Looks like Virginia Creeper ( Parthenocissus quinquefolia) by the leaves. Boston Ivy (Parthenocissus tricuspidata) has ivy shaped leaves. they're both nice, but invasive as hell. My neighbour planted some Virginia creeper on our shared fence about five years ago and for the past two years I've been trying to get rid of it on my side - it gets into my pots in the summer and generally takes over. A place up the street had to do some extensive work around the windows and roof a few years ago because some Boston Ivy had damaged the wood and water had been getting in. I wouldn't put it anywhere near a house - just in case. Take a look at Parthenocissus henryana, aka Silvervein Creeper. Supposedly it is not as invasive as the other two but it still has the beautiful fall colour and has nicer leaves during the summer (in my opinion anyway). It might not be hardy in an exposed location though - we're kind of at the northern end of its possible range :-( BP

I grew Statice several years ago. I planted two packets of mixed colors. I got: white, off white, pink, apricot, lavender, blues and dark purples. I still have the ones I dried. I believe I have seeds tucked away somewhere in my seed boxes. Tomorrow I will dig around and see if I can find them. Wonder if they would still grow? I like to grow them for their beauty of course, but mostly to remember my dear Grannie. She died 13 years ago at the young age of 102. Her birthday is Feb. 7th and mine is the 9th. I was named for her, too. Mother says I am very much the gardening girl that she was and laughs whenever she sees me picking up broken plants from a nursery/garden floor or pinching plants and "stealing" seeds. I tell her they WANT me to take them home and love them to life. How can I tell them no? She chuckles and says, "You're just like Momma." Grannie was an honorary member of the San Pasqual Zoo in San Diego since it opening and frequented the place, going once a month, for more than twenty years. They sent her a free "ZooNews" magazine and bulletin updates on the animal births and events happening at the zoo. She always wore a big, wide-brimmed straw hat and dressed in blue jeans, a plaid flannel shirt and wore sturdy walking shoes. She carried a LARGE leather handbag on all outings. She used her cane as a pointer, to poke things with and investigate rocks she saw that she liked. Her ancestry was clear to see in her amazing resemblance to the Queen Mother. What a mug - firey red hair (still visible even at her last years), sharp, piercing blue eyes, intelligent, stern and quite serious. Her favorite thing about going to San Pasqual was pinching plants. She particular liked succulents and cacti, but not unknown to take "samples" of anything that struck her fancy, cute little Grannie. No one everquestioned her or said a word to her about it, if they indeed even saw her. She was little, ancient and heavily armed with a cane. I want some Statice seeds to grow for Grannie. ~ Annie

We're getting a fine misty rain this morning. Supposed to be some severe thunderstorms tonight. We've had more rain already this year than we had in total in the past two years. It is a La Nina year for us, so that usually means more Pacific West rain coming in from Mexico and Gulf rains from Texas with cooler summer temps. I am so READY! Of course, that also means more bad storms. Can't win for losing, I swear. Looking out my window now, there are dozens of colorful birds at the feeder I hung in the weeping willow tree. I just took one of my sling plant hangers and set a large metal farm pan in it for the seeds. It is deep and has a good lip around the top, so accommodates a lot of birds at once. It works much better than those expensive but cheaply made plastic things you buy, and a heck of a lot sturdier. II also hung a Finch sock out there and it is covered with Golden Finches - their colors are changing from their winter drab to the vivid yellow. Each day they have more and more yellow feathers. Birds at the feeder or running up and down the tree are: Golden Finches, Purple(Scarlet) Finches, Flickers, Red-headed Woodpecker, Redwing Blackbirds, Cardinals, Eastern Blue Jays, Tufted Titmouse, Black-capped Chickadees, Snow Buntings, Black and White Warblers (Nuthatch), & Downy Woodpeckers. There is quite a lot of activity out there and fighting. I so enjoy watching the circus! Yesterday there were Robins darting about in the back garden, pulling up worms and paying no heed to me while I was watering. One Robin came right over to me to get a drink. She wasn't a bit afraid of me. I laid the hose down by the Wisteria tree and she hopped right over and took a good long drink. So cute! This morning, the Weeping Willow popped out with tiny green leaves. So pretty and welcome to see. I better go out and put out more seeds before the Chickadees tear up the Finch socks. Thank you all for the lovely comments. Nice to have all my hard work appreciated. Hope you have a good day. And thank you all for dropping by! Please drop by again. ~Annie

Lonicera - a vigorous (to the point of invasive) plant, but not at all fussy, takes dramatic shearing and pops back, and I will never tire of the fragrance. I keep it in bounds by growing it as a standard, which has the extra advantage of keeping the flowers at a convenient height for sniffing.