Your Ramona is most likely NOT dead. Don't dig it up, just cut it back hard and fertilize it.

Has the Snow Queen been exposed to pesticides or herbicides?

I'd cut the abnormal buds off.

Thanks

I will cut Ramona back. I hadn't done anything to it yet, I kept hoping it would perk up :-(

No, Snow Queen hasn't been exposed to any chemicals that I know of... I don't do pesticides (except sluggo) and I haven't used any herbicides in that part of the garden. The foliage is a little odd looking too - sort of crinkly. Could this be from the unusually cold weather we had in April? I would have though that both plants would have been affected though.....

Thanks for the suggestions!

Alexa

Sometimes weird weather can make clematis produce unusual buds and sepals with unusual colors. Cold weather can make clematis sepals have unusual green coloration. Hot weather can severely distort flowers. Following are examples of hot weather distortion on blooms:

Really weird Edomurasaki
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Weird Durandii bloom
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Weird coloration on HF Young

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If you have been having the weird weather temperature swings we have been having in NC, then I won't worry about it and chalk it up to the weather. I personally don't think the buds need to be removed as I have seen really weird things happen to clematis flowers that are nothing but weather related incidents.

I think our warm then cold & snowy Spring did a number on my Wada's Primrose too.
It is an older plant and usually blooms right after my a old macropetals. Last year the flowers did not look as good as in previous years.
I fed & manured the surface this Spring and it started growing well. Soon buds were forming.
For about a week now there have been numerous flowers opening, but they are only the size of the tip of my pinky.
I was thinking that maybe they would get larger from this inauspicious opening, but so far they haven't. Maybe the cold & 4 days of off & on rain has done this to them. There are some unopened buds that I will be watching to see if they grow and become normal flowers now that we have a little sun, but not a lot of warmth.
Bluebird & Markham's Pink have been waiting for this sun, and I expect I will see some open flowers when I go outside.

Marie in ME

Even though the two are near each other, they might be in different microclimates.

Also, Weed N'Feed products contain a herbicide that is notorious for drifting on the slightest bit of wind.

At any rate, I'd cut off the damaged portions and fertilize unless you did it recently.

What is wilted on Ramona won't perk up. Cut it all off.