I let the gulf frits get out of hand. They have almost denuded my CE. I started picking them off a few days ago and continue to remove all I find each day.

It's hard to tell how much leaf is left as it's on the center of three trellises and they all kind of run together. There's Sweet Autumn Clematis on the other two. I don't want to lose it, as this is it's first fruiting year.

Should I fertilize it and try to get some fall leaf growth or kind of let it go dormant? (They're semi-evergreen here). I'm in Dallas, so our average first killing frost is 11/15 or so.

I'll have to cut back the clematis in early spring. I usually cut back the CE, too. I'm afraid of cutting it back very far. I once cut back a Blue Crown too far and it never leafed out again.

Thanks,

bkay