clematis montsna freda
pinny2
Posts: 13
About a month ago I planted 2 clematis Montana's to scramble up the back of our summerhouse and along a fence. One is going great guns but the other started well and has now flopped! I didn't think Montanas got wilt?
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Hi Pinny,
I have this clematis around my front door and have found it a bit unpredictable over
the years. When I first planted it I thought for a while it wasn't going to make it
because it was very weak and spindly. However, we had a few flowers the first year -
then to my dismay it didn't show any sign of life at all the following spring. I gave it
up for dead and popped a planter full of pansies there instead. A few weeks later
I was amazed to see the clematis was alive after all and was going great guns.
It's now so rampant I'm going to have to seriously cut it back. I think the problem
was it needed it's face in the sun and it's feet in the shade. You probably know
this already but I thought I'd mention it anyway. I hope you manage to save it!
Most usual problem with newly planted Clematis is the dread snail/slug. They really love the new stems and strip the bark off. Then obviously that stem dies back. Wilt strats at the bottom of a stem and climbs, Mollusc damage starts at the top and descends. Also, it is very easy to damage stems when planting, without realsing it, even if you are very careful.
I wonder if slugs have got my 2 year old Montana. It flowered well this spring, then we had dry summer and it was fine but it collapsed in September and looks dead. It rained in September.
Thanks for the replies. Just went and had another look and found a handful of small snails (no more than that... but it is bright sunshine, so maybe they all come out at night!)
Its feet are in the shade.. and it gets a lot of sun from about 11am. The whole thing has collapsed, so its hard to say where it starts. Can't see any stripping. I'll try slug pellets and see what happens. And it could be I damaged the stems when planting.
I won't give up on it just yet!
No, don't give up on it. We have had a Clematis re-appear afer two years of no show.