3 x Clematis dead

robatworkuk · May 2023

Hi all,

In 2020 I purchased and planted 3 x different Clematis plants - actually this collection Spring Clematis Collection - JParkers in different beds - one on a different side of the garden.

They grew really well for the last 2 years and are all pretty big - more than 2m across.

They are now, all 3, dead. Deceased. Ceased to be. Shuffled off...etc. etc... No green under the stem surface, twigs snap, and no buds. All other plants next to them are healthy and alive.

What has happened? Was this winter a mass Clematis killer?

Disappointed of SE England

Busy-Lizzie · May 2023

This winter was a killer or nearly a killer for clematis montana, though it may have been the hot dry summer as montana is pretty hardy. Two of my montanas have suffered badly, but my group 3 clematis are OK.

Fairygirl · May 2023

Clematis are extremely hardy, and montana means mountain, so that tells you the hardiness of them.

Some of the winter types, which aren't as easy if you're in the wrong part of the country, or the smaller flowering early ones which don't like being regularly/consistently wet, are more vulnerable to poorer weather.
I wouldn't assume they're dead though - not yet. However if you only got them a few years ago at that size, they aren't fully mature, and are more vulnerable to the swings of temps/weather, especially if you had those drought conditions as well last summer. That combination's what has caused problems this winter for some plants.

TheVanguard · May 2023

I lost 4, just cut them down this weekend…one was a year old the others a few years old and well established…there were signs of growth which died back…we had some hard late frosts here in Lincolnshire…I wondered if it was that?

group 2 and 3 clematis are fine.

hoping they come back but I’m not particularly hopeful

Fairygirl · May 2023

If they're in wet conditions, and then get frozen, which is what many places experienced, that's more damaging, but they're very tough plants.
They do take several years to establish fully though, so if they've not been in an ideal site, that can be more difficult.
Here where I am, most people plant them right up against house walls etc, as it's a bit drier and more protected there. Much better for them - they don't like being soaking wet, like those other early clems. They can manage plenty of cold temps - well below minus 10 to 15, but wet cold is completely different.
Frost will knock back soft new growth, but it doesn't mean the plant itself has succumbed either. All my larger flowering clems were knocked back as we had a weird, very mild winter again, but with another sharp spell in March. Only down to minus 9 or so, and not for as long as the December one, but enough to affect that new growth. All growing again though.
If it's not cold spells, it's slugs getting the new growth!

3 x Clematis dead

Posts