In article , bob says...
I posted around a week ago about a couple of young clematis being
eaten up. (Rebecca and Henryi - if this is relevant)
I found and evicted a family of snails tenanting a hole in the mortar
of a flint and lime wall behind the plant and whether they were the
culprits or not the feeding frenzy seems to slowed or even stopped.
But the plants seemed to have either stopped growing or slowed so much
that progress is almost imperceptible. A couple of slightly chewed
flowers have taken much longer to open than I remember with other
plants and while most of the leaves are erect (a few have wilted) they
look dull.

When I bought and planted these last august - small, about 70cms high
- they seemed to settle in quite well and put on a little growth
before the season end. They started out promisingly this spring
pushing up again.

There's an established clematis which looks very healthy only 4 metres
away growing through a petiolaris . The two infants are about 10 cms
from a wall with just a wire network for climbing.

Could there be a problem here? Are they just about to peg out?

Should I give up on them and try again asap or might patience be
rewarded? Perhaps a feed or some remedial strategy?

Thanks for any insight.




Bob, how big was the root system you planted, if this was small then
plants can take an age to establish, as a general rule anyone buying a
clematis plant of less than 2lt root ball size should grow it on in a
container until its made more root before planting out.
If they were big plants then the problem may be lack of water
--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea