American Clematis Society

don't know if any of you are members of the American Clematis Society......there is a quarterly newletter, now sent electronically vs snail mail. i have enjoyed being a member and feel it to be a good cause.
anyway the newsletter just came out and apparently polish spirit is now thought to be of the jackmanii family not the vitacella group. apparently polish spirit is prone to wilt and this is a trait it gets from jackmanii in the background.
polish spirit has never wilted for me, i use it when i want to fill in somewhere with vigorous foliage in year two. some folks consider it to vigorous, maybe that is in the warmer zones without a hard dormant period. i keep it under control with pruning. i like the vigor and as the plant matures the blooms get bigger every year for me.
of interest jackmanii does wilt on me, and come back and has never been as vigorous for me as it is for others. i do have it and a couple other of the jackmanii family. (jackmanii alba, jackmanii suberba)
all 3 of the types i have are prone to wilt, but i just whack off and they come back in their time..anywhere from a month to a season later.
thought this was interesting, and i would pass it on. if everybody on the forum is an ACS member sorry to post redundant info. the ACS is recommending Etoile Violette be planted vs polish spirit in the quest to banish wilt. i love them both!!!! here is etoile v from last year in my garden.

I have both too Guru....one on each post of my pergola.....I too loved both of them last year. Gosh I got Polish Spirit because I understood it would least likely get wilt - I guess I should watch for it now? Strange. Oh well. I am not moving it cause I love it. You always have interesting tidbits of info! Thanks for sharing.

Here is my Polish Spirit......

Here is my Etoile Violette.

i thought that about polish spirit too, and i have never had a whit of trouble...i love the way you can get fill in in year two with them. learn something every day with clems.
etoile violette is a beaut tho.
i have neighbors who have huge jackmanii's and while mine are respectible, they are not as vigorous and steadfast as many other clems i have.
go figure.

also found out spoonerii is not a montana. either way, too short a season for mine to bloom even tho i have had it for 4 years. and it comes back each year by end may......

I don't bother with montana's since they don't grow here for the most part...they sure are nice though....

Well I do expect a good show from both those clematises this year....it will only be the 2nd year in my gardens but with the way they really took off last year (I was impressed) I am expecting a better show this year!

Polish Spirit has never wilted for me either..as a matter of fact I have lovingly given it the moniker "The Thug" for it grows and blooms like a weed and sends up about 8-10 new vines each year..NEVER EVER have I seen a clematis grow like this one...same with "Etoile Violet"..just not as thuggish...Jeanne

agree completely jeane, but i have had die back from etoile, but not wilt. just pooped out and tired after blooming and begging for a pruning.
oh well, guess they are still figuring out some things with the plants all the time.
the color on etoile is so amazing.

I don't have "Polish Spirit" in my garden, but have had "Etoile Violette" for many years. I've read that people love "Polish Spirit" and have seen gorgeous pictures of it. I know that some Clematis are more prone to wilt than others, but perhaps a spraying regiment would help that problem.

spraying with what shirley?
i rarely spray clems.am afraid to. would be interested in your recommendations.
i think genetically clems related to jackmanii and lanuguinosa sometimes have this trait. remember in the early 1900's clems were in vogue, very popular and prevalent and then the GREAT WILT nearly wiped out all the cultivars going on.

however we all overuse the term wilt...as in "wilt back", which may have nothing to do with fungal wilt. brownish stems are not the fungal wilt they are just tired vines, thirsty vines, damaged vines, spent vines. true fungal wilt turns the stems dark dark brown or black.

thoughts on spraying products would be great.
i have to spray my alberta spruce with miticide and some of that has a fungal agent in it i believe. thanks goodness jab beetles and spider mites do not seem to ever bother the clems.

I use Horticultural Oil with a few drops of liquid dishwashing soap so it adheres to the leaves and the solution doesn't run off. I use this as a preventative spray on my Clems throughout the growing season.

I've never sprayed our Spruces in the 18 years we've lived in this house. They are huge so I couldn't do a thorough job of spraying them regardless.

Here are a couple of links that may be of interest:

http://www.clematis.com.pl/wms/wmsg.php/688612.html
http://www.clematis.com/HTML-Docs/Article_009.html
http://www.herbs2000.com/flowers/c_pest_dise.htm

The American Clematis Society also gave this bit of advice:

STEM ROT (aka WILT)

Clematis are susceptible to many fungi that can cause them to 'wilt' or turn black and these fungi enter the plant via the stem and work their way up. Although this is a very disappointing malady it is usually not fatal if you planted correctly. Carefully cut off all of the diseased parts of the vine and then disinfect your clippers with Physan 20. Dispose of all these diseased parts in a sealed plastic bag.


This message was edited Apr 7, 2009 4:53 PM

shirley thanks. i do know that mary toomey on one of her lectures i heard in calif mentioned that the wilt is evidenced by the blackish stem vs the brown off and tired die back that brown stems reflect.

we must not take the wilt name in vain.

thanks for the recipe..i use physan 20 all the time for implements based on ACS recommendations.

you must be a member too?

You're welcome.

No, I'm not a member of ACS. Is it worth joining them?

shirley from the standpoint of supporting the growth of clematis in the US yes. from the standpoint of info not available
anywhere else, maybe not. altho the info on polish spirit not being thought of as a vitacella and suspected to be jackmanii family , that was new to me.
so yes and maybe.
when i first got into clems i was so eager for info....you can read between the lines here. i am planning to continue my membership always, even tho the events and so forth are all southern calif based. i would go out there if they had an international expert at an event. i went to n calif three times, chalk hill, to hear mary toomey speak...which was amazing i must tell you.

i am thinking about joining the british or even going to an international event at some point, but to tell the truth i travel so much in the winter and by mid april to august i like to be in the garden and not leave for a week or longer at once. so i would have to be really motivated. am checking the events out however. in the clem season, times out of the garden are for seeing my daughter and g kids in fla!

so put me down as clem crazy and my "final" answer as yes....join!