For well over a decade, a sweet Autumn clematis formed the green archway that framed the entrance to our side yard. It grew twenty to thirty feet each year, and was a reliable foundation element. One year it simply gave up, inexplicably deciding not to return after a winter. Happily, around that same time, the slower-growing climbing hydrangea had taken over the other side of the archway, and now it more than covers the area. It is right below our attic window, making for a happy view especially when spring is in the air.
Before the clematis departed, however, it seeded several other areas with its progeny, which have been slowly creeping in accordance with its accompanying adage: the first year it sleeps, the second year it creeps, the third year it leaps. One of them must be in its third year, as I found this bunch of blooms in the pine boughs of the side yard, sweetly scenting the warm air of the sunny, almost-autumn day.
