I have a real mess with 5 clematis. They are all on a west facing fence. This summer in the intense heat, they all dried up. I didn't get them cut down right away, and now they all are putting out new growth and starting to bloom again. It looks a little weird to see all that green floating across the fence, and nothing holding them up. I hope next year the weather is better for the clems. There are 2 trees shading them from the sun, but we had over 30 days of extreme heat(100 or better).