, would you?

no, I'd never plant anything that close to the clem being so small.
There is nothing else at all, but this just doesn't look like a clem to me. Look at the bottom.

I did see the bottom and perhaps it's a new shoot since I can see the older unsprouted stem in the background. I'll go out and see if any of mine are sprouting at all and if I have anything similar I'll let you know.

The leaves do look like brand new clematis leaves.

Pirl that is what I was thinking! They do look like new clem leaves. I figured since the old wood isn't doing anything then this can't be part of the clem unless it is a new shoot.

You may or may not remember this is the really small clem I got from Park Seed and then after I planted it last fall, the main stem broke.
It is a bit bigger today.

I'd bet it's the clematis. Congratulations!

we'll see. Hopefully I'll be a able to tell better in another week or so. I was hoping this thing would do ok from the breakage & all. I know they are much stronger than we many of us think. lol

i do not think this is a clem shoot . could be a bulb or weed of some sort. of course, time will tell. but with the weather you mentioned i would cover it for sure. looks like a hellebore shoot. of course i am sure there ae many things it could be.
i did a walk around today and saw a few of my clems just starting to bud on the old vines...little whiteish buds. way to cold and early for them so i hope they hold off for a bit. last year i had a lot of early growth and the late frosts seemingly did not harm, but then a few weeks later the damage to the vascular systems became evident and i lost some early growth completely. no long term harm done, point being that you cannot always see frost damage for awhile.

Once the leaves open more you can compare them to the leaves on this Will Goodwin:
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/72896/

I'm definitely not a Clematis expert, but Brian Collingwood is a well known hybridzer & grower. Here's a link to his web page to have a closer look at some of his seedlings new growth. I think it too early yet to make a definitive ruling on yours. Time will tell. http://www.bcollingwood.com/Archive%202008.htm

I think it may be your Clematis as here in 6b-7 mine are starting to emerge also. The warm temps we have had lately have broke mine from there winters sleep, and of course they are calling for colder temp and snow.

Even when we've had surprise snow storms in March (even April) no harm ever came to our clematis.

i don't think a spring snow is as damaging as a hard frost. the snow actually gives some protection i think.
last spring we had late hard frosts after there were from a few inches to a few feet of growth on some of the clems. all seemed well, but within a few weeks i had die back on the ones who had been hit with it.
needless to say, covering plants at night with sheets or similar is not an option on 2 acres with well over 300 clems. not an option.

this year if i have vigorous early growth before late hard frost i will prune back a few days afterward even if no apparent damage is visible.
i would rather do this and sacrifice some growth than deal with it a few weeks later.

I totally agree about the spring snow.

Wasn't it about two years ago that there was a warming, which got the sap flowing in trees and many plants, then came a freeze of a week and many plants were killed? My daughter and SIL lost their magnificent 50 year old magnolia that spring.

well if snow is not a big deal than that's a good thing because now they are calling for 60% chance of snow here Saturday. It was 75 yesterday - BEAUTIFUL then 33 last night. Crazy.

niobe - over 300 clems??? wow, I've been excited over my two but I have been a little clem crazy for a while b/c my mailbox blooms seem to get bigger and bigger every year. How? I haven't a clue. Good luck I guess. Hope my other ones do as good. I think I got that one at home depot or something several years ago.

Sorry everyone, but I have yet another question about covering a big green hideous electrical box. Seems I want to cover any and everything with clems. lol I think I have the perfect house for it b/c by back is completely naked and needs massive color. I'll go take a pic of the box.

My Niobe hasn't budged yet this year, and I am a little worried. We did get snow this year (In south LA!), and I hope she makes it!

None of my clematis are showing any green here in 7b

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. :(

another

this is clearer I think

This message was edited Feb 20, 2009 4:27 PM

I'm so happy for you!

I'd just replace the mulch (I'm sure you've done it already) and leave it to nature. Some people have used large nursery pots turned upside down with a brick or two to weigh them down so they don't blow over but I think I'd leave it to nature.

Just say NO to Park's and check on them at Garden Watchdog along with Wayside. They're not the companies they once were with regard to plants, prices or customer service.

Yay Pirl! I'm so happy too it didn't die!
And yes, I put the soil back firmly and the mulch, watered a bit and now I wait. lol Last night I freaked b/c it was 27º & I went out and covered it with a blankie. XD Actually It was a raggedy towel, but same thing. lol It works tho.

Right now I'm heading to the WD & give my 2 ¢.

What's the WD? Aha! Garden Watchdog, I bet. You may be stunned at what you read. Once upon a time they were so reliable.

OMG, yes. That is crazy! I had no idea.
I will admit, I love a deal but I'd much rather pay more for a good plant than a wimp you know? I will double check next time a neighbor or someone tells me they like a plant company. I will never buy from them again.

yeppers, WD is what I call the watchdog. :D

It was the owner of a local nursery who first told me about Garden Watchdog and from there I found all of DG and joined. I'll be forever grateful.

I actually never heard of it until I joined here. I will ALWAYS use that to check from now on.

Also learn to check feedback first if you ever get into trading with other DG people.

I have read about that somewhere too, can't remember where tho.
There is sooooo much stuff here. Takes a while to get it all figured out.

I understand. Just click on a member's name and their Member Page will come up. It's about the fourth or fifth item on the list: Read feedback ___ has left for others, etc.

how's your shoot doing? i was going thru my 08 clem pics and saw this shot of the back of a brand new leaff, and it does look like the back of one of your emerging leaves.....oh , did you know they aren't called leafs on clems? hahah only kidding. they are called leafs!

it's really about the same. It's been pretty cold here the last few days. The bud is still there. I've been checking. :D

Any updates?

Yes, I'm curious too, any updates? My gut feeling is that the stem parts are too thick to be a clem, even a fat old mature one. I was kinda thinking along the lines of a peony, but the opening leaf doesn't look right. Maybe the hellebore like mentioned above... it does look like that kind of leaf texture.

Any new photos?

or a mayapple, which is an native weed in my area , but usually does not come up in a new area, only one where you struggle for a few years to get rid of it, a woodland type place.

lol guys, this is not a weed or peony or anything else. It HAS to be the clem I planted. I have never had anything else there ever, except a fern which was moved 2 feet over and this certainly isn't a fern. lol

Here's a pic from 2 minutes ago. It's growing! :D
now I gotta go cover up everything cause they are now calling for snow. UGH! I hope the weather man is wrong, as he usually is.

ok, now I'm noticing the leaves. Look at the shape - like a cut or something. Is that weird?
It's not on all of them. I know slugs can't be doing this - they are too clean & I heavily baited not long ago.

This message was edited Feb 27, 2009 4:06 PM

Wow, allow me to withdraw my original vote. It sure does look like a clematis now! Had me fooled.

Those cut leaves are normal on clematis if I'm looking at the same thing you are. Thanks for the photo!

lol had me fooled too! I was really wondering because it emerged so strange.
The pic I just posted was growth pretty much over night. I did not see any of that yesterday. Come to think of it, we did get a big rain from some of the t-storms that have been passing thru.
I just covered it up with a big pile of leaves. I'm sure it's fine but rather safe than sorry with a little baby like this. lol

look s like the clem for sure!