Help! A few weeks ago I bought a clematis at a local flower show. I checked out soil and climate with the seller and was told any soil and that the plant is a hardy variety.

I dug a good sized hole below my garden arch, planted it in a mixture of earth and compost, and tied it up. In the few weeks its been there it has grown quite a lot and looked quite healthy.

Today I have looked at it, and all the leaves are hanging down very limp - almost like it had been starved of water. Of course it hasn't as it has hammered down for days. Is it likely that the roots are drowning? We have a layer of clay under the topsoil here.

Clematis wilt, DL, very common. Leave it be and it will propbably flourish next year.

Nothing to worry about then Daisy! So what causes it? It cannot be the heat for sure! Maybe its just p****d off with all the rain!

http://www.bachmans.com/tipsheets/Disea ... isWilt.cfm

http://www.gardenadvice.co.uk/howto/dis ... index.html

http://www.gardenforum.demon.co.uk/clematis_wilt.htm

Have a read of these and see if it's any help,

Thanks Widget! From reading the websites, it appears my type is not so liable to wilt (at least from wilt as a disease). I rather suspect the combination of the torrential rain we have had (having a clay soil) and the wind - both it appears can cause wilt.

Should I, I wonder, have it up, and dig the hole deeper and put some stones in for drainage before adding the topsoil?

This is how it was only a few weeks ago

Clematis like there feet in the shade and heads in the sun.

I wish I had an answer for you Dragon Lady, but sadly I have planted 7 clematis over the years - non wilt, wilt free, wilt resistant, wilt hardy - and every one of them has succumed to wilt!
I guess I am going to live my days out without ever having successfully grown a clematis.

If you're having problems Montanas probably stand the best chance of success.

Don't give up just yet.

I planted 3 clematis last year 2 under our very large tree and one under the fence first one under the tree died then the one under the fence the remaining one under the tree John fasted to the tree all was well till we had a frost,thats it I give up I told John,then about 5 weeks ago what did i see peeping out from under a holly bush{that shouldn't be there but we cant get it out}my remaining clematis and its doing very well now growing by the day

Guest - mine is a Montana.

Twinsmum & GrannyEve - There it was positively flourishing after I put it in and I thought whoopee here is something that grows for me. I should have known better!

Daisy - Clematis like there feet in the shade and heads in the sun. Wot ruddy sun????

http://www.gardenaction.co.uk/plantfind ... rubens.htm

does not look like a Montana.

In all, I have 9 clematis, 7 of which always do well.

The two which don't are a Jack Manii which is prone to wilt and a dark red one I don't know the name of.

I can't do much about the wilt but the lady at the garden centre (when I went for a new one) told me to set them a little deeper to avoid the problem as that sometimes helps.

The dark red one doesn't wilt but is prone to mildew. The other year I cut it down to the ground to get rid of it and it shot up the following year and did better.

I've never known Montana to get wilt, DL, it is usually confined to the larger flowered varieties.

Twice I've posted on this topic and both times it's come up as 'Guest'

I'm not trying to hide ....... honestly

We would have "guest" it was you eventually Monika Mons would have got her defective kit out

So it was you that was hiding away was it Monika!

Tis a Montana, Widget - I have the label I took off it in front of me and it says "Clematis Montana Warwickshire Rose".