My clematis armandii appears to have frost damage. Will it re-shoot or is it dead?

Question:I planted it last spring (2006). It shooted really well but this spring, the leaves all looked brown and dead. They are still like this and there is no new growth on the plant. What should I do?

Answers:
I live in Zone 9 and we had a week of frost this winter which damaged the clematis we have growing over our patio cover, too. Hubby was brutal and kept cutting it back until he saw green. I thought he killed it, but there are now leaf spouts coming back and I think it will survive. So, try pruning it back where there is damage and dead leaves so that the plant doesn't send energy there but puts it into new growth. (I also fertilized it with the liquid Miracle Grow, but I'll let hubby think it was his brutality that brought it back.)