{Our Clematis Lanuginosa Candida}

Last year our beautiful large blooming Clematis Lanuginosa Candida was wilting away... When I made a photo of its blossoms I was shocked to see their shrunken size. So husband Pieter did dig up the plant as it was in the shade, near the big trees... NOT good.

Here a proud Pieter shows off his prized Clematis Lanuginosa Candida in 1996...
That one was a DREAM!

It grew against the front porch balusters from Vintage Woodworks...

Something to really admire...

The same abundance in 1997, but we lost that one.
Pieter however always maintained to keep a baby alive.
Last year that baby was not thriving...
Now look how happy it is this year!

It is back to its usual size of up to 9" across!

It now resides up against the balcony, on the driveway side.
We hope it will be as beautiful as its grandparents were in previous years!

Related link:

{Our 2013 Clematis lanuginosa 'Candida'} | previous post by me
{Our Clematis lanuginosa 'Candida'} | previous post by me

{Our Patio Pot Plants}

On April 10 you could read my blog post {Our Patio Tiles Are DONE!} and since that day we have been adding Pot Plants to Our Patio...

This is the kitchen bay window area on April 10...

Moving to the right where you can see the front porch as well.

Pieter has been painting several pots so they better match.

Stepping a little bit closer now.

The white trellis with our Clematis lanuginosa 'Candida' got made by Pieter himself.

Stepping further back towards our white vinyl picket fence you can better see the house.

Here is also an Oxalis patch near the lantern.

So happy to see green leaves on all our trees by now!

The patio starts looking nice with these pot plants.

This photo is taken on April 23, from underneath the huge Dogwood tree's canapy.

You can see the bird feeder hanging down from it.

When stepping back you can also see our squirrel proof bird feeder that will close down access to the bird feed when a squirrel's weight is on its bar. BUT those acrobats hang upside down from its roof and get what they want...

The Japanese style bird bath is also in sight here.

Closer towards the steps to our veranda...

Zooming in on this group of Pot Plants.

The purple one is the Patio Peach that I have shown earlier when it was blooming. See below post.

Our Clematis lanuginosa 'Candida' next to our Bonfire Prunus Persica - Patio Peach

Our front patio also is getting more and more Pot Plants out.

Will follow up when more are added...

Do you like the way they are being added on to the tiles?

Related link:
{Our Patio Tiles in the Front} | previous post by me
{Our Bonfire Prunus Persica - Patio Peach} | previous post by me
{Our Patio Tiles Are DONE!} | previous post by me
{Our Patio Tiles & Freeze Warning} | previous post by me
{Water Control Project Finished} | previous post showing you the tile sample on the concrete

{Our Lilac Clematis 'Silver Moon'}

A FREE gift from the birds by seed spreading, is this gorgeous LILAC CLEMATIS 'Silver Moon!

Very large blooms in perfect Lilac!

Are those huge flowers not lovely?

Photos are taken on April 12...

Husband Pieter did make this bamboo trellis for them and spray painted it green.

Those petals indeed look like silver...

When just opening up they are of a darker shade lilac; quite stunning!

We have two of these Clematis, here shown back to back in their pots.

Do you have any Clematis?

Related link:
{Our Lovely Lilac Clematis 'Silver Moon'} | previous post by me

{Our Carolina Jasmine}

One of the most beautiful vines is the Carolina Jasmine Gelsemium sempervirens with its fragrant yellow flowers.

This species is by far not as invasive as e.g. wisterias are.

Very lovely sight when blooming like here seen on April 10.

There is a bird house right behind it and often the Caroline Wren lives in it.

What a romantic place for raising their young!

To the right you see our Wood Trail and to the left is our Gazebo...

Do you have a Carolina Jasmine?

Related link:
{Yellow Blossoms from Our Garden want to be YOUR Sunshine Today!} | previous post by me

{Our Blue Wisteria Blossoms}

By mid April our Blue Wisterias were filling the air with their sweet fragrance and they have climbed up the trees till the very top.

