Generally where are you and when does it bloom? If it is a summer bloomer (type 3 prune), it should be cut back hard (to a couple of buds per stem) every winter. It will regrow to its full height and bloom top to bottom since type 3 plants bloom on the new growth each year. From your description, this sounds like what you have. You should be able to cut it back hard now and still get bloom this year.

It is possible that you have one that blooms early spring (type 1 prune) or late spring and early fall (type 2 prune.) Information on pruning all 3 types (based on when they bloom) is given in this link in theFAQs.

I live in Washington state (zone 8). It blooms in late Spring. Having had this ugly, dead-looking stalk and sticks since the first year, I just went for it yesterday and chopped it down. I was amazed that the stalk didn't appear to have any life at all. The bark was falling off, and the inside of the stalk was hollow.

It's kind of funny to me that from the roots up to about 8 feet, it seems completely dead, but there's this "puff" of branches, green leaves and flowers growing across the top of my arbor. Can't figure out how that top "puff" is getting any nutrition as even the roots are all dried up.

It's a bit late for this piece of info about clematis, but I'm sharing anyway :-)) ALL varieties of clematis benefit from hard pruning for the first couple of growing seasons. After that you can prune as group recommendations suggest or not.

I also live in WA zone 8 (actually I am closer to a z9) and I hard prune all except for group 1 clems (the very early, old wood bloomers). Both group 2 and 3 clems will appreciate this and our growing season is long enough that you will still get plenty of flowers from a hard pruned group 2 but perhaps not starting quite as early. This keeps the vines at a manageable height, eliminates the bare legged look of the leafless stems and encourages additional shooting from the root crown

FWIW, stems of relatively young clems ( like yours) will always look dry and brittle. It takes time for them to develop any girth. But they should still be able to transport water and nutrients up to the top of the plant. Dried roots are an entirely different story and usually one with an unhappy ending. Did you dig up the entire vine? How do you know the roots are dried?

Thanks for your reply, gardengal 48. I was just surprised to see such dead stems with healthy, leafy, flowering (well, not flowering quite yet) plant up top. I really don't know that the roots are dry...I know that the bottom foot or so of the plant (which is how low I cut it back) looks totally dead. I'm glad to hear that perhaps it isn't actually dead...I guess I'll have to wait and see.

I have a European Cranberry shrub in my front yard that looks like dead sticks throughout winter. While weeding my flower bed, I discovered that wherever a branch hits the ground, it roots. I didn't want the shrub to be that wide, so I pulled some of the rooted branches on one side of the plant and planted them in another portion of the yard. I am totally surprised that those sticks are now sending out leaves and smiling happily! I guess our having this nice weather through mid-Feb through now this year has been really good for plants as we have some nice sunny days where I can plant perenials and move some things around, then have a couple days of rain to water it in nicely. I could get used to Washington weather like it's been the past couple of months!!! I sound like such a novice, don't I?