Clematis slime flux

In autumn 2011, I cut back a Clematis vitalba (Old Man's Beard) which was rampantly growing up a conifer in the garden. It had come up spontaneously, and I let it grow for a while, but it can be a bit of a weed.

During the following months, some of the cut ends of the Clematis stems developed an orange 'slime', which fits lots of pictures on the web of 'Clematis Slime Flux', which it seems is some kind of bacterial infection. There are also some seedpods of Lunaria annua (Honesty) in the picture.

I just thought it was interesting because it looked so evil! At the time, I hadn't really thought about whether to allow the Clematis to grow again, but perhaps this disease will make the decision for me. The Clematis is producing a few shoots, but the stems with the 'slime' aren't producing any new growth. Probably as well - as I said, it's a weed.