Awwwww...... poor clemmies.

How many seasons have they been wilting?

I agree with you. If a plant wilts year after year I would get rid of it too! There are too many nice varieties that don't get wilt. Try the type 3 viticella group. They are not prone to wilt. Polish spirit falls into this catagory. Most viticella clematis do not get huge like Polish spirt either.

Oh, kkborre I so understand! But do look at the viticellas and integrifolias. I live near Cincinnati and they are both great for me here. I rarely have trouble with wilt; but most of my LF are old, and I cut the stem below the wilt at the first sign. I rarely have trouble with HF Young, The President, Hagley Hybrid and Jackmanii Superba. That's a nice selection of larger ones. Don't give up!

If you have the room near the ones that are doing better, I would dig up the wilters before the fence comes down and pot them up and place near the better ones. Maybe they will like that area better, and wilt is not contagious. If they do better, you could either plant directly or still in the pots in this area.

I hate to give up on anything.

Marie

Nope, nope. They are history. I might consider some others in the viticella group though. Aren't they all type III and need to be pruned all the way back every year? I wanted clematis that don't need to be cut back to permanently cover a fence and an arbor. Also, my neighbor was good enough to plant a tree on the other side of the fence, which isn't a problem yet, but will eventually shade the fence. Will viticella handle shade?

KK..you are right..the Viticellas aka Pruning group 3's are the easiest to grow and are hard pruned each year because they bloom on the new vines grown in a season..The reason you are enjoying "Polish Spirit" is because it tis a pruning group 3...Clematis that wilt usually "outgrow" wilt from year three and on...Personally I wouldn't rip them out..You may haven't been giving them enough water?..and they should return..did you say how old they are?...Jeanne

I understand totally your ire and anguish with those two clems! I would get rid of them and plant some Alpinas instead. They are indestructible and will cover a fence in no time and they don't mind shade. Only drawback is that they bloom very early and that's it. One that works well for me and has for many years, is Mrs. Cholmondeley (Mrs. Chumley). It is a large flowered Group 2 and I swear it is impossible to kill. It blooms without problems every year around this time and all it needs is some little pruning to keep it in check and it doesn;t mind the shade. Hope that helps.

I think these two in particular have been in the ground for 4-5 years. One had a fabulous bloom three years ago, and then wilted. Otherwise, they have been sorry plants. Just about the time the flower buds form, they wilt. My only other option would be to move them to an east facing wall where they would be in filtered shade except for early morning. I don't know if that is worth the effort, or not.

What I did in your situation was cut them all down to six inches and decided if they didn't live that I was fine with it.

I was sick and tired of scraggly bare growth with no flowers. I've got some that wilt too and did the same thing.

However, they all bounced back huge and bloomed better than ever. Mixed type II's and I's. Henryi, Ramona, Willy, Rosy O'Grady, Violet Elizabeth, Hania. I did end up giving away the I's because their colors were just too pale in our gray skies early in the year.