True clematis wilt will have started near the base. You might notice it looks sticky black by the first node. Cut the vine below this bad area. Clean up your nippers very well and throw the damaged vine into the trash (don't compost). If a vine wilts because it was weakened or damaged, or if the roots couldn't support the vine, cut down the vine below the dead stuff.

Thank you janetpetiole. Would you happen to have a photo? I am trying to determine if I have 2 things going on here. I described both and am not sure which if either is the wilt.

Can you post photos of the leaves?

I am embarrassed to say but I have no idea how to post photos. I guess that I have just revealed my age haven't I Thank you for asking and trying to help me.

That's ok - I never bothered to figure it out either. The main reason is that Garden Web thinks they own our photos when we post them here. I'm no professional photographer, so I don't care about that, but I don't post on principle.

If you don't find any black goo on the first node near the base of the plant, it probably isn't a fungal wilt. If the plant is young, it could have dropped the vine because of an imature root system.

The browning leaves could be a moisture issue. What part of the country do you live in? The plant not receiving enough water can cause problems.

I live in central Virginia. We have had thunderstorms almost daily for weeks. It could very well be that my plants have been soaking in pools of water for too long. A lack of water is definitely not the problem. Most of my pants are 3 years old and gone through several bloom periods. I have removed the browning leaves daily but have not found any black goo.

Robinava,

I live in NJ and of late, we have had rain at least 3 times per day and sadly to say, the soil is saturated so that said, my clematis at the mailbox is in full bloom but the wilt or what I believe is dry browing leaves have traveled upward throught the vine and are wilting badly including the blooms so is it wilt or is it b/c it is suffering from overwatering or a combination of both? Can anyone comment please? What can be done at this stage of its growth. Do I cut it down or???

Vicki

The vine could be collapsing because it's sitting in water, but you won't know that unless you dig a hole in the area. If you do this, make sure you avoid hitting the roots.

But there could be other reasons. We are having a very buggy year with all the rain. One of my clematis is being attacked by something I can't see, which means mites.