A Leafy Journal: vine

Friday, June 8, 2012

Birds & Buds

The clematis bud has fully opened! Some new little branches are emerging from the sides of the vine; hopefully more buds will come with them. A whole section of the garden covered with these large red-violet flowers would be gorgeous! A pair of handsome gray birds has paid a couple visits; I’m not sure what they are. They’re a smooth, solid, gray color and as I recall, have a spot of dark brown on their heads.

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Orange-flowered Bush

My miniature pomegranate is flowering at last! I’m so pleased to have an orange-flowering bush in my garden—one that is just the right size (though I may have to prune it to keep it that way). I look forward to the miniature fruit, which the tag describes as “colorful”; I like colorful. The new red-violet clematis has grown a foot and a half since I twined it up the monofilament on Monday! It must be happy. The heavens poured buckets of rain last night but I had to remind myself that just because rain fell on a plant it doesn’t mean that the water reached the soil. Some of the plants have large leaves that act as umbrellas, shielding the soil from the rain. Even if the rain does reach the soil, it may not have seeped far enough. However, I have no doubt that the big pot of white petunias, sitting in the open, was thoroughly drenched. The hanging baskets under the eaves get no rain at all—or rarely. Still, it didn’t take as much water to slake the plants’ thirst today.

Friday, May 4, 2012

Just the Thing

When I was a child I thrilled at ads for garden catalogs in the back of my mother’s magazines . I’d carefully tape my nickel or dime to an index card inscribed with my name and address, seal it in an envelope then with anticipation send it on its way to the wonderfully colorful nursery! Day after day the mailbox called to me until finally the catalog arrived! One of the glorious flowers that always caught my attention as I pored over the exciting pages was the clematis. They didn’t grow in our hot climate so I had never seen one in person and didn’t even know how to pronounce the name—until I moved east and often saw them vining on mailboxes—just like in the catalogs.

I needed a vine to block some of the hot afternoon sun on the end of our balcony and was thrilled to find a small clematis with a mini trellis at a large home improvement store! This one is just my color—and I am particular about color; it’s called Sunset. I’ve already begun training it up last year’s mono-filament. Clematis has the coolest seed pods with swirling tendrils—I’ve seen them in magazine floral arrangements. Guess what? This morning I found another daylily flower stalk!