Bud Wilt on Patio Clematis

18 years ago

My Raymond Evison Patio Clematis has been going wild this year and looking very lush, healthy and full of buds. We have had an extended period of rain (well over a week), very little sun, and cooler than normal temperatures. When the storms have been severe, I have moved it into an outbuilding with a skylight and kept the door open. Last night we had hail and torrential downpours, so I moved it into the building for the night. Early this morning when I moved it outside, it looked as good as ever.

I was gone most of the day, and we had a couple of short periods of heavy rain. When I checked the Clematis, initially it looked just fine, but when I circled the container, I noticed that there were about a half dozen large buds hanging limp. They are all the about the same size, and each is the last bud on that vine. Leaves and buds lower on the vine look fine. Larger buds in the same area (different vines) look fine....

Have seen Clematis wilt, and it doesn't appear to be that, but I could be wrong. Leaves right below the wilted buds are bright and beautiful and only the last bud is wilted.

Also, the buds which are wilted are on new growth. However, there are dozens of other buds on new growth which are looking great. I am perplexed.

The container has very good drainage, but there has been so much rain, I have been concerned. Could too much water cause bud wilt? And only affect the new growth?

Also, while there has been so much rain, the container is about 3 feet deep....and I really don't know if there has been enough rain to penetrate to the bottom or just keep the top few inches saturated.

If they don't recover, would it be best to just nip the wilted buds off, or should I nip out the whole vine? The plant is so full, you wouldn't even notice they had been removed.

My main concern is that whatever is going on will spread to the rest of the plant.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Elaine

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Comments (7)

jackie_o
18 years ago
Elaine I have the EXACT same scenario. Mine is in the ground though and yep the rest of the plant still looks fabulous. I too first thought wilt and then thought no that's not it. I am looking forward to any answers you get.
matt_in_mi
18 years ago
Noticed the same thing on my Cezanne the other night, also in a container. I just pruned off the wilted parts, and the rest of the plants seems to be doing fine, also loaded up with buds, two of which were beginning to open when I left for work this morning. I'll be sure to check it when I get home.

Lots of rain, wind, cold temps here also.
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Large flowered hybrids - like Candida - can wilt very easily. And it has nothing really to do with water or the lack of it. These types of clematis are very prone to a problem known as "clematis wilt". There is some debate as to whether or not it is a fungal disease or just the tendency of young plants to outgrow the ability of their root system to support them. A lot of clematis growers favor the latter theory :-) Regardless, it is seldom ever a fatal problem and the plants will typically outgrow it. Just cut back below any signs of the wilted growth and tend as usual. You will very likely get some decent regrowth this season and you should get flowers next. Although do not dispair if it takes longer - sometimes wilted clems can take a couple of seasons to spring back to healthy life. Planting the vine deeply and cutting back hard for the first few seasons are ways to avoid contracting wilt. These conditions and the fact that only LFH-type clematis contract it and that the vines outgrow it in time all support the notion that this is not a true fungal disease at all but just a problem with excessively rapid growth on newly planted or young vines.
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It will probably be just fine. The woody stems may sprout and you will likely get sprouts up from the crown. I have cut at least ten Clems back this far with no deaths.
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Any indication that the stem immediately below this point has been damaged? If not, chances are you have clematis wilt. Relatively common with any number of LFH's and while disappointing, seldom fatal. Just cut the vine back below any signs of wilt and treat as normal. You should see new growth this season and possibly even some late blooms. But next season it should come back as strong as ever. FWIW, wilt can be a recurring phenomenon for several years on some pruning group 2 clems but they generally outgrow it in time. Many of the clems I've a grown have been nursery returns because of clematis wilt - I just cut them back and provide some TLC and they are usually as good as new.
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Karen, typically the type II large flowering hybrids are more prone to wilt than any of the other types of clematis. Some have reported wilt on type III clematis and even some of the viticellas but I often wonder when people say they have wilt whether it is really the typical clematis wilt or something else that is mimicking the disease. As to which clematis are more resistant to clematis wilt, I recommend you visit the International Clematis Society Website linked below where they have the best clematis for beginners listed by category. There are several blue-purple clematis that will fill the bill for your situation including Polish Spirt, Blue Belle, Jackmanii, Etoile Violette, and others shown on the International Clematis Society webpage where they have pictures for many of the varieties they recommend. For others you are unsure of the color of, visit Clematis on the Web and search for the varieties because they have pictures for all the common varieties you are likely to find locally. You can also search for clematis by color and the descriptions will give you the final height in meters (one meter is equal to about 3.28 feet for your info). Their website is as follows: http://www.clematis.hull.ac.uk/index.html Although you are looking for taller types of clematis, if you are into purple (and I am unashamedly am), I think you should look into Petit Faucon. It is an integrifolia which does not cling by itself but can be tied in, will get about five feet or so in height (for me anyway) and blooms for me from late April well into September with sporadic blooms into October. Gotta love that! Here is a link that might be useful: Best Clematis for Beginners on I Cl S Website
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Nana2
Original Author
18 years ago
Well Jackie and Matt, sounds like we are dealing with the same weather issues...so maybe we can blame the bud wilt on Mother Nature.

