The Feelings of Flowers

"Perfumes are the feelings of flowers."  -  Heinrich Heine September is when my garden is filled with Sweet Autumn Clematis - little white stars climbing up trees and bushes.  It is a haven for pollinators so there is a buzz of sound.  The scent is sweet and citrusy and is everywhere.   It reminds one of May and the scent of apple blossoms and hyacinths.  And then we see a red leaf and know this is the finale I saw red leaves yesterday climbing up poles and tree trunks.  I am curious whether they are poison ivy or virginnia creeper.  My own garden vriginnia creeper is not turning red yet.  So it might be the abundant poison ivy of Niagara that is the first to turn colour.   How to know which it is?  The expression to remember is: Leaves of three?  Let them be!  I didn't stop to check, but kept thinking of the expression. There are more rhyming expressions to help with the identification of poison ivy:  "Longer middle stem; stay away from them." -- the middle leaflet has a long stem while the two side leaflets attach almost directly. "Ragged rope, don't be a dope!" Poison ivy vines on trees have a furry, "raggy" or ragged appearance. "Berries white, run in fright" and "Berries white, danger in sight." "Red leaflets in the spring, it's a dangerous thing." -- new leaflets sometimes are red in the spring. Later, in the summer, the leaflets are green -- while in autumn they can be reddish-orange. "Side leaflets like mittens, will itch like the dickens." This refers to the shape of some poison ivy leaves, where each of the two side leaflets has a notch that makes the leaflet look like a mitten with a "thumb." (Caution:all parts of the plant can cause itching, not just these leaves.) The latest iPhone was announced - at a notable price.  My own iPhone came in handy on the trip.  It was used for these panorama pictures - the iPhone does it all.  Here are two from the Denver Botanical Garden.  This Victorian conservatory had bird cages hanging inside, each with airplanes in each.