For the last three years, my Clematis "Wisley" has done very well. Normally by this time, it has started to bloom. This year: nothing. No new shoots, no signs of any, either.
All my others are doing fine. This one has not been moved or tampered with, so I'm unclear as to why it hasn't come back.
Do clematis just sometimes die off for no obvious reason and without showing any symptoms?
This is majorly depressing !
I think I've lost a clematis :(
Like you told me, don't give up YET. It might be taking longer this year.
Dale, last year I had an 'Asao' that was a no show. Yes, nada, zip, none. But I found it this spring. I was surprised to have found it. As it turned out. I had this one planted underneath a tall Azalea shrub. Hubby modified some irrigation tubing nearby year before last, and perhap has pushed some mulch over the planting to heavily that the plant didn't get to see the light. I'm glad to have found the jewel. Though, it was one of the early bloomers, this year I've seen it with 3 nodes in height. So I may have to move it out of that crowded area.
I have seen clematis do this and disappear for 2 year..the key is to STILL WATER that area for it might just be "resting" and usually moreso than not re-emerge..ESPECIALLY since you said you've had it for three year..also..do you have problems with moles or voles..sometimes those critters can devour the roots...Jeanne
I'm hoping it's still there like Lily says...and just taking it's time making a comeback.
Like most places, our weather has been so "not normal" and this may be yet another odd phenomenon. I'll just wait it out and see.
Jeanne, No, thank goodness we don't have voles or moles ! I'll do what you say and continue to water there and hope for the best.
Thanks for both of your responses.
i too have had this happen. never a great sign, but it may come back. like jeanne, i keep the space and marker and water and fertilize with all the others when this happens for quite a while..a year at least.
i am also going to excavate an area and see if perhaps the root has been eaten, rotted or what ever i can see, but not for quite awhile in the event it comes back.
i have never had one come back after a season and half, altho i have heard of 3 year comebacks. no proof of that however.may be clem lore!
Clemlor? LOL Too funny!
yes , we should list all the "myths of clematis"
such as . an elderly woman who was a great gardener and is a friend since before i started gardening , told me at one point then, that "they needed a hole 6 feet deep". i think my disbelief of that was one reason i got interested in them!
jsaper, any sign of wisley? i am headed home to check my clems, haven't peeked for 2 weeks as i have been out of town. so will be thinking of all the sleepy clems tomorrow morning as i do a roll call!
No sign of anything. It should be blooming now, but apparently it's a goner. Still keeping fingers crossed.
Very depressing and frustrating :(
My Asao disappearance act last spring? I looked back in my garden block, it did show up in the fall with a less than vibrant bloom.
my wisely had not made an appearance yet either this year. i just put it i nin the fall, i think it will be coming up soon as we are breaking into 69's daytime 40's nighttime here. only have a handful not up yet, and no harm done form the last two weeks witchy weather from the looks of it.
zone 5, my wisely is up. still lazy and not showing are caroline, flammula, enter. voluceau, juuli, kullus, some ramona,and regretfully marmori. i am looking for marmori 2 x a day, as it is a large clem and so beautiful. most of my other late showers are from last fall planting and i am not overly worried. marmori is a large plant and should be up by now.
anyone else have marmori up?
yesterday i went on a fishing expedition. first, i watered a hole where a clem planted last fall had not come up yet. got it really wet. started digging with hands, and came to root mass. lifted it gently as it was at least 8 inches below the top of the soil. it seemed in good shape and i gently repositioned it higher up. i actually found 2, the only 2 holes i went into. maybe if i had waited they would have come up thru that much soil, but having gone to the trouble to find them, i decided to lift them up a bit, vs risk that it was too deep for them to activate.
they were put out last fall and i do not plant as deeply as some folks, usually about 2 inches for cultivars, not so deep for vitacellas and species clems at current soil level(just like another perennial). these re the depth advisory from Mary Toomey, who is my clem guru.
anyway, the roots were in good shape, but i guess instead of heaving over the winter they " de-heaved" and went lower, and of course i had top dressed in the fall and in the spring already so that added more inches.
this afternoon after the sun starts lowering i am going out to "go fishing" in a few other holes where my initial show is delayed.
not sure if this info is helpful and i will re post as to more found and their progress.
