Hi,

A few years ago I went hog wild and created a new 500 sq ft perennial garden from scratch. I prepared the soil down to 2' or so and also added a 1' raised bed above that. Since that time I planted perhaps 15 clematis and of those perhaps 3 or 4 really perform, another 3 or 4 just grow to about 1' and then wither and I have probably lost 6 or so. I don't think it's an obvious cultural problem - I have one of almost every type of perennial and they are all very healthy. Watering is automatic via a dripper system and in the growing season I generally put down about 1 ga per week on each clematis. I use a small amount of Scotts Osmocote to provide a low level of steady nitrogen and supplement with a 5-5-5 during the growing season.

The symptoms of failure are nearly always tha same - the plant grows to a height from 1' to 5' and then invariably one or more stems will wither and turn black. When this happens the plant generally never seems to recover and usually goes dormant the rest of that season. This usually happens extremely quickly, within a few days and I have checked soil conditions for too little or too much water when this happens but it is always normal.

I have read everything I could get my hands on and I don't think this is the Clematis wilt. I can't find the article (I think it was on Clematis.org) but it said Clematis wilt can be identified by purple veins and is actually fairly rare. The author indicated that the generic wilt is actually much more common and not much is known about what causes it. I believe the author said there had been some success with advanced anti fungals but it doesn't seem like I should need these and as I recall I could not easily find the recommended ones.

I'm not going to give up as the Clematis flower is a sight to behold but if there is anything I can do I'm all ears.