Clematis shoots come up from the ground without leaves and some grow quite a ways before leafing out. Slugs and earwigs can eat them right off to the ground at this point....

Clems normally are slow getting started, it can take several years depending on how big they were when you planted them.
What you are describing sounds perfectly normal to me.

Don't know anything about your water meter other than you want the root zone consistantly moist. Do not let them dry out.

I would also pull away the mulch so the mulch isn't touching your vines..now that they have emerged..you are zone 4 so yours would be just now coming up..great advice from BoS..keep them moist and fertilize with either rose or tomato fertilizer...Jeanne

Thanks for these responses -- Jeanne, I wouldn't say the vines I was mentioning have actually "emerged" -- just that if I dug down an inch or so, I could find shoots. Should I still be removing the mulch? It seems like our high-altitude sun could zap them pretty quickly, they're so small and tender-looking. The past two days have been positively hot, 90 degrees.

I am also in z:4. Some of my clematis are just emerging, others are still underground and others are up 18 inches or more. I don't dig down looking for sprouts, just have faith that they will grow and they do. I find that the older the plant the sooner they emerge. Plants only a year old are the ones that are slow to emerge. I don't remove all the mulch, leaving a light layer to protect the new sprouts from a late frost.

Mulch is good to keep the soil moist and to keep away weeds..but having them right up against the vines can cause a fungus..remember clematis do love sun..they just like their roots to stay moist..sun is good...Jeanne

Are you in Colorado or the Front Range? It sure sounds like it. If so, I wouldn't remove the mulch today - too hot, dry and sunny. I've already sun-burned plants this year by exposing them to our sun too quickly. High-altitude sun seems to burn so much easier than sun did when I was at sea level.

But Thursday looks cloudy and cool and a good day to pull back some mulch.

I potted up the clematis I got from Chalk Hill last fall, and they're up about a foot (Piilu, MiniSeelik) or two feet (Petit Faucon).

BTW, I have quite a slug problem. Not so much on the clematis, but really bad on other plants. But if you're in my area, you might have a slug problem too.

I use Sluggo Plus which is also labeled for earwigs and it did reduce my earwig damage last year. I still see a lot of slugs while gardening. I chop them in half with my trowel. If I remember, I sprinkle bait around the carcasses. They are cannibals and I'm hoping more will eat the bait if they are attracted to the dead one.

I would not remove the mulch unless it is really deep or really course so that it blocks the stems. Clematis can be slow to emerge. What you've got going on is normal. It is also true as they age they get faster.

Yes, cnetter, I'm in Denver, and I'm leaving the mulch covering the shoots, for today anyway.

My Petite Faucon, which I just planted last fall, is already blooming, to my delight. So is my Niobe, which is older.

I haven't seen any slugs around, but I did spot an earwig the other day, so maybe I'll take some preemptive action against them.

Thanks to everyone for normalizing my experience! I guess so far I'm really doing pretty well. My King George V died last fall after I planted it -- but it sounds like no one's King George survived -- and I drowned my ice blue recently by forgetting I had the hose on it; two out of twenty ain't bad.

Now, yet another question: Does anyone (especially anyone in my area) use Hydrogel or a similar product that helps retain moisture? I'm thinking in this semiarid climate it might be a good idea.

I don't use it, but I have more square footage in garden than house, so I couldn't afford it.
I heavily augment the soil with aged horse manure - and by heavily, I mean over 50%. I usually do this the year before I plant in a garden, and the result is a peaty black soil that drains well yet holds moisture well. Mulch does wonders for keeping the soil cool and moist. The soil under a nice, several inch layer of shredded bark stays moist much much longer than bare soil does here.
Also, I looooove my drip system for keeping plants consistantly moist. My Jackmanii and Ernest Markham have been on the drip system for over 20 years now and are doing quite well - today Jackmanii os over 8 feet tall. Cezanne is already 4 feet high and loaded with buds. Same with Bourbon and Rooguchi. Vienetta made it through the winter and has buds on it too.

*sigh* got to go out now and hoe another row for the corn.

cnetter, I am purchasing Earnest Markham from Garden Crossings, (Good place). But, I have heard that you have to treat them like a group 3 clem to get it to flower well at all. If you treat it like group 2, you might get the early flowers, but it will not flower much.
How do you treat it? Do you heavy prune in spring every year? I know everyone says that you should treat type 2's as type 3's for the first couple of years anyway.

For years I treated Ernest as a type 2 and didn't prune it much. For the last few years I've been cutting it back as a type 3 and it behaves much better for me. It grows fast and covers itself with flowers. It is loaded with buds right now - all on new growth.

This is a picture from a year or two ago.
If you carefully on the lower part of the plant in this picture, you'll see a lot of buds that hadn't opened yet.
{{gwi:588915}}

I really really like the quality of the plants I've received from Garden Crossings. Big pots and the packaging is fantastic.

Wow! That is gorgeous! Much better response than to the group 3 pruning. I thought as much. I'd rather have the large bloom later than sparse blooms early!
Thanks! Yes, I was amazed at Garden Crossings plants! I had bought Henryi and Dr Ruppel from them and they were huge and so healthy looking.

Sorry, that was Beauty of Worcester and Dr Ruppel, not Henryi and Dr Ruppel. So many clems and so many places to remember! lolol I bought Henryi from Brushwood, not Garden Crossings. :)