Have you looked for stem injury? We've had some really heavy winds the last few days here that have damaged some of my clematis stems.

Prune down to below the damage, keep it watered and fertilized, and hope that it will outgrow whatever the issue is. If it's only in its first or second season it's rather soon to say you can't grow it.

I've already cut the plant back to soil level - it was only 3" high with the new regrowth. Now it's wilted yet again. If it doesn't come back, it's in the trash can for it. I'm done. I'll maybe try purchasing a new plant next year.

It's a large flowered hybrid so could be very easily affected by clematis wilt. However, CW is seldom fatal and generally the vines outgrow the problem after a season or two.

This is a new Clematis for me.....It has wilted now twice. So I have once again had to cut it back to soil level. I just seem to get this particular Clematis to grow - it regrows back to a certain level, then wilts again. I just think this particular plant is problematic and unhealthy. I'll give it one more try and then that's it.

It's your choice of course, however one season is hardly a fair trail period for a new clematis, as most won't even hit their stride until after their 3rd or 4th year after planting. Most of my previous clematis collection (some 60 or so vines) were nursery returns from much a similar situation. It really helps to exercise a bit of patience with these plants.

Yes, I do wholeheartedly agree with you - however, this particular plant I can't even get to grow to 6-inches. This is the 2nd time I have had to cut it back to the soil level in the hopes that it will recover and regrow. I don't know how many times I should have to do this with this plant . It just doesn't appear to be a viable plant, but I will let it do what it is going to do .

How high it gets above ground before wilting says nothing about whether roots are growing or not. Give it another year, and for now just ignore it. Put an attractive pot with annuals in front of it for camouflage if you want so you don't have to look at it. Or move it to an out-of-the way spot to recover, but choose a spot that when it does recover, you don't have to dig it up again - that you will see when it gets large. They really do most often recover, and clematis are plants that try gardeners patience more than many. Well worth it, however, to my mind. In all honesty, I've lost a few plants in pots when I ended up with a knee injury that kept me out of the garden unexpectedly for a couple months in spring, so they didn't get planted or watered. I've lost a few more that were completely eaten by voles before I started planting them in underground wire mesh cages. But otherwise they have survived well; even the one my FIL hit with glyphosate pulled through, to my amazement.

Well, I must admit, that as a New Clematis grower, yes, my Clematis, all 18 of them, have certainly tried my patience. I have none to begin with. I'm a very impatient gardener. Part of the problem was the plants I received were small and puny and not what I expected. Only one, my "Hagley Hybrid" arrived as a very nice sized plant in a gallon-size pot. I planted it, watched it grow and grow and could not believe the flowers that it gave me. I'm still in awe of this clematis. The other 17 plants arrived as small-ish plants, much smaller than I had expected. 4 of them are planted in the ground, and amazingly they have grown very well and two of the four have bloomed. I do admit that now I have become a 'clemaniac' and can't get enough of them. But I just have so much space for more containers/pots and Urns. So I have reached my limit and do have a Wish List for next year (in the event that some of the 18 don't survive). But I am happy and excited over growing Clematis and will hang on to Clematis Versailles and watch what it does....thanks for the encouragement.

I agree with NHBabs to give it more time and placing pots in front to camouflage the area while the clematis does its thing this year. Just don't forget to keep it watered. Speaking of water, are you sure the soil there is draining well?

As a new clematis grower you need to be aware that clematis need time to get roots established and some young plants take longer than others to do so. Many of us pot up the small starter plants into a gal. pot which fills with roots in a year's time. Those small plants in the ground need to be carefully tended while they get established.

If this variety wilts many times during the year decide if you want that blossom in your collection. If so, wait a 2-3 years to see how it improves. If not, since you are impatient, give the plant to someone else and try a different variety.

Even well established clematis that are prolific bloomers can one year disappear. Who knows why? Maybe animal root damage, maybe weed killer drifted and killed it back, ....I had one that disappeared for an entire year, came back weakly and wilting the next year. This year it is again growing well.

Ok, I will put this pot to the back of the porch, and place the larger Clematis in front of it. Since the Clematis was cut down to the soil level, there is nothing to look at but soil. No problem. This particular variety (Clematis 'Versailles') may just be a problem and not as hardy as other varieties. If it does come back I will keep it in the pot for one year, but will have to transplant it to a 'weather-resistant' container/pot since right now it is in a plastic pot that would not survive the winter here.

What kind of pot do you all recommend for potting clematis in if they will overwinter outside? I am running out of room and have some new clems that must go in pots. They are OK 2 zones below mine, but I would hate to put them in a large pot and lose them for some reason. Should I move them to a shed (not heated, but more protected) for the winter? Do they need to be in a more "weather resistant" pot to overwinter? If so, specifically what do you recommend? and/ how big? I'm thinking large, maybe 5 gallon container. Is that not big enough? I'm new to clems, but my first year of blooms this year are amazing....very happy. However, these are in-ground. Would appreciate advice from all of you "experts" who have been growing them (including in pots) for years!
THANKS much!

Val you might want to post this as a separate thread so folks see the question - this thread is headed as a Q about Versailles, so some folks may not see your question. You can also do a search at the top of the clematis forum page for Pot since others have asked about pot size and care. Type in pot, wait until choices are given and choose the option for 'pot in clematis'.

I don't grow in pots since it isn't successful here and I have enough space regardless.

My remaining 14 Clematis are in pots and they will be over-wintered in my Shed from November to Spring. It is an unheated shed. They will, however, be provided with appropriate winter protection and covering to protect the roots in the pots - even though the pots are either Stone Urns or weather-resistant pots made of Ceramix (purchased at Home Depot). They are all hardy to zone 4 - I am in zone 7A New Jersey.

I grow a lot of clems in containers and do not winter protect any of them. But then I live in a pretty mild winter climate and garden soils never freeze to any extent but smallish containers can. Roots of containerized plants are the most vulnerable to cold damage, as there is no large insulating soil mass like inground soil protecting them. In zone 6, I would recommend winter protection regardless of the container size. And for any containerized clematis, err on the side of a larger container rather than small :-) I would consider a 5G pot to be the bare minimum, unless growing one of the compact "patio" clematis types.

Yes, the weather and climate in the PNW is very different than my own - and I have heard that many if not most people growing Clematis there do not have a problem with over-wintering them. LOL, I would go bankrupt if I had to buy 5G pots for all of my potted Clematis, and I would not have any room/space to over-winter them at all.