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About the Header Image: Idlebrook Wendy Darling Evensen "Wendy" one of our four Labrador Retrievers.

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Monday, July 19, 2010

Vines Near the Old Catalpa Tree

Good morning,

Vines growing through our lives...

This is the story of ground cover that doesn't know it is supposed to be on the ground.  There are two kinds of ivy in these pictures and another type of ground cover that I can't name.

There are stories about all three of these plants.

The green and white ivy leaves were a small house plant that I bought many years ago and kept in the house for a couple of years.  It quickly outgrew its pot so instead of putting it in a bigger pot in the house, I decided to "set it free" and planted it outside near the old catalpa tree. 

The tiny dark green ivy leaves with light veins (bottom left corner of image to right;  center bottom of image above) have a wonderful story.  Those little ivy leaves were in my bridal bouquet.  I dried the flowers from my bouquet and have them displayed now in my dining room curio with the tiny American and Norwegian flags that were arranged with them on our wedding day.  As the rest of the bouquet of fresh flowers dried, I the rooted the ivy from the bouquet in water.  I planted it outside and it has been growing happily ever since by the old catalpa tree.

Those other green ground cover leaves that I cannot identify were cuttings from my parents' garden.  They have survived so very nicely here since the time I trimmed them from plants at my parents' home about 30 years ago, carefully rooted them in water, then planted them in the ground near the old catalpa tree.

All three of those "ground cover" plants have decided they really like that old catalpa tree with its huge heart-shaped leaves.  The vines now grow nearly to the height of a third floor window of our home and the old catalpa tree doesn't seem to mind the vines that adorn its trunk.

I love the wonderful memories these vines bring every time I see them there.

Best,
Lois

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10 comments:

Marty Mason said...

Nice memories. These three are some prolific memory makers!

Beautiful shot of the catalpa tree with the ivy giving it hugs!

Deere Driver said...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myrtus
I think the other plant is myrtle. Lovely tree. Such history!!

Diane at Crafty Passions said...

Ivy like that dosen't grow here, it comes in little pots and it takes years to get them to grow a foot !
So nice to see it like that !
Diane

~*~ saskia ~*~ said...

Love the calming green of the leaves against the brown from the tree. LOVE LOVE TREES!
Sending lots and lots of Dutch JOY your way for a lovely Monday, Lois. xx

Olive Knitting said...

How cool are those stories! thank you for sharing. I find them very inspirational.

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

Enjoyed the stories about the vines, Lois, and maybe knowing the history would have kept me from removing ivy from the pecan tree in the front yard after we bought our VA home a few years ago.

River Glorious said...

Just peeking in to see what mischief you're up to!

:)

Elaine said...

Beautiful memories attached to those vines and they look lovely climbing the tree. Amazing what a little plant can grow to be.

Lois Evensen said...

Good morning,

Yes, the vines are amazing. The huge volume of green and white ivy is especially impressive from a distance.

Deere, thanks for the lead on the other vine. I am sure you are right. It jogged the memory of what I believe Mom said it was back when I put it in there.

Thank you, everyone, for stopping by.

Very best,
Lois

Unknown said...

How wonderful it is to have stories that grow!