Don't you love those trusses of beautiful and highly fragrant flowers?

Cascading down a tree, you can see the water of the creek to the right and the road in the center...

Again the creek is visible to the right and also the road.

Another tree to the left is being filled with this rather invasive climber.

This is our bridge across the creek; one of 3.

The balusters are from Vintage Woodworks, Texas

Do you have any wisteria climbers?

Related link:
{Our Wisteria Chinensis & Millettia Reticulata (Evergreen Wisteria)} | previous post by me
{Our Exotic Sesbania punicea  - Scarlet Wisteria} | previous post by me
{Our Everblooming Japanese Honeysuckle | Lonicera japonica} | previous post by me
{Antique 19th Century Silver Toast Rack Replica, Made in Kotagede, Indonesia} | previous post by me

{Our 2013 Clematis lanuginosa 'Candida'}

Our 2013 Clematis lanuginosa 'Candida', the largest Clematis variety, (availability you find below post) did not yield many blooms for 2013. Below you can find more glorious blooms from earlier years. But let's have a look at this exotic beauty:

Gorgeous and HUGE flowers as usual. They are incredible.

That was it; 3 blooms on May 11 of 2013!

Hard to capture the all white blooms on camera...

The center bloom...

The bottom one where some critter has been eating away at its petal...

We used to have this Clematis lanuginosa 'Candida' up against a trellis under the balcony.

This is 7 years ago and now you can actually see their HUGE size!

2006 showed some very HAPPY blooms.

Gardener Pieter beaming with pride in 1996 when we had one as a perfect vine up against our front porch on the corner of the house. NEVER happened again and we actually lost this one... A very tiny new plant came up that Pieter babied inside the green house, in a pot before planting it next to the tree where it resides now.

Me standing proudly next to them in 1996...

For more photos of this huge beauty see the link below this post.

But we still have these photos as living memory!

Does any of you have this type of Clematis?

Related links:
{Our Lovely Lilac Clematis 'Silver Moon'} | previous post by me
{Our Clematis lanuginosa 'Candida'} | previous post by me

{Our Lovely Lilac Clematis 'Silver Moon'}

• Coming home from Curaçao, our garden had lots of surprises for us. One of them was our lovely lilac 'Clematis 'Silver Moon'. It is one of the large blooming varieties.

• Perfect Lilac or Lavender Clematis 'Silver Moon' that spontaneously grew in our wood garden.
• Maybe from seeds, spread by birds?
• We got two vines now and they bloom very prolific.

• These vines were kept in pots but are now ready to go to a permanent spot.

• Bottom left you see a young Golden Live Oak 'Quercus Virginiana Grand View Gold' that we managed to grow from an acorn. Yesterday's post was about this rare golden variety.

As you can tell, there are also plenty of 'dollar' weeds growing.

So much for going away  for 11 days... Vacation is nice but you have to catch up later!

Have a great week ahead and may your spring be rewarding as well.

Related links where this stunning Quercus Virginiana Grand View Gold, can be seen:
Wow...I think this deserves a thread! Golden live oak! | GardenWeb discussion...
{Lush Green Garden} |previous post by me
{# 1111 - Our Golden Live Oak 'Quercus Virginiana Grand View Gold' changing color} | previous post by me
{Golden Live Oak 'Quercus Virginiana Grand View Gold' in Sunshine at its BEST} | previous post by me
{Our Golden Live Oak 'Quercus Virginiana Grand View Gold' with Catkins} | Previous post by me
{Our Mrs. G. G. GERBING Azaleas} | previous post by me
{Our Patio Tiles in the Front} | previous post by me
{RARE Icicles in Our Garden} | previous post by me
{Energy Efficient GREEN Roofing Arrived} | previous post by me
{My Powder Blue Escada Jeans Suit} | previous post by me showing me in front of Grand View Gold

{Cloudy Day versus Sunny Day}| Previous post by me
{Blooms on our Windmill Palm - Trachycarpus fortunei} | previoius post by me 

{Our Golden Live Oak has LOTS of Acorns!} | previous post by me

{Our Different Oaks} | previous post by me

{My Silk Quilted Vest Creation and YOUR Opinion Requested...} | previous post by me showing golden oak

{Our Live Oak got a Haircut}| previous post by me

{Antique 19th Century Silver Toast Rack Replica, Made in Kotagede, Indonesia}

Going back and forth all those years for working in Indonesia, we did have this beautiful Antique 19th Century Toast Rack Replica made by those Silversmiths from Kotagede, Indonesia.

