Is sweet autumn clematis late to wake up?

9 years ago

My neighbor has a mature sweet autumn clematis. She usually just leaves all the old stems and lets it get new growth and flowers at the tips -- been doing that for several years. Now I moved into the neighborhood and suggested she cut it down to rejuvenate it -- and so we don't have to look at 5' tall x 3' wide of ugly stems wrapped around an obelisk until it leafs out.

I suggested to cut it above a few buds or a foot off the ground but she cut it down to nothing. she said all the stems were dead.

So now how long does it take for new shoots to appear?

And will they? Do these things ever die? It is listed as Z5 in my references.

We sure had a nasty winter. here -- long stretches of bitter cold in the single digits and some below zero. some of that was before snow cover. (technically that is still zone 5 winter but still a tough one...)

we are in northern Mass, where the forsythia and daffs are in full bloom now. My group 3 clems are a few inches up.

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Comments (9)

NHBabs z4b-5a NH
9 years ago
I don't know about sweet autumn specifically, but every clematis I've grown has been able to send up sprouts from below ground. (Some years some of mine are winter killed to ground level if we have had significant cold without snow.) Since she cut off all of the above ground buds, but it is an established plant, I would expect it to come up just fine, but be delayed a bit. We have forsythia just beginning, and my clematis are just starting to swell buds that were above ground, so I expect you will see something on your neighbor's plant in a week or two.
WendyB 5A/MA
Original Author
9 years ago
Thanks nhbabs. I have a funny feeling SAC is less cold-hardy than others. I guess time will tell. Oh, we gardeners are so impatient...!!!
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That is a fabby pic! I imagine that clematis has a few years on it- like 5? Mine sweet autmn is in it's third year and it is already budding leaves at the TOP of my porch. Yes I opted not to cut it as I need the height now. You swear those skiny vines are dead- until the leaves pop out! I'm not bad mouthin' sweet autmn is it a fine choice- but not your only choice. jlink, You may also want to consider clematis tangutica which grows like a son of a gun and has yellow penant blooms and the cutest seed whorls after. If you want more leaves and a more solid than whispy look also consider the variagated porcelain berry vine. 'ampelopsis elegans' It is in the grape family and does get some teeth marks from jap. beetles. It is not invasive like the plain green. In fact mine isn't invasive at all! It will also get height in a hurry esp. after it's second year. Karen
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Well, I've spent a fair amount of time fighting honesuckle and multiflora rose to keep it out of the woods on properties I've worked at. Didn't realize until I Googled it that the native wild clematis, VB and Sweet Autumn Clematis were different, and that the non native one was invasive. It's the smelly one I want. The wild clematis is not showy enough to waste space on it in my tiny, tiny, tiny urban downtown row house yard. I don't feel there's much danger of my stuff invading a pristine natural area, the best luck a seed from my yard would have is to land on some vacant urban corner. I haven't read anything about the clematis being a big problem around here, but maybe that's because it is not very commonly grown or sold in nurseries. I don't mind cutting back the upper foliage, to keep it trained along the fence. My neighbors have a grape vine trellis that they have to keep after, but the roots don't wander, just the tops. But after that rose experience, I just don't want something with root suckers, because then I have to go into my neighbors yard to pull the stuff up, and it risks disrupting things, in my yard and hers. I don't want to accidentally uproot her tomatoes or something like that. Maybe I should go with a regular clematis. I sure do LOVE, LOVE the smell of the Sweet Autumn Clematis, and the flowers are pretty too. It smells like baby powder. I have such a tiny yard, I can never decide what to plant, because I am torn between wanting stuff to eat, smell and look pretty. I had to tear out my beloved crab apple which has all three qualities, because it was overrun with rust. I didn't treat it at first because the Cooperative Extension folks said it was just "cosmetic." But eventually the whole thing became infected and distorted and covered with the stuff. And I realized that the soil where all the leaves fell would now be infected for years to come. I finally put the poor thing out of its misery. Now there's a huge hole in my garden and I can't decide what to put there. So far I am replacing the tree with a red ninebark, but I don't know about along the fence behind it and on either side.
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Hi Sorie, I'm surprised somebody hasn't been along with some comments about this for you---and I haven't had time what with all my recent Computer Woes and with trying to get ready for the swap! Here's my take on 'Sweet Autumn'! When I was at Paulino's we frequently had people coming in specifically looking for it--we sold a lot of it. I had never heard of it before I started there, and I assumed it must be very pretty--it has a very "sellable" name! Then, when we got some in in larger pots that were in full bloom one time I kind of looked at it and went: WHAT! I understand that everybody likes something different, but I wasn't really all that impressed with it! Lots of small white flowers! It's supposed to be fragrant, but I couldn't find any fragrance at all--possibly because of the growing conditions in pots? I don't know! If I remember right, it was very popular for a while because one of our "local experts" had put it in one of their books or something, possibly Lauren Springer, but I'm really not sure about that anymore! Since it blooms in late summer/fall, you might want to see if you can find one in bloom somewhere to see what YOU think of it before you decide to spend money on one. Shouldn't be any problem growing it around here. If it were me, I'd be inclined to go with 'Jackmanii' before 'Sweet Autumn'. It puts on an impressive Purple Show, and blooms for a long time. A lot more Bang For The Buck in my opinion! But since I've never smelled the "wonderful scent" that some people describe, maybe that would make a difference--if I really thought it was "wonderful!" (Some of the hardy Geraniums have a scent that some people love--but I find disgusting, so that's a pretty subjective thing!) If it's something you want people to "notice" from the street, 'Jackmanii' will definitely give you the "curb appeal" you're looking for more than the 'Sweet Autumn'. I'd look up a bunch more pictures from people who have grown it, and see if you can find somewhere to sniff it before you make a final decision. Skybird
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I just bought my second one yesterday. I needed a replacement for another vine that did not return :( My current one will be in its 3rd year. So we will see how big she gets this fall. I grow it up/along my fence. It is lovely! This new second one will be grown up a trellis on my shed. I will need to add something along the roof line for it to grab on to as the trellis will just not be enough. They can get huge, just not sure how big up here in the north. In the south they grow and reseed like crazy. The best time to cut back is in the spring when you see new growth at the base. If you google it, you can get an idea of how enormous they can get. If you don’t have a fence, or anywhere to plant it, perhaps you could purchase an Arbor (not white) for it to grow up and over? What site that would be.... last fall
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fleur_zone4
9 years ago
Don't get me started! I bought a SAC last year, it did wonderful but my husband cut it to about 6 inches tall in late Fall. I'm as anxious as you are because mine still looks quite dead, but then again, I'm in zone 4 and things are barely starting to get buds here, so I'll have to wait at least a couple more weeks before I can officially pronounce it dead (or alive. really praying for alive!)
roseberri, z6
9 years ago
It will be back , I have done that and it took awhile longer but it came back just fine and was up and blooming as usual by August. I live in zone 5/6. They really are pretty hard to kill! :)

