My Rebecca is doing okay in a shaded area competing with maple tree roots from a nearby tree. It has stayed short but had several blooms and has not wilted.

This year I have had several that have had some wilt, even older established plants. Maybe it is the weather. We have had a record amount of rain through June. Even some of my established plants haven't bloomed as much while others are loving the rain and blooming away. So it goes.

Unfortunately this is typical behavior from Type II Clematis.

I have found it to be particularly common when I did not prepare a large planting hole and instead tried to just cram them in with no prep.

I have some that do it every year and they are ten years old...

The vines outgrow their root system.

I keep meaning to dig them up and then dig huge holes and backfill with compost instead of the heavy clay where I just crammed them in but I never manage to do it.

I have found heavy pruning helps but does not overcome the problem.

Actually, my soil is very good. No clay, but sandy loam under about a foot of good, dark soil. It was a barnyard a very long time ago. I amended the planting hole as well in 2012 when I planted her. She wilted back, I cut her back and in two weeks, new growth is already beginning. Again. Most of the other nearby clems are doing fine, but the winter did do a number on several of them. And, a baby bunny nipped a few off as well!