baby clematis not doing well...

16 years ago

I got my first clematis, a Rebecca, from Whiteflower a month or so ago. I put it on the south side of the house and mulched over the roots (and kept the mulch away from the stems), watered it up, etc. but it's just looking kind of weedy and wilted. It doesn't look like the clematis wilt pictures I've found on line, and it's continued to look wilted for 2 weeks without getting any worse.

I'm in Western Mass, and we've been having some pretty breathtaking heat for weeks. It put out 1 flower and stopped growing at all. This afternoon, I dug it up and put it back in a big pot to get it some more shade (and replaced it with a paniculata) but I'd like to get this Rebecca into good health so that it can go into the landscape.

Is this from the heat? Should I cut it back, now that it's "flowered"?

I felt awful when I saw that this tiny little plant actually used up the juice to make a flower & wondered if I should cut the bud off to make it invest in its root system. I know clematis are supposed to be pretty finicky, but my mother once said that if I hadn't killed any plants lately, I wasn't stretching myself as a gardener. I would just as soon this one not be one of the ones I kill - the flower, though small and ill-advised, was VERY pretty.

Any advice for my plant would be helpful. It's now in a gallon pot with the soil from its original hole, and getting the same light as my blooming Stella d'Oro daylilies.

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Comments (5)

buyorsell888
16 years ago
If it is in a pot you should use potting soil not soil from your garden.

clematis should be planted deeper in the ground/pot than they are in the nursery pot. Mulch does not have to be kept from the stems.

You might keep it in the pot until fall and plant it out then when it will be a bit bigger. Clems do sulk after transplanting.

Whiteflower Farm is not known for sending big healthy plants...
lori_holder
Original Author
16 years ago
Thx - I had to use garden dirt b/c that's what I had on hand & had limited time window for this swap...but I did mulch the pot to shade the roots and put it more in the shade than it had been. I wound up pruning half of the length off of it, and the baby clem (in the pot) is now making little buds, including from the crown, so I think it's going to make it. I used the metal frame from the paniculata and it's starting to train up that too.

I dunno WTF with Whiteflower Farm. They used to send out really nice plants - and still do send out really nice tomatoes and bulbs - but the live plants and bareroot plants I've had from them the last couple of times I ordered have been pathetic. The bareroots have had a hard time getting started (and a bunch of bareroot daylilies just never sprouted in the spring at all...I got a refund for that batch) and the potted live plants are spindly as heck. I can tell it's going to be at least a year before this Rebecca is ready to go into the landscape. Here's hoping it continues to thrive in the pot over the next year.

Thanks for your advice!
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buyorsell888
16 years ago
You do not want it to sit in a pot for a year with garden dirt instead of potting soil. It will end up compacted and won't drain properly.
lori_holder
Original Author
16 years ago
It started taking off like crazy a few weeks ago after I put it into the pot and gave it some shade. I bought a free-standing trellis this morning and transferred it into what I hope will be a permanent home. Now it's at the back of a bed of daylilies that I think will provide decent shade for the roots, and it's right near the front door where I can keep a close watch on it. Crossing my fingers that she likes the new spot...
neptune44
16 years ago
Lori, I hope your Rebecca will survive the treatment. To disturb the roots 3 times in less then 2 months is a big shock for any plant. She is wonderful. For me - the best red clematis ever created