Sealand Gem Clematis

Because I'm blipping daily I sometimes forget to show you some of those picture on this blog as well. But today I simply had to, because I had such a difficult time deciding which of these 3 views of our clematis Sealand Gem I wanted to use for my blip. On the Blipfoto site you can only upload one picture for every day but on this blog there are no such restrictions so you can make your own choice which photograph takes your fancy most.  The first view, seen above, is a view of the many buds in various stages of growth. The clematis is flowering a lot earlier than last year as we have moved the pot into the greenhouse which was oh so lucky as the weather this spring has been abysmal. I don't think we've ever had a colder spring.

In fact, while I was driving home last night from Peebles I saw some flashing lights in front of me. It was a large yellow vehicle and it wasn't till I was in the process of overtaking it that I suddenly realized it was spreading something and then it sank in: it was a gritter!! In the middle of May. Whatever next?! Having said that there is still skiiing to be had, further North here in Scotland, much to the delight of the slopes which by now have usually closed for the season. Anyway, back to the clematis and above an entire large flower fully out.

And finally (my own favourite and thus my blip today) a close up view of the centre of the flower. Somehow these tentacles made me think of underwater growth. Taking pictures like this one involves a fight with my camera which keeps insisting I'm too close but eventually I always manage to persuade it to give it a try anyway and then it comes up with these sort of shots. Love such macros!