Leaves on a clematis turning brown doesn't necessarily mean it's dying..it could be what I call "Brown-out"..something that is typical during hot dry summers...the vines themselves are still viable...are you watering enough??..Clematis love to have their roots stay moist...I hard pruned my pruning group 2 clematis the first two years in my garden.. around Feb 14th every year...which is considered late winter/early spring..or when you first prune your roses or when the Forsythias are in bloom in your area..Hard pruning allows the new plants to focus on getting their root system establish which is essential ...I have found this also sends up more vines from the soil....which is a good thing!!..Pruning group 2's are notorious for what is called "Wilt"..I am of the 'school of thought' that this is from allowing them to be unpruned in their infancy and the root system is too immature to handle the above ground growth....make sure when you prune ...that it is above a leaf axil about 3rd one from the soil..or eyeballing it as they say 12 inches..mine had brown leaves but since the weather is cooling and I am out watering more..My clematis are now rebounding and putting out new leaves...Did yours ever bloom for you and how long ago was it that you planted them?...Jeanne

Hi Jeanne, I don't want to hyjack doggies7's post but I am curious as to whether or not the type IIs should be prunned upon initial planting. I purchased about 10 of them since July, type II's and III's (I too can't resist a sale), and they're all pretty small, with approximately 6 to 12 inches top growth, give or take a few inches, depending on the clematis. Roots are pretty long and healthy. Should I prune now or wait until the end of winter? One of them bloomed already, The President, which I believe is a type II.

Thank you!
Linda

Jeanne,

Thanks for your response. I have been watering it when I water my daylilies and hydrangeas. Maybe this is too little - about twice a week? I bought them and potted them roughly the end of June. (Maybe that is a problem - I planted them in a large planter with a trellis?) One of the clematis had four blooms after it was potted.

I have hundreds of daylilies but I know - they are the easiest plant to grow - basically just plant them and let them go. These clematis are going to give me a run for my money :-( , but now that I have seen one bloom I don't want to lose any of them.

Thanks a bunch,
Kim

I prune all of my Clematis when I plant them.

I have some Type II's that have been hard pruned twice a year.
Pruning gets them off to a good start. It encourages more stems up from the crown.

Make sure you plant them deeper in the ground than they are in the pot.

I would hold off pruning any clematis at this time of year, especially the further north you go. With frost in the future, you are stimulating growth that will be wasted and killed back. I would wait to do it in the spring.

Kim..I'm like you and have a ton of Daylilies..which don't need water as much as Clematis do..Miquel and BOS gave great info..Linda..I wouldn't prune them this late either..you are in a rather colder zone than me and winter is not too far away..waiting till next year will be better..Jeanne

Thanks Jeanne and Miquel, saying that winter is approaching in my area soon is an understatement, it's already dipped down to 40 degrees a couple of nights this week, although they expect summer weather for the next few days. I will wait until the beginning of March here to prune them all.

Kim, I'm another one who has a few Daylilies, I love them, they are so easy. Your lucky that you only need to water your Hydrangeas twice a week, I have three of them and they cry out to be watered almost daily. Although mine are fairly new, purchased this past summer, and that does make a difference.

Thanks again!
Linda

There is an excellent site pretaining to pruning clematis.

Go to: www.chalkhillclematis.com

They have an extensive list of clematis by name,picture pruning of each group and fertilizing. Nice that it tells you what group a particular clem. is. I find the tags don't always tell you that info. Good luck.

"Your lucky that you only need to water your Hydrangeas twice a week, I have three of them and they cry out to be watered almost daily"
Linda..if your Hydrangeas are wilting that badly on a daily basis you really should consider moving them to a more moist area with morning sun only...they can't take the heat and drying out so much...Jeanne

Agrowingpassion, another site that has a much larger list of clematis and cultural information is Clematis on the Web. See link below. It is constantly updated with new clematis cultivars and info. Chalk Hill is a retailer of clematis and does provide information but only for those clematis that it sells.

Here is a link that might be useful: COTW

Yes! Winter is coming soon. It has already been in the 30's at night and we have had frost two nights already - YUCK - not ready for the white stuff yet.

My hydrangea has been planted in the same area for a few years now, but I remember when I first got it I watered it more. Now it seems if I water it more than twice a week it gets mad at me!

Thanks everyone for the information on my clematis. So I will wait until spring to prune them. Now when I prune them do I cut everything back? I'm not used to having to prune my flowers and am afraid I might chop them too much :). Do I cut all the branches coming off from the main stem or just cut back the main stem?

Again, thanks for all the great information!!

Kim

Kim just cut each stem coming up out of the ground back to within 6 inches or so from the ground.

Sorry, didn't realize how cold you were. I'm not as cold so I am still pruning as I plant here.