I had a mail order clematis that was DOA. the little growth on it
died within days of arrival. To add insult to injury, after that it
got knocked over twice. The second time snapping the stem almost at
ground level. The shipper had replaced with a healthy one in the
meantime. I had given up on the the first and left the pot in the
corner of the porch with other supplies. As I walked past this
morning I spotted four green leaves poking out of the dirt. I didn't
water it for almost two weeks and at most it got a few minutes of
morning sun when it is low enough in the sky to reach under the porch.
I'm amazed it came back to life.

DiGiTAL_ViNYL (no email)

"DigitalVinyl" wrote in message
...
I had a mail order clematis that was DOA. the little growth on it
died within days of arrival. To add insult to injury, after that it
got knocked over twice. The second time snapping the stem almost at
ground level. The shipper had replaced with a healthy one in the
meantime. I had given up on the the first and left the pot in the
corner of the porch with other supplies. As I walked past this
morning I spotted four green leaves poking out of the dirt. I didn't
water it for almost two weeks and at most it got a few minutes of
morning sun when it is low enough in the sky to reach under the porch.
I'm amazed it came back to life.

Clematis can be amazing in their ability to arise from the dead s. I
planted one next to a trellis over the door to my garden shed. My silly
hound dog dug a huge hole right where I'd planted it. That was 2 years ago
and that clematis is now starting to climb its way up the trellis.

I've found out that as long as something seems to be firmly rooted, it has a
chance of coming back--it's just saving its energy for favorable conditions.
I've had pentas, ixoras, etc. "killed" by a freezing night or two that are now
coming back.

zemedelec

I'm very sorry about a clematis that probably got clematis wilt or whatever
they call it last summer. It didn't sprout this spring, and I assumed it was
a permanent goner. When I pulled it up, it had an extensive, seemingly quite
healthy root system - oh well.......I gave some thought to tucking it back
in the ground, but decided I didn't want to leave it another two or three
years to see if it might leaf out again.
"Zemedelec" wrote in message
...
I've found out that as long as something seems to be firmly rooted, it has
a
chance of coming back--it's just saving its energy for favorable
conditions.
I've had pentas, ixoras, etc. "killed" by a freezing night or two that are
now
coming back.

zemedelec

"gregpresley" expounded:

I'm very sorry about a clematis that probably got clematis wilt or whatever
they call it last summer. It didn't sprout this spring, and I assumed it was
a permanent goner. When I pulled it up, it had an extensive, seemingly quite
healthy root system - oh well.......I gave some thought to tucking it back
in the ground, but decided I didn't want to leave it another two or three
years to see if it might leaf out again.

Mine wilts every year, and sends up new sprouts every year. It
blossoms before it wilts. I do clean up the wilt; it's jackmanii,
which is supposed to be resistant.....nah.

--
Ann, Gardening in zone 6a
Just south of Boston, MA
********************************

gregpresley wrote:

I'm very sorry about a clematis that probably got clematis wilt or whatever
they call it last summer. It didn't sprout this spring, and I assumed it was
a permanent goner. When I pulled it up, it had an extensive, seemingly quite
healthy root system - oh well.......I gave some thought to tucking it back
in the ground, but decided I didn't want to leave it another two or three
years to see if it might leaf out again.

Greg, clematis wilt is seldom fatal. The plants usually will recover and send up
new growth, sometimes that same season, sometimes not for another year or two. I
frequently drag home clematis vines that have been returned to the nursery
because they have "died". A little TLC and some patience, and I've got a pretty
good free collection going now :-))

pam - gardengal