my project is to get the backyard finally going with plantings. i have a holding area that i've had some pathetic plants for 2 yrs now. along the edge is the best sun & will have igs & some other fruit bearers, and the rest is shady and woodsy, so we plan to incorporate lots of attractive natives and such. we also need to finally order & surround the boo with barrier. pete did do a shallow ditch last fall and cut off a few runners, so our timing is good. the recent rains will help make it lots easier. we'd love to do the dreamed of koi pond back there, too, but i suspect that's another yr or more off, as it's gonna be expensive. i desperately need to rework one area of my perennail fence beds, and am not looking forward to it. and thin out an overgrown rose(well, 2 or 3). am going to switch to wintersowing most everything that i've always done in the house, based on ya'll's good experiences. and i need to direct sow some lettuce & winter crops in this nice warm spell next week. too many projects! :) mr. lizard- i'll duplicate the offer- anytime you're in the garner/raleigh area, swing by & get plants. mine nearly always need divided, and the only way it generally gets done is if someone takes goodies. help me out! lol. tammy

If it was tagged as a clematis, then it was mislabeled :-) That is definitely a vine in the Bignoniaceae family - a crossvine (Bignonia) or a trumpet vine (Campsis)......I'd lean to the trumpet vine. The pinnate foliage is a dead give-away (clems do not have pinnate foliage). Trumpet vines generally prefer a lot of sun (yours looks to be in a fair amount of shade) and often take a few years to establish before they produce flowers. But hummingbirds love them and they are a nice, colorful vine if you don't mind the aggressiveness of the root shoots and an ability to reseed rather freely. btw, there is no such thing as a clematis being "too tall to bloom" :-) Some species grow to great heights, including our native C. virginiana, well up into tree tops and bloom profusely. Hybrid clems tend not to grow nearly as large but will bloom without any pruning at all and many gardeners treat them in just that manner.

Thank you everyone for the kind comments. I have alot of room for planting. That is a good thing, I think. The fountain you see in the garden shot is not working at the moment, we need a new pump. I'm playing with the idea of drilling holes in it and making it a planter. The arbors were a gift from my husband, he built them for me in his shop. He is so talented with the woodworking, he has made me many bird houses. I show him a picture and he builds it. Startle has blown me away this year. I have had it for I think 5 years and it has always been splotchy. Last fall I moved it out of the flower garden it was in and into the vegetable garden. I decided if it didn't straighten up, into the compost it goes. It's actually a nice looking flower now. Nancy VB

I love ponds! I was going to install one last year on Mother's Day, but I thought that if we move shortly why go through the work. I love the ponds you have Wolfe--I have often thought about the whiskey barrel as a pond, you have made your small ponds pack such an impact! They are beautiful--I am going to try a barrel one. Susie--I am not far from you I live off of 279N. Best of luck with your ponds everyone. I have gotten a chance to see Pattygrow5's pond--it is terrific!!!! I am working on being able to post pics also. I got to the point of uploading them on Village photo but they were all to large! Dawn