you look familiar

my mom has a delightful clematis vine that surrounds her back door. so, i am very familiar with clematis buds and feel as though i could recognize them anywhere. but these stems truly tripped me up–looking just like clematis buds, but growing on straight stems…what the what?  sure enough, clematis recta! free standing clematis shrubs native to europe. who knew? look at how those bud stemlets still want to curl and twist just like their vining cousins. the world is full of wonderful surprises.

clematis recta