It will grow from lower down on the stems. If no nodes available there, it'll sprout from the rootball.

I expect it'll grow like crazy again and I willl train the new growth to spread out allong the support. However non of the new stuff will have flowers.

Its a clematis montana wilsonii; beautifull fragrant creamy white flowers.

you might check for a clem forum.. though who knows if it is active ...

there are 3 types of Cs .. mostly based on when they get cut back ..

but when it all boils down.. i dont think it will matter ... it will come back.. one way or another ...

i never have protected a C in my z5 MI ... but i cant say i am an expert grower ...

and i never wrap trellises.. because the freeze thaw of winter.. causes the wrapping to rot wood faster .. over time ...

ken

Next winter you could try wrapping the base with wire mesh to keep critters out. Alternatively, you could spray with castor oil infused with hot peppers to see if that discourages munching. I use both to protect my clematis from voles. Since the voles tunnel near the surface in summer, and travel just at the snow-ground interface in winter I plant the clematis in large hardware cloth rings that extend a few inches above and below the ground, and then spray the beds' surface with castor oil, sometimes mixed with hot pepper, and water in well. For rabbit and chipmunk protection you could add a higher wire mesh wrap for winter.

Ken - Montana is a type 1, so hard pruning removes the flowers for that year. The Clematis forum is active, though not hugely so.

I should have taken a pic of everything I did to protect it over the winter from the temps and from critters. NHBabs I'll try something stronger this year; I remember spraying the area with liquid fence late fall. I wrapped the back and large area of the front tightly and flush to the ground with 20 or 25 yr landscape fabric and around the actual plant with half inch wire mesh.

Hey ken I normally wouldn't bother to protect a clematis either but for this cultivar the base is hardy to our lower Z5 temps but the upper growth is a lot less likely to make it. I never heard that about the wood though.

I don't think my question was very clear. I was asking if there's something anyone knows of that I can apply to the actual remaining stem that the chipmunk nibbled the bark off but it still looks like the cambium layer is left intact. I'm hoping that the rest of the stem is alive and i will see some flowers off it.