roseberri
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
9 years ago
It is only rated to z5 so survival after two rather severe winters could be problematic. Also, it depends on how established the vine is as how well it responds to such a severe pruning. IME, when a clematis has established well enough to develop a woody 'trunk' rather than just a thin stem(s), it is less tolerant of very hard pruning - like to the ground.

It is also probably important to note that this vine has been reported as an invasive species in many areas of the country due to rampant self-seeding. It has been found naturalized in the southeast, midwest and parts of New England.
garden_luv
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Hello WendyB, I am in a similar situation this year. We have a 2 year old Sweet Autumn Clematis that had amazing blossoms for the first time last year (picture below)

In late November last year, when all the leaves and blossoms were killed by the first frost, I had pruned it leaving about 3 feet length. The winter this year was unusually warm specially in December and the plant set out new buds and vines which were killed by a later snow storm.

Now, there are no buds, no swelling, no vines, nothing. Please tell me I did not kill this beautiful thing. Did your neighbor's clematis come back to life last year?
NHBabs z4b-5a NH
8 years ago
G_L, since the buds your clematis had formed by last fall sprouted and were killed, they aren't already formed and ready to sprout like usual. So I would expect that you plant will return, but from below ground level and at least a couple of weeks later (perhaps more) than usual. You shouldn't have hardiness issues in 6b.
garden_luv
8 years ago
Thank you NHBabs. I will give it some more time.
Kaillean (zone 8, Vancouver)
7 years ago
I killed my clematis Montana by cutting it back too much last year. :( I miss the scent by my back porch. Now I have to go out in the alley to smell my other one. Lol. Neighbours think I'm weird.

Is sweet autumn clematis late to wake up?

Comments (9)

NHBabs z4b-5a NH

WendyB 5A/MA
Original Author

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Is sweet autumn clematis late to wake up?

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WendyB 5A/MAOriginal Author

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WendyB 5A/MA
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