Hoping for a lifeline! I planted a Clematis Royal 3 years ago & the poor thing has been through rough times. 2 transplants & a trellis change (this year- very early spring). It seemed to FINALLY be on the right track & in FULL BLOOM, when almost overnight I began to see dead vines. It has 3 main shoots/vines. To the left of it are my very robust & healthy daylilies. Oddly, the clematis is dying from the daylily side (left) & quickly moving to the right; from bottom & moving up. The left shoot is dead. The middle is dead/dying from bottom & rising, and the right shoot/vine seems ok....so far. I immediately wondered if the pH of the soil (lilies?) could be my culprit, but I'm unsure. I'm panicking further because I JUST planted a new clematis a few feet down (furthest from daylilies). Is this clematis wilt?? Help please!!! I feel just awful when I lose a plant. Thank you!

I think that it is intrusion of the daylilies robbing the Clematis of proper moisture. Clematis likes to have cool, moist roots, never drying out.

Thank you for that suggestion. I AM removing 1/2 of the daylily plants (those in closest proximity), but I should've pointed out, this clematis probably gets on the "too much", rather than "too little" water side. It's on a downgrade along the side of our home & the water (when it rains) runs down (along with sandy silt) over those plants, almost at an alarming rate. I do not have anything protective (ie: mulch) around the crown, however, & I'm reading that could be a factor. I will hopefully get a bag of mulch tonight.

Well of course that would make a difference. It is just daylilies can be such water hogs!

Thank you for telling me. I did take out a huge bunch of the lilies today. I might take more out tomorrow- just to be safe. They spread so fast & are following the water flow line as they do so 🤣. I was lucky to have a friend that's been asking for a bunch of them for his yard, so no waste. I'm not sure what to do with the soil; add an antifungal?

I would put in a piece of edging or some other material to act as a deflector to channel the water away from the bed.
Once you get rid of the extra water you might find that you do not need a fungicide because things will dry out.

Great idea! I honestly hadn't thought of that. Does it need to be deep (several inches) under the ground or just around the plant to divert the above ground water? I've got a few ideas either way. I always think, if I'm seeing h2O above ground, there's a lot more underground I'm not seeing.

I would say that there are several
Products on the market that require you to anchor the bottom "flange" or edge under the soil. Then you can shape it to direct the water out into the lawn if you wanted.
OR
Install it nearest your house on one end and bring it down along the edge of your bed. If the ground slopes already bringing the water into the area where the plants are suffering, this installed edging should direct it past this spot and out away from the bed.
I just saw this on tv this morning, a 20' roll at Lowe's. Sounds like that might be enough. It is like you putting in a levee to redirect flood waters.

Good ideas to fit the problem.

Cut off the wilted stem at ground level. Mine do recover and I hope yours do as well.