The plant that started it all

I've always liked flowers.  I had a little garden patch of my own when I was a kid.  As an adult, I usually liked to put out some flowers in spring and fall as well as throw out some bulbs.  I was a fair-weather sociable gardener.  What changed me into the plant addict that I now am?  Why am I now known as the crazy neighbor who gardens in the high heat of a North Carolina summer afternoon?  (That's when the toddler naps.)

The clematis Rooguchi.

I was looking at some gardening website online when I saw it's picture and determined that I had to have it.  Sometimes spelled 'Roguchi', it is a scrambler as opposed to a climber and blooms pretty much nonstop all summer.  For me it dies to the ground every winter, so I don't have to worry about what pruning group it is in.  Here is a picture a lot like the one I saw that fateful day:

I have it scrambling up an obelisk to give it support.  It gets morning sun and afternoon shade, and the roots are well mulched as well.  I don't give it much supplementary water now that it is established.

Here is it now, still with quite a few blooms and many little white fluffy seed pods.  It will grow to a height of about 6 to 8 feet.  I think I may need a bigger obelisk!

The blooms are only an inch or two long, so it is definitely better placed close to a path so one can see it up close and admire the delicateness and grace of the beautiful flowers.

Beautiful.