Father Christmas - such a lovely story I needed to share it! I hope you like it too.

The very pretty Old Man's Beard is really popular and I love using it to make ceramic work. Ian was a sweetie and picked me loads of the scrambling,rampant climber this autumn. The flowers are just starting to turn into the fluffy seeds.

Old Man's Beard growing in Dingle

Beautiful seeds

I knew a little about this very special climber but I researched it and found out loads of interesting facts, that I thought I  will share with you. The best one is that one of its MANY common names is Father Christmas! Easy to think about his gorgeous fluffy beard. It is also a popular addition to christmas wreaths.

Sink full

Clematis vitalba is the only native clematis in the UK. There are several great names including, Traveller's Ivy,  Love Vine, Shepherd's Delight, Virgin's Bower and Boy's Bacca. Traveller's Joy is easy to understand but as well as it looking lovely, it was added to beer.

Bowl I made last year

Ready for Christmas!

It makes excellent rope, mice hate the taste so it is used to be used to bind sheaves of grain. It can be used for basketry and is very good for fire kindling. The seeds are a great source of food for birds during the winter. The summer flowers provide nectar for insects and the leaves food for moths.

Baccy Plant and  Smokewood are country names because small lengths of woody stems were smoked as cheap cigarettes. Which is also where the name Woodbine crosses over.

Be careful though because even though it can be used medicinally to help treat stress and nerves, it can be poisonous and  irritate skin. It is also supposed to help the Devil by choking other plants and stems can grow really thick (great for swinging on!). It was introduced to New  Zealand is now a real problem and a national pest.

I LOVE this plant and it helps to remind me about log fires and Christmas!