It sure is a bonus for having access to such fine craftsmen and when we spotted this exceptional silver toast rack from ca 1819-1831, husband Pieter took a photo of it in July of 1996. We gave the photo to the silversmiths and we were lucky as in the book, also measurements were given. So let me show you this incredible piece of art...

Here it is... After I removed the Birthday cards and such, that I keep in there for writing, I did polish it first. It was not ready for a photo shoot. What do you say? Nice detailing or not? I fell in love with the ball feet from the photo in the antiques book.

This is the photo we took with us to Kotagede, Indonesia on one of our consulting trips in november of 1996.

Don't you think that they did an excellent job in creating this replica from the antique 19th century silver toast rack? 

I have used this also for High Teas, for putting the napkins inside. 

Love the handle at the top, it really is a very convenient one.

Probably since we had this made in November of 1996, there are not that many active silversmiths left in Kotagede... I hate to see this art being lost!

On Sunday, November 17, 1996 at SS Silver shop in Kotagede with Australian business connection Geoff Price. He fell in love with their silver as well and purchased some nice items for his wife.

That Sunday we did hand them the photo for the creation of the Silver Toast Rack.

Husband Pieter did capture my passion for silver very well...

Here the toast rack is on our table on March 16, 1997 with a vase full of fragrant Wisteria blossoms...

The La Perla lingerie set was in Wisteria color, that's why I placed it there.

Related link:
{Have YOU Ever Seen the Making of Silver in Kotagede, Indonesia?} | previous post by me

{Our Irish Blarney Castle Sweaters + Short Hair}

• Yep, yesterday I had a major haircut... much needed and I would like to hear what you think...
• Today we went to a special music program at our Christ Episcopal Church at noon. 
• Since it is an official event of the Saint Patrick's Festival most people did wear some green. 
• So out came our all cotton Irish Blarney Castle Sweaters that we bought during one of our consulting trips to Ireland.
• They just feel comfy to wear on a sunny, but windy day!

• That's me with short hair and our feline boy Bandido, on the steps of our gazebo...
• You can tell the pollen is starting to come, as seen by Dido's paw prints on my navy Escada jeans!
• That's the Blarney Castle, all cotton sweater from Ireland.
• Below I will show you a detail of it and also form the necklace and earrings.

• These Blarney Castle sweaters do have a shamrock knitted into the front!
• Quite appropriate for our City of Dublin, as it is the emblem here.
• Escada jeans in navy with old Salamander ballerina shoes with ankle strap.

• The yellow Carolina jasmine is budding out and will look pretty very soon.
• The sun is so harsh already that making photos is nearly impossible without shade marks.

• Yes, we both are dressed in partner look...
• Pieter is holding the chicken wire, on which our Carolina jasmine vine is climbing up as a support.

• Here it is with one Blarney Castle emblem up on the left sleeve and a larger one inside the neck.
• From Pieter I received once this cloisonné Hex sign that he got me in Pennsylvania in the early 80s.
• The Irish Shamrock Hex is a sign for good luck surrounded by smooth round lines for an easy life. The two distelfinks make for a double  portion of good fortune while the heart suggests love.
• The silver earrings with green Malachite stone, we bought while doing consulting work in México, during a weekend sight seeing with our boss/friend Agustín.
• Fond memories and they play an annual role in our Dublin St. Patrick's Festival...

Are you celebrating St. Patrick's Festival in your City?