Yes, it could be the Nelly Moser. The pale roots could be stems that were bleached from no sun.

oh my goodness. So what do i do now? Should it receive some fertilizer to help it revive? Or what? It looks like it's growing in hard clay, although DH claims he amended the hole when he planted it. Should I replant it to give it a more hospital home or would moving it be the final blow?

Leave it where it is, water and give it some fertilizer and see what happens :-). I've had them disappear,think they were dead and then they showed up two years later. If you move it now, you will just be putting more stress on the plant. If there are dozens of shoots coming up, it is obviously fairly happy where it is.

Carol

Thanks. I gave it a big drink of water and the water just sat there for a long time before going down. The soil is very compacted from the weight of the big pot. But I'll leave it alone. Just wondering if I should mulch it with an inch of compost or something (although that would pretty much bury the shoots), since it's just sitting out there in the burning sun and what a shock from its former buried life!

Yes, definitely put some mulch down, the shoots will push up through the mulch.

I would not put mulch directly on shoots. They might rot. Put 2-3" of compost around stems, not on them. This will also improve the soil and preserve moisture. Pinch shoots above the first pair of leaves - that will stimulate root growth and help to form a bushier plant.

Alina, I put mulch down over the area where my clematis are planted every year and I always have new shoots that push themselves up throught the mulch without any difficulty and I've never had any rot. I do not put the mulch up against the stems, but new shoots show up around the stems every year in the area covered with mulch. My understanding is that she doesn't have any leaves?? Just shoots showing up in the ground. Of course, as always, I'm sure that different things work in different gardens.

Carol

Hello all,

Definitely no leaves and no one would call these stems either. They're just the thinnest tendrils of root-looking stuff? Honestly, I'm not sure this is even the Nelly Moser, and how could it have survived being completely covered and compressed by a huge terra cotta pot since April? But what else could it be? The first day it was open to the elements I watered deeply in the AM. Checked on it in the evening and it looked like baked earth. Maybe that one day killed it!

Just in case, I watered again and again, covered with compost and watered more. Now I don't know what's going on. I guess the only hope is for it to push on up there.

On another note: there's not supposed to be compost ON the stems? All 3 of my other ones (new this year and bought in 1-gallon pots) are mounded in compost. Should I be pulling the compost off the stems and how much? Thanks!