I decided to take the wait and see approach, and didn't nip the wilted buds.

They were still wilted early this morning....but by early afternoon, 4 of them started to recover...and by nightfall, they were looking pretty good. The others were still a little wilted, but not hanging limp like they were.

Amazing!

We had light, spritzy cold rain, and I don't think we made it out of the 40's. I opted to leave the container in the open. No sun...some wind. Go figure.

Will be interesting to see what happens tomorrow when we are expecting a little sun (what's that?) and warmer temps.

I do plan to spray it with MESSENGER tomorrow.

Any one else using it? It really does seem to kick everything into high gear. My miniature roses have never looked better. Same for all of my indoor plants. I'm really impressed with the product. I hadn't used it on the Picardy, but did on my Viticella Rubra. You could almost hear it saying thank you! Wouldn't dare use it on the SAC....which I fondly refer to as my Killer Kudzu Klematis.

Think I will also treat all the plants in my garden as well.....since the weather has not been very friendly. Actually the plants I had treated about a month ago seem to be handling the cold, rain and wind a lot better than those I did not treat. A light spraying is all it takes...sort of like a heavy dew, but not running off.

Look forward to hearing your updates.

All the best, Elaine

Here is a link that might be useful: MESSENGER
Nana2
Original Author
18 years ago
Well, what a difference a day makes.......today it was in the 60's, windy, a little sunny.....and all of the buds which had recovered are limp once again ;0(

Sure has me baffled. I did give it a spritz of Messenger...so will wait another a day or two to see what, if anything, happens.

Elaine
lorelei_c
17 years ago
I too am experiencing bud and leaf wilt on my patio clematis. I have two planted in the ground on a tuteur and one on a trellis with a climbing rose. Each have now taken a turn at wilting, as well as a passionflower vine I planted on the tuteur.

I don't think it's clematis wilt because it doesn't fit the description I've read on the web about turning black and dying overnight. I went out and bought some Messenger and sprayed this afternoon. The vines are still wilted but hopefully with some sunshine and drier weather they will rebound.

I spoke to someone at a garden center and he thought that possibly the roots were so waterlogged that they kind of shut down which in turn causes the plants to wilt as if they haven't had any water, because the roots aren't sending any up through the plant. Does this sound right?
Nana2
Original Author
17 years ago
Not sure if I am intepreting your post correctly, but it sounds like the whole plant wilted? Only my new growth wilted. And, I ultimately had to trim out all of the wilted vines. Some appeared to make a total recovery, others looked like they were trying, then WHAM they all wilted again big time.

After doing trimming, started getting lots of new shoots. It was looking marvelous again. However, I noticed that the flowers on the new shoots are more than plentiful, but smaller.

One other thing I noticed when I was trimming out the wilted vines. They were all cracked.

The weather here has been so strange. A real roller coaster. Last night we were down in the 40's.

Even with the ups and downs, too wet, too hot, cool, etc, I must say, it has never stopped blooming or throwing new shoots. Seems like it can really take a licking and keep on ticking.

Hope yours recover.
matt_in_mi
17 years ago
Since my previous post, I have had zero additional problems with wilt. It has been much drier here since then also, so I don't know if that played a role or not. My Cezanne has been blooming nonstop for a couple weeks now, and zero additional wilt.

Bud Wilt on Patio Clematis

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Bud Wilt on Patio Clematis

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