Clematis 'Nelly Moser' issue

Hi Kevin, my apologies for being late in this thread but I missed it until now. Clematis, depending on the variety, can be slightly difficult to get off to a good start, but Nelly Moser is not one of those that I would put in that category, but that's the challenge of gardening. My advice, for what it's worth, is to leave the plant alone as any cutting down, etc will only disturb the plant. From what I can see in the images it is not Clematis Wilt, but I think it is a case of the plant showing signs of stress on
being transplanted. While learning in the early years, I lost a few Clematis trying to understand what they like and need, but planting them deep, around 6" deeper than when in the pot, watering them well for at last a couple of weeks seems to work, so nothing fancy or deeply involved. They don't like drying out too much and during the growing/flowering seasons like regular feed of, say, Miracle Gro or Tomato feed and by the second year should make you smile with the results. I tend to ignore the "Experts" traditional advice in the Gardening Books and push things a little when it comes to planting, and I occasionly get visitors seeing the Gardenen Entrance for the first time who tell me that Clematis shouldn't be planted like that while seeing the hundreds of Clematis flowers covering and dripping from the entrance The Garden Trellis entrance Clematis, for example, are planted so closely together it's impossible to tell which stem belongs to which Clematis so I ignore the rules on pruning the different groups and prune them all down to around 10 inches in one swoop. Most of my other Clematis I let grow within shrubs and hedges and only lightly prune them to keep them within bounds. All gardeners, including me!, suffer casualties along the way, and sometimes we cannot explain why a plant just didn't flourish. It could well be that a plant was suffering initially when standing at a Plant Nursery, or Superstore where you might have bought it but not showing the signs, and the shock of transplanting, however careful and gentle, tipped it over the edge.....all part of gardening. If everything we put in the garden grew like it should in the "rule book" we'd get bored! So, basically I would leave the Nelly Mose to settle in, don't mess it around by pruning it unless you see any diseased leaves, if it vanishes beneath the soil don't worry as there's every chance it will poke it's head above ground in the being planted, which is not unusual for Clematis. I've been growing Clematis for over 35 years and have a "impulse" collection now approaching around 165-170 of different classes and varieties scattered around the garden and a Trellis Garden entrance which, as you can see, has about 32-35 Clematis of different classes planted very close together on both sides.






All but one, a Nelly Moser seem to be fine, however, the Nelly Moser has lost all it leaves which were looking very droopy.[/QUOTE]

 

Hi, Kevin, most definitely not. If they're happy where they are, leave them be. Can I ask which direction your garden faces?, what kind of soil do you have?, and is the Clematis site in full sun or shade. Also, if you can find some flat slate or stone it' wouldn't hurt to place those around the Clematis to help keep them cool, it's an old trick, but it works.

A garden is such a personal thing, Kevin, but if the result, when you look at it, makes you smile when you look at it then you've succeeded. Everyone of the GC Gang, (of which you are now a member), know that my garden is what I describe as a overplanted, chaotic, Cottage style garden






on about 350' of pure sand that has had 40 years of adding Stable and cow manure by the trailer load. plus the additions of commercial compost, after use in pots and containers, over the years being put on the borders, so it is now a nice black loam easy to work with and the plants seem to like it All my plants are bought with wildlife and insects in mind, but also with low maintenance in mind, nearly all the plants in the borders are Hardy Perennials with about 5 layers of different bulbs, corms, underneath. It seems to work as all I seem to do is a little pruning, deadheading, weeding, as the garden plants grow and die back as the seasons pass.

Well, taking your health into account, Kevin, don't push yourself to do things and overdo it. The garden will wait as you do one job after another, just enjoy the gardening and gardening as all the GC members do. There's a huge Mine of experience and knowledge, far greater than mine, within the GC Gang as we have gardeners who garden from a balcony, a flagged yard, just containers, a tiny garden to those with a couple of acres,and some are specialist in certain areas, and as you know, they're all very friendly and more than willing to pass on the benefit of their knowledge.

 

Hi Kevin, first put the text arrow at the beginning of the sentence you want to quote/reply, left click on the mouse and run the arrow along the sentence you want putting it it blue, then click on quote or reply. I always click on "reply" as it notifies the other person who's written the sentence that you've quoted or answered him/her. Then all you do is go down a couple of spaces from the quote/reply and do the same thing in quote/reply as you did before. Try it out and let me know if it works for you, you can always pm me. When I first started on GC there was a lot of things on the computer that I didn't know how to do........come to think of it there's still quite a few things left!!

To be honest, Kevin, that is not a issue with gardening, and I believe we have several members with the same condition. Just enjoy gardening and the friendship that you will find on Gardeners Corner and don't rush at it no matter what the gardening task.

That sounds like the kind of soil that I have, Kevin, so you should be fine.

Okay, Clematis like full Sun as for long as possible, so those facing East will flower but not as well as those facing South and SouthWest. One way to encourage the East facing Clematis to flower is to feed them regularly with Tomato feed, say, once a week, while not forgetting to feed the others around once a fortnight.

Fantastic!!, that is what the lure of the garden does for many people. The pleasure of seeing plants grow, flower, the scents you can get while gardening is really good for the mind. During the Summer, during the evening, I sit out on the patio with a Mug of Tea and get all the scents of the garden drifting up to me and there's no price on that.!!!

I most certainly will

You're most welcome, my friend.

 

Hi Kevin, I'm really sorry that your Nelly Moser is not looking good. I'm afraid that not all plants that we have survive either planting or growing on.
But, Kevin, it is still only February so it may be that your Nellie Moser is still alive but dormant so I wouldn't give up on it just yet as it may show growth in late March or early April. As you know, I have around 130/136 Clematis but, I can assure you, that I have lost a few on the way. The Gardener who tells you that he/she has never had a plant die just after planting it or during a wet/cold Winter.....is telling you Fibs. So be optimistic and hope that in early Spring your Nellie Moser will show signs of growth.

 

Let me know how it gets on, Kevin

 

Hi Kevin, Cuttings could be right in his diagnosis. But I'm beginning to think the problem could be that the Nellie Moser doesn't like sitting in water for a prolonged time and that could be another reason for it's failure. You could take a drastic measure to try to save the Clematis if you have a spare pot and some compost and that is to gently dig the Clematis up and put it in the pot to see if that will save the Clematis. I've got around 171 Clematis around the garden at the moment and have been growing them for nearly 40 years and I have to confess I have lost a few, for no real reason that I could work out, but learnt that they like being planted fairly deeply, the base kept in a cool shade, and that while they like their roots damp, they don't like being in a badly drained area. Let Cuttings and myself know what you decide to do and how you get on.