My Jackman didn't make it either. All others are back and thriving. Polish Spirit is at least six feet tall now and setting buds. I have heard about miracles in the clematis world...of plants that have come back the next year...haven't experienced that yet.

I have two Jackmanii, at least one of which is "superba". The superba now has vines 7' tall and is getting side-branches, the vines on the other Jackmanii are about 6' tall. If you see no growth at all on yours then I think it's dead. But I too have heard people say their clematis' sometimes just skip a year entirely, so keep that in mind and maybe probe around to see if there appears to be any signs of underground survival before digging it out.

I have a Ville de Lyons that took a year off. And i've also had General Sikorsky for a couple of years and he hasn't done much, but each year, i've thought he's dead and then all of a sudden a few shoots come out of the ground. So i would say hang in there and see what happens.

My Ville de Lyon hasn't come up either. I've been checking regularly, as it always takes its time, but I think it should be up by now. A very small Mme. Eduoard nearby has just put in an appearance, so if its alive I can't see why the VdL shouldn't be. I've had it since 2008.
Jackmanii shot out of the ground a long time ago.

I have had two experience this year with plants making comebacks when I was sure they were dead...it might be a little late now but I would still give them the benefit of the doubt.

SCG

Thanks for sharing your experiences, I will wait patiently to see what happens...but I may have to go out and buy a few more clematis...just in case! (:

fillagirl that is exactly the right way to approach this. Way to hold your composure. I might even go get a couple clematis myself, just incase.

Removing double post

This post was edited by SouthCountryGuy on Thu, Jun 20, 13 at 17:13

We might all need to buy more clematis - just in case! :>

Don't give up on it yet. I have 2 Jackmanii superba . one came up 2 weeks ago, the other one came up yesterday. they are side by side about 3 feet apart. I also have had clematis disappear for a year then come back a year later.

It's alive! Ville de Lyon has finally started to come up. Good grief! I had almost given up. I've been nosing around the nursery and had almost bought a replacement for it.

Thanks for the update north53...I too had one come up in the last few days, the other one has yet to surface. Not sure why it's so late this year, but very happy it did decide to grow! Happy gardening everyone!

Happy dance!!!

General Sikorsky is up too, just about 3", but he's still alive. Of all mine, only Nelly Moser has started to bloom. I have to check on another one that has done nothing for several years - just came out of the ground and that's it. A few weeks, ago, it was up a few inches. When weeding around it last fall, i put a small trellis there to mark it, and it seemed to be climbing a bit last time i looked. I can't remember its name - might be Anne Jackman.