Clematis

I have a Niobe and a President clematis. They have both started to sprout leaves, but should I have trimmed the dead on either of them, or do they grow from old stock?

Both are pruning group 2's...how old are they..or how long have they been in the garden...Pruning group 2's bloom on the vines grown from previous seasons aka old wood...I wouldn't prune them if they are older vines unless you see any that don't grow leaves later on in the season or if you need to shape them...the vines will always "look" dead but when spring comes you'll start to see leaves unfurl on each side of the leaf axil...Jeanne

Thanks Jeanne. The President, which is probably 6 years old is leafing out except for some on the front. I have been tempted to clip these, but will wait for a while. The Niobe is only a couple of years old and had a few blooms last year and then rebloomed with a few more blooms and it is also leafing out. I have one other one that doesn't seem to be leafing out that I just put in last year and I don't even remember the color, but when I looked a few days ago I didn't see any obvious leafing out. It had mainly just one vine growing up.

I've had some that will leaf out 2-3 weeks later than my others ..so don't give up hope..just make sure you are giving them their spring drink to wake them up from their winter nap...You will want to hard prune the one you planted last year as you want it to develop strong roots and after this year if it's a pruning group 2 leave it be...Jeanne