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I realize 'Sweet Autumn' is type 3 and should be pruned back hard in late winter, but a gardener friend told me to leave it alone. So I did, and its second season (let's call the plant A1), it came up a little less vigorous, but it was still extremely bushy and floriferous, and it seemed to be growing on some of the old wood.
The third season nothing happened with A1, so in late May, I dug it up and removed all the previous season's dead foliage from the fence. In late August, I purchased three new Sweet Autumns (B1, B2, and B3) and planted them in the same location.
This spring there was no sign of life from the three Bs. They had died back to below ground level, so there was nothing to prune. Did they not have enough time to harden? I don't think we had a frost until at least November, so they were in the ground for at least 3 months, and I never fertilized them.
This spring, I bought two more. But instead of digging up the dead Bs, I gave C1 and C2 new homes in the same location.
And then -- just this week -- I noticed one teeny tiny shoot emerging from the ground from the supposed dead clematis (B1). There is still not one sign of life from the other two Bs.
So I have two (new) vigorous and fast-growing ternifloras planted 2-3 weeks ago, and one struggling plant from this past fall whose shoot is about a inch high.
When I planted all of them, I made the holes deep and wide with plenty of compost mixed in, and last fall, at the recommendation of the nursery owner, I amended the soil with a little lime. I watered deeply but conservatively because I read that these clemmies like to be on the dry side.
The have a northeast exposure along a chain-link fence I am trying to bury under plants. The clematis gets protection from neighboring shrubs and a dogwood and they seem to enjoy the late afternoon sun, which hits them from around noon to 3 before the sun dips below the tree line.
Am I doing something wrong? These are the only plants I have put in that do not seem to thrive, and I don't want to completely blame myself because the 200+ items I stuck in the ground last season are all doing very well.
I don't want to give up because this plant is so spectacular.
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