The Clematis Awakens!

I was pleasantly surprised last week to see that the clematis I planted in April 2006 is finally growing! I had honestly written it off as a failure after it sent up only one tiny little sprig last year. I still watered and fertilized it throughout the summer, but I didn't expect anything more from it. So I'm pretty excited to see it growing and to find the beginnings of blossoms on the ends of the vines! I'm trying to train it to grow up those poles, but it has other ideas that involve sprawling on the ground instead. I think I'm going to win this fight though. I would ultimately like it to grow up the mailbox, but I'll settle for the poles for now.



Here is a blurry photo of the clematis from April 2006. All I had at that time for taking photos was the camera phone - sorry! You can see its pretty little lavender bloom behind the daisies. It never grew any bigger than that until this year.



I protected the clematis from the low temperatures and potential frost with a trash bag, and he made it through the night just fine. I can't wait to enjoy those gorgeous blooms later this month! Maybe it will bloom for my birthday on the 27th. That would be a great gift.

One of our neighbors has a gorgeous lavender clematis that is so lush and full that it must be close to 10 years old. I will get some photos when / if it comes into bloom this year. I think it was badly damaged last year by the late freeze. I hope it comes back up this year.