This is a picture of me taking a picture of the Sweet Autumn Clematis that was happily climbing up the side of my garden shed last fall. This spring, not so much. The woody vines are totally bare without a green shoot anywhere. Sigh. I've had this plant for years and years, and it's sad to have it disappear without a trace, or even any hint of what the problem was.
Sweet Autumn Clematis is so easy to rejuvenate. Cut back those old thick woody stems to the ground and you will see many new young blooming stems appear. Trust me on this.
Since it blooms on new wood you will have blooms the same season you cut just less the first year until it bulks up again.The massive root system will throw up many stems right away. I cut some out most years to keep it from becoming a huge mass.
On BHG's Garden Talk forum one of the woman there with an exceptional garden cut her's back to the ground and only allows it to grow up to fill her trellis. More work than I would like to do keeping it tamed but it shows how hardy these vines can be.
Posted by: Gloria | June 13, 2007 at 02:12 PM
I was expecting that to happen, but so far nothing.
Posted by: LeslieT | June 16, 2007 at 11:58 AM