We left town last Thursday morning and it looked lovely. It's finished blooming for the year but the leaves were nice and green. We came home Saturday evening and found this.... What the heck? ( photo / image / picture from toni's Garden ) It was just on the lower part of the plant (it's not planted in that small pot in the photo by the way) I cut all the infected parts off and so far none of the upper leaves are showing a problem. But I guess that remains to be seen. Nothing else in the yard shows any signs of problems.
Gosh, That is alarming. Am I right, it is growing in a pot? Did it get really hot? I had one last year that started off the season great, grew a lot, and then within a matter of a few days, it just wilted! I cut it all the way down, and wasn't sure what to expect, but it did grow back. It didn't produce as many blooms but that could've been attributed to the drought. I have heard of a virus that Clematis can get. The advice is to cut it back. Sorry I don't have much official info, just my own experience.
Sorry Toni, I see now in your post that the Clem is not growing in the cute little pot. It does kinda look like it is!
It is in a pot, but a large one on the ground...been there for 4 years. The last two springs have been 10-20 degrees warmer than this spring and it did just fine so it isn't heat related. And I watered it really good Wed before we left on Thurs. It has completed it's blooming cycle for this year so I have been wondering if cutting it back would be best.
I usually get that toward the end of the season, which does not last through the summer but this sounds a bit early. Was the stem damaged in any way? This may require a really close inspection. I did that one year. It may be moot as you cut off the affected area. Jerry
It looks like it might be the red spider mite. You would have to back light it and look closely for webs where the leaf stems meet the vine. It also resembles aphid damage, but I can't really see it clearly. I wonder if the yellowing is a at level that could have been sprayed by cats ot dogs. I hope that your Clem makes it. I would like to see close-ups of the leaves (top and underside).
Jerry this is the first time anything has hit any of the clematis and I have 5 around the garden, front and back. Sjoerd, I'll check for bugs tomorrow. The part affected is about 4 feet off the ground so cat/dog spray is out. If any more leaves turn the way those in photo look I will take clear photos of their front and back.
I'm sure it's not the same problem... but one of my wave petunia's leaves are looking just like that. I noticed it shortly after that really bad wind/rain/lightning storm we had a couple of weeks ago.
