A Vine Home

We recently moved a very mature evergreen clematis vine.  And yes, being the end of July, it was the worst of times to be moving plants.  I have loved this vine because it frames the view out my desk window.  But we have been changing things around in the garden and this vine had definitely gotten too big for it's location.  The journey to our front door had become more like a walk through the jungle.

Before

After

The plan was to move this vine in the Spring.  A good plan.  But I noticed a robin spending a lot of time in it and realized she was building a nest.  So we waited.  Then waited some more for the baby birds to leave the nest.  By the time the robins had vacated their home, our life got busy.  So suddenly here we were in late July moving a giant vine, fully aware that this is a bad idea.  I love it's new location, but I'm only giving it 50/50 odds of survival. 

Yesterday, Grace found a little green tree frog on the post where the vine used to be and I'm guessing this little guy was another resident of this vine.  He was most likely wondering what had happened to his home!  I quickly grabbed my camera and had some really cute pictures of this frog, but someone (I'm not naming names...) deleted some pictures off my card.  So, you'll have to take my word that he was a very cute little tree frog.

I love the fact that you can now walk to our front door without being attacked by twining arms of clematis vine, but I'm missing all of the birds I used to watch who found shelter there.  And now I'm realizing that a little green tree frog called it home too!  (I wondered where those froggy noises were coming from...)  My husband is loving the openness of our porch now.  He loves that you can see out to the garden.  In fact, everyone who has come to our house has remarked that it looks so open now.  Gentle hints that it was getting hard to get through the jungle.  I'm looking out at the open space and seeing visions of another vine--just maybe smaller this time...