I bought a clematis plant at a quality nursery. I went away for 4 days in the heat of July to return to dead leaves and later noticed there was no longer a connection between the bottom of the plant i.e.roors and the leaves on a very small trellis.Is my plant totally dead or should I keep watering the roots in hopes it some miraculously comes back alive. It was a mother’s day gift so am a little sad about it as I was watching it closely. Thanks for any advice. Marge
It depends on what happened to it. If the stem was just broken off of chewed in half by a critter like a chipmunk then the root system is still alive and it will try and send up new shoots. I’m not one to give upon plants so I’d give it a chance. Just keep the soil moist but not sopping wet. It will take a couple of weeks at least to show a sign of life so be patient.