Your plant bloomed beautifully.

Have you had good rainfall this year or, like so many, drought? Clematis like moist soil. If the stems haven't been nipped off by rabbits you may have clematis wilt. This has been a bad year for wilt in my garden. Follow down until you can see which stems are affected and cut them off at the base.i pull off the dried up leaves and stems so it doesn't look so awful. If the entire plant dries up I cut it off and new growth will come from the base.

Thank you, I really enjoyed watching it bloom and it seemed to bloom longer then last year.

i checked and there are no broken branches. I had rabbits nip my new young clematis's over and over agin this year until I finally put a cage around their bottoms. But my Jackmani is my oldest clematis and quite tough and so far (knock on wood) it hasn't been harmed. I will have to look up clematis wilt for more information. I have heard it mentioned on here but don't know quite what it is. I'm hoping by the sounds of it, it's seasonal and that it won't effect the growth for next year....I hope!

So, I spent all afternoon yesterday pruning my Jackmanii trying to get all the dead/diseased parts off. There was a nice chunk of vine that was still healthy and green and full and I was hoping to keep it. I spent all this time delicately pruning the tangled vine when in the end after all that time the healthy vine snapped. I was so upset. There are two vines with a few good leaves on them but I'm not sure if I should bother to keep them or cut them down with the others. Any advice? Also, should I cut it literally right to the ground or leave a foot or so?

I doubt it is wilt. Jackmanii is not as inclined to wilt as are the earlier blooming LFH's and wilt generally proceeds from the top of the plant downward, rather than from the bottom up. It is also not common for it to just generate spontaneously on well-established plants, generally targeting younger, less established vines. I'd suspect your vine is just showing signs of heat and drought stress, which is not uncommon for just about any type of clem in very warm, dry summers.

Pruning it back is a perfectly acceptable approach, in fact, I'd be inclined to cut it back somewhat harder. Keep the plant deeply watered as the weather dictates and mulch well to conserve soil moisture (avoid piling against the stems). You may see some regrowth this season but the vine should perform as before next year.

Mine all look like yours and they do every summer as I have to go on a week's business trip in August every year and my husband doesn't water.

Thanks Gardengal, I'm glad either way pruning was the right thing to do.

Buyorsell888, do you cut yours back in August or wait until Spring?