Lainey..."Keeping the Roots shady" is an old wives tale and what is truly meant by that is that Clematis NEED to have their roots stay moist and planting them deeper and by planting some short plant with non-invasive roots in front of the clematis will help accomplish this..so Please make sure you are watering your clematis enough...being in a pot will mean it will dry out quicker unless you have a drip system attached to your pot (Which I do for mine)..if not stick your fingers in the soil ever other day and if it seems like the soil is drying the least bit water again..if those vines have turned brown then likely it's because either you are not keeping them watered well or the roots system is too young to handle all the growth above the soil..so hence the plant will forfeit some vines to preserve it's roots system ...prune those brown ones back to right above the third leaf axil ...Jeanne

Thanks Jeanne, I appreciate your advice. I'll do as you suggest and think positive thoughts.

Lainey