Clematis May Not Be Dead After All

I planted a clematis vine a few years ago. Each year as it died, I cut it down. I always wondered why it never would get as large as other clematis that I had seen. After reading up on it, I realized that the new growth grows from the old woodsy vine that wasn’t dead as I assumed. So I stopped cutting it back and only cleaned up the dead leaves. The following year it was large and very beautiful!