"Some of my favorite things . . ."

It has been fun this past year to see all the different flowers blooming at different times in the spring, summer, and fall – it’s such a fun surprise to find “new” flowers growing in the yard that you didn’t know were there. (And can you believe we are just about to our one-year mark living here?) Anyways, when we moved in last summer there was this beautiful light purple clematis vine (more like a bush) that was kind of sprawling all over one side of the deck in the back yard. Last year I tried to train it up onto the deck railing and trim off some of the dead branches, and I wondered if I’d maybe cut it back too much and it wouldn’t bloom as well. But I was pleased when it got just as many flowers this year. It’s definitely my favorite flower in our yard – especially since it seemed that its flowers lasted a really long time last summer. That’s what inspired me to plant the little clematis vines all around the corners of the deck and out by the mailbox in front. And there are a couple more little ones growing on the side of the house, where I’ve tried to train one to grow up the side of the rain gutter so that it will show in the front of the house. So pretty.