Follow Me Down the Yellow Vine Trail...

Typically, autumn is all about the stunning array of color abound in our landscapes, chalked up primarily to the deciduous shrubs and trees that dot or woodlands. Vines tend to always get a bit obscured by these rose-colored (or red, orange, or purple-colored, so to speak) glasses that we wear this time of year, despite offering as many ornamental and ecological benefits as their more grounded kin. This week, let’s chat native vines that sparkle in the landscape with bold yellows during spring, summer, and fall.

Count on Clematis

Recently, my best friend and her husband moved into a charming suburban townhome that had previously been owned by an elderly woman with a penchant for perennials, having adorned her garden beds with black and brown-eyed Susans, various mints, a healthy Amsonia hubrichtii specimen in the middle of the yard that I (somewhat obnoxiously) begged and pleaded my friend’s husband not to remove (with the help of Mt. Cuba’s recent trials, they’re now both fully on board with its presence), and even poke weed as a fruiting ornamental for the birds.

Beyond the Garden Gate

…Step by step from town to town, sweet like justice: gardens are a queen, gardens take all my friends to the summit, gardens are the plot on the green, blooming straight home to me…

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last couple of months, and more specifically the last week, then Taylor & Travis have probably been monopolizing your screen time. You probably thought you were safe here, in the comfort of the weekly Pleasant Run email. “Surely, the crossover between horticulture and Taylor Swift has to be minimal,” you think to yourself wearily, eyes heavy from scrolling through endless feel-good videos of a pop icon finally living out her fairy tale dreams. Guess again!