Ghost Flowers

I can't walk far these days without seeing one of late summer's most luscious treats. It is Clematis paniculata, sweet autumn clematis.

Paniculata — what a wonderful word! I say it silently to myself when I'm walking and I swear it speeds me up. It has multisyllabic bounciness. It reminds me, in fact, of another multisyllabic word, Lolita, and of the opening lines of Nabokov's novel by that name: "Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth. Lo. Lee. Ta."

Only with "paniculata" that would be five steps down the palate — Pa. Nic. U. La. Ta."

Paniculata is a spray of white in a world of tired green. It is a bridal veil, a fountain, a bounty; climbing over fence rows and crowning mailboxes. We had one for many years and then it mysteriously disappeared. A victim of disease or an errant mower? We'll never know.

Every year I vow to plant another. But every year I forget. Clematis paniculata. Ghost flowers.


Photo: White Flower Farm