Clematis is a climbing vine, after all

Click for better clarity.

Clematis drummondii is a vine, after all, so here’s a picture of it climbing on a cenizo bush, Leucophyllum frutescens, that was blossoming profusely in my neighborhood on July 28. Cenizo—also known paradoxically as Texas sage and purple sage even though it’s no kind of sage at all—is native in west and south Texas but has been widely planted elsewhere in the state because during the hot months of the year it typically puts forth several profuse rounds of flowers like the one isolated in this picture. I can be close to certain that the homeowner had arranged for the cenizo to be there, but not the Clematis drummondii that had clambered over it. The feathery tufts of the vine are still there two weeks after all the cenizo flowers fell away.

© 2013 Steven Schwartzman