JasperDale
2 years ago, hubby brought home a beautiful sunset clematis for me. I planted her next to a rose so she would climb through. Last year, I was so upset - she never appeared, however I did water that spot - this year, sunset has made a reappearance. I am so thrilled!
Don't give up hope yet!
that is cool! love those stories. the clematis is an amazing group of plants!
did some more fishing on a few and on a couple of the clems not up, found the root mass about 6 to 8 inches deep,and in most cases showing white growth under the soil. a couple cam up on their own today, guess i am just over anxious this year as i am ahead on all my chores due to some good help and the weather cooperating. because i am ahead on chores, i think the clems should be too!
Thanks for both of your responses, CGuru and Carolyn.
It never occurred to me to dig around where it's planted and see what's up (or NOT up for that matter, lol ) . I'll definitely try that tomorrow.
I'm basically paranoid about digging around the bases of Clematis for fear I'll do some serious damage to the Clem. itself or the things planted around them.
These have to be one of the most frustrating plants to grow: I understand the "roots in shade, tops in sun" premise, but I find this difficult to achieve.
The Wisley in question is planted on one side of an arbor which has a climbing rose on it. (The rose is on one side, the Clem. on the opposite side) The Clem. is in a WEST facing exposure. The rose is growing perfectly fine.
The rose was already established when I planted the Clem. but not quite completely down to where the Clem. is planted. (The arbor is 48" wide)
The roots of the Clem. are shaded by some evergreen daylily foliage which is a short dl...only about a foot tall at most. The dl is planted about 18" away from the Clem. I deliberately planted a short dl there to provide the needed shade for the Clem. roots. This appears to have worked.
It has done perfectly fine for the past 3 years and now all of a sudden, nothing. If I reach down and gently "tug" on the old twigs of the Clem., they feel intact and rooted...like they are well anchored...so I don't "get it". Everything else in the vicinity is doing just fine.
HOWEVER: People here tell me NOT to prune Clematis because of our climate. I USED to prune them and they did nothing at all. So I stopped pruning them and just left the old vines and they sprout every year and bloom on the OLD wood and are fine.
MAYBE I should cut this one back ????? Or is it too late ???
Sorry this post is so long, but this has got me completely baffled !
do you have a photo of it from right now? that would be helpful.
i 'd probably cut some of the stems off to just above 1 node from the ground, and some all the way to the ground level or jsut below, leaving some of the old vines as is, to stimulate new shoots. if i got new shoots and there was no growth on the old vines after a couple of weeks, i'd cut those off too at or lightly below soil level. but again, without pic and putting it out there i that my expertise is in a different zone, but this is how i would handle. and would fertilize now and make sure i was deep watering on a regular basis.
my little wisely, put in last fall is a nice 4 inches and looking good.
this is the first time i have dug to check roots. i took a few inches of dirt off with a trowel, then started digging with gloved hands. i also watered the hole well before i begun, so it was mud fishing as we have been wet here.
I lost my Rosemoor this year. Finally dug it up and discovered hardly any roots! It has bloomed beautifully for the last three summers. Must have been our very harsh winter. My Versailles, my old Jackmanii, and newer Jackmanii Superba are all doing wonderfully well. Of course, I garden only in containers, not the ground. Guess I'm bound to lose one once in awhile. But I'm heartbroken, and Silver Star doesn't have any more Rosemoors. The one I bought originally was from Garden Crossings.
ah so sad. root could be eaten in normal circumstance, but you are all container, right?
are you sure you dug deep enough? i found some like 8 inches below soil level. apologized to some, and promptly recovered and lifted a few up, but only one nonexistant.
if my marmori does not come up i will feel same way. did not dig for her root, she is 4 years mature and i did not want to offend, am relying on prayer and last year's charts of sprout time.