Iluvginger, it is quite disheartening when you plant a clematis and it doesn't thrive as you wish it would, especially when it turns brown. Generally speaking, most gallon sized clematis are big enough to plant directly into the ground. However, the time of year you plant them has a big bearing on their happiness in their new site. I see that you are in zone 7b and that you planted the clematis at probably the hottest time you could have planted it. I generally prefer planting clematis in early spring or fall simply because the soil temperature is cooler and more conducive for root growth. In fact, I have seen several articles that say that plants put out 80% of their new root growth in the fall and up until the first hard freeze. Perhaps your clematis is pouting due to the hot temperatures. Several questions come to mind regarding how you have cared for the clematis and its siting. Have you been keeping it watered regularly, is it situated in full sun or partial sun, is the soil it is planted in amended so that the plant doesn't sit in water, was the plant originally in a greenhouse or similar conditions so that it was not adapted to being planted directly into a full sun location? Now that the plant has been planted for over a month, all you can really do is make sure to provide it with what it needs moisture wise and see how it responds to the cooling nighttime temps we have been having. You could cut into several of the stems and make sure that the plant still has green inner cambium to ensure that it is still alive. However, even if you see no green inner cambium, the plant may still come back next spring. It could be that the plant is recovering and developing a root system and not putting out any top growth. One other thing I noticed you said is that you used rocks to keep the soil cool. I know I have seen other posts where the posters used rocks for shading the soil. I personally like using an organic mulch such as bark fines, grass clippings, hardwoodmulch, pine needles, etc. to shade the soil. It would seem to me that in the warmer climates using rocks would heat the soil since they would absorb heat during the day and release it to the soil at night. Just my spin on it, but I prefer using a mulch that will break down and improve the soil. Hopefully your clematis will revive this fall or even reappear next year. This summer has been especially brutal heat-wise and water-wise in my neck of the woods and my established clematis are showing wear and tear because of it. Had I planted a clematis during the middle of the summer like you did, I am sure mine would have ended up as you describe yours.

Looks like it's fixed. Thanks!

Right now, when you post a link with an underscore or dash in it, the link will be cut off at that point. As an example, here's one I just tried to post. http://manuals.frigidaire.com/ProdInfo_PDF/Springfield/5995384533.pdf There is a workaround, which is to have the text of the link be different than the URL, like so: Parts List But if you want to copy and paste into the body of the post, or you want the full URL to be displayed, you're out of luck.

I agree that the metal roof in bronze and the other roof in gray is OK, but I think the issue is that the house color is too close to the asphalt roof color. If the house color was something with more green SW Verdigreen or blue SW Cloudburst in it so that it didn't look like it was trying to match the asphalt roof, the brown metal wouldn't look as odd. Try uploading the house photo to one of the paint websites and picking a different paint color. I think the porch roof should match the dormer roof to tie the metal across the front of the house and ground it. There is a lot of white, but one way you could minimize it a little is to pick a darker color for the gutters and facia that matches the roof instead of matching the trim, or paint the downspouts to match the color of the house.