Old man’s beard

In the last post you read that Clematis drummondii has been called old man’s beard because of the fluff—often mounds of it—that the vine produces. Today’s picture is a corroboration of that name, but if you have a different imagination you’re free to see clouds in a chlorophyll sky. I found all this fluff on August 1st at the southeast corner of Burnet Rd. and Shoreline Dr. in far north Austin. That was across the street from the corner that hosted some dense mealy blue sage flowers in the spring, and in fact that sage colony is blooming again now.

© 2013 Steven Schwartzman