Clematis crispa
Just a couple of pictures from my bedraggled, weedy, overgrown and now soaking wet, garden. The photo above is a native clematis that I just adore. Yes, I know the bloom is tiny, and pretty tame when you compare it to the cultivated varieties you can grow in the north, like this:
Or this:
Or even this:
But it is dainty, and sweetly shaped, and just look at how those raindrops hang from the tips of the “petals!” I’m sorry the picture isn’t sharper, but it was raining, and I was rushing a bit.
Last month, I replaced my hanging baskets in my front bed. I didn’t want to pay $25 or more for established hanging baskets, so I bought six 99 cent plants and made my own. Each basket got a Dipt In Wine coleus, a bright red New Guinea impatiens, and a Margarita sweet potato vine. They started out looking like this:
And three weeks later, they look like this:
Not bad for $3.00 worth of plants, eh? And I fully expect them to get much larger before summer is over.
And finally, I was all excited a few weeks ago when I found a really cool blue planter to put my coral “drift” rose in. I’m happy to report, it is thriving, and is on its second round of blooms. I’m still loving both the planter and the rose. And the Purple Showers ruellia behind it has begun to bloom again, after I cut it back severely in May. Tomorrow, maybe I can get a good picture of my little chaste tree, which has started to bloom nicely.
You’ll notice I’m only taking close up shots, here. A wide-angle view of what’s going on out there would make you run screaming! Ha. But I can only do so much in a day, and my days are pretty well booked right now, until I finish my novel. (Get it? Booked??? Oh, ha, ha, ha. Sometimes I crack myself up! *snort*) So, that’s about it for Granny’s Garden right now. What’s new in YOUR yard?
Who's Your Granny? 
Beautiful pictures. I like all of them but my favorite, those tiny bells with the rain drops on its tips. I think I saw Tinkerbell flying by. I have seen pictures long time ago, you posted them on gardenweb. I love them so much that it has stayed in my mind.
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Do you have any of them, Felix? If not, I have a pretty good idea where I can get some seeds! 😀 I’d be happy to share. I might even find a seedling somewhere, already started under one of the vines. I have them in 3 places now. They die to the ground every winter, and come back bigger than before, and they are SO sweet!!
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No, do not have them. Would love your offer.
Niki gave me some climbing Black eye Susan but I lost the plants. If you have any seeds, would appreciate some. You got me spoil, thanks.
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Felix, I will save you some clematis crispa seeds, and I may have some black-eyed Susan vines (thunbergia) I can dig. It’s running all over the place out there. Also, do you have beauty berry? (Did I ask you that before?) Or giant red canna?
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Marcia, I have beautyberry. Did you want some ? I did not know you can make wine and jelly and such. Have you ever tried them? I have some red cannas but I do not think they are “Giant”. I’m planting some seeds, today. I’m planting according to the phases of the moon.
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Thanks, Felix, but I have quite a bit of beauty berry. One has made a small tree for me, taller than my shed. I love it. Just wondering if you needed any. No, I didn’t know you could make jelly from it. I know elderberry, but not beauty berry. I will have to check that out. My cannas are about six to seven feel tall. I have a few I’m going to dig and relocate, and if they are different from yours, I’ll pot one for you.
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Pot it for me. 🙂
A beautyberry volunteer is growing by the steps of our back porch. In a perfect spot. You go ahead and eat some and if I hear from you, I’ll eat some too.
I want to know what they taste like. I’ve been eating some wild blackberry, from our back field. I love wild things.
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Okay, Felix. One giant red canna coming your way. As for the beautyberry…I was sort of planning on YOU eating one first! 😉
Wild blackberries (we used to call them dewberries, although that might refer to another berry, more correctly) are DIVINE! Warm right off the scratchy ol’ vine. Wild blackberries, tart little wild plums, and some hard as rock “wild” pears (probably volunteers of some kind from cultivated ones) made up a large chunk of my snacking when I was a kid. We also chewed on what we called “sourweed” a lot, too. I have since found it it is a type of sorrel. It’s a miracle we didn’t DIE eating some deadly toxin somewhere. I distinctly remember daring each other to eat chinaberries, which I know are toxic.
Let me know how those beauty berries taste! 😀
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Growing up in NJ, I also ate crab apples in the woods. I love those.
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I can just imagine your garden, with so many things blooming at once. Here, we are more sequential, and late getting started anyway. Yes, you crack me up too. I feel booked, but am not writing one.
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I like the tiny bells also. They appear to be almost magical. If I ever get around to creating a fairy garden this plant would be a perfect choice.
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It would be just perfect for a fairy garden, something I’ve always wanted to do, too. Let me know if you ever do that. Clematis crispa is a native here in central Florida, and the seeds are easy to collect, so it’s a good one for sharing. And thanks for stopping by today, and taking the time to comment. I appreciate it!
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Marcia, don’t forget to bring me some seeds when you do come up to visit. Also of black eye Susan vines. Mine all disappeared.
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Funny, I started a note on my computer desktop with a list of what I wanted to bring you, and I started it with clematis seeds. I think there will be some ready soon. Thanks for the reminder, though! I’ll be seeing you soon! 🙂
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