Today's Flowers: Wisteria Pods

Luiz invited us to post something about Christmas. I hope you enjoy an ornament from my tree.

My entry for Today's Flowers is a little different. Winter has taken all the beautiful blooms from my garden. Today I am showing you what is left on my Wisteria vines. Wisteria is a member of the Pea family, Fabaceae. Most of us know it as a climbing vine, with purple, and sometimes white, flowers in the early spring. Less noticeable, at least from a distance, are the seed pods that form afterwards. These pods are very soft and velvety, and get to be about 8-10" or longer. The pods are filled with smooth round brown seeds. A few things to bear in mind about these seeds: first, they're poisonous; second, they, the pods and the leaves do create a bit of garden litter; and third, fresh wisteria seed sprouts readily, but vines grown from seed, as opposed to grafted plants, sometimes take upwards of seven to ten years to bloom.

Silhouetted Against A Brilliant Winter Sky
Dangling From The Vines
Nature's Ornaments

Be sure to click on the Today's Flowers badge to see the beautiful array of blooms from around the world.

Still A Winter Wonderland

This was the scene just off my front porch this morning. When it snows I'm like a kid in a candy store. I love it. I like watching it float down and swirl and nestle in the crooks and crannies of the trees. The peaceful silence turns the brown bare earth into a beautiful glistening landscape. It is a joyous feeling, so calm and serene.

On a really happy note the deer are back. I have watched the deer roam the property for the past few months. My dear husband was feeding them corn until we left for the birth of our Grandchild a few weeks ago. I thought too that the hunters would scare them all away. I was sure they would wander on to other feeding areas while we were gone. The first few days we were back home it seemed that was true. But alas, they're back! This little buck came looking for food during the snowfall this morning. This little Bambi-ish creature made my morning as I watched him cavort in the snow.