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Are my clematis dead?
I have never grown clematis before, and planted 7 in our garden last year. They were all quite big plants when I planted them out - around 1 metre high and seemed very healthy, mostly group 3 apart from a couple of group 1's. Some I grew from little seedlings and others I bought as 2 year old plants. Over winter I expected them to die back, but most of them look completely dead! Only two, a montana and an alpina have nice healthy looking stems now. The others are just dead brown twigs 
Will they grow back from the root system? Did I plant them when them were still too small?
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Group 3 clematis need cutting back to about 12" from soil level in February ... they'll shoot from below ground ... I wouldn't worry about them.
What were the Group 1s ... are they the Alpinas? They're usually pretty tough and I'm pretty sure theyll be showing signs of life in the early spring.
Panic not
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
The Group 3's are deciduous and will send new stems from the crown in Spring, they are not dead.
LP - that's what mine are like. Green shoots usually appear on the stems in February and I wait until mid-March (given the weather up here) before cutting them back to two levels of buds.
Thanks so much guys
Feeling very reassured now. I confess I was in a teensy bit of a panic when I looked at them! I did expect them to die back during winter, but was alarmed when all that was left was a twig having nursed them from plug plants.
Dovefromabove - The group one is a Montana (Elizabeth) and an Alpina (Constance). They both seem fairly happy, no leaves obviously but they still have their nice strong stems from last year so I think they are doing well. Looing forward to seeing their flowers for the first time in the next few months