Are you familiar with the Cup and Saucer vine?  It's fancy name is Cobaea scandens.  This year I grew several from seed and trained it around the doorway to the shop.  I had a few in the garden too.  It's extremely satisfying to see them move from a little seed to a 20 foot vine filled with Thumbelina-like bells over the course of one season.  What struck me most, however, was not it's quick climbing vines or cute blooms, but the fantastic color progression.

For those of you in the Principles & Elements of Design Class, here is a prime example of spotting movement through color in nature.

Even more interesting, is how the color progression moves in reverse order when compared to other things in the garden.

While most flowers fade as they age, this one only gets richer. 

Green to white to light purple to rich, vibrant purple and done.  There was no back fade.  It's fantastic.

I wonder if this simple flower's progression might encourage you today.  I wonder how your life might be different if you viewed each season of life as an increase in vibrancy rather than a fade.

Growing Cup and Saucer Vine

If you're new to the seed world I highly recommend them.  These were very easy to germinate and care for.  When other seedlings are teenie-tiny these are already starting to look like a plant. They encouraged me!  I started the seeds in Pro-Mix and root trainers, although you can use any kind of taller skinny vessel.  I planted them out after Mother's Day because these like to be warm in their early days.  Late in the season, when they are established and sturdy they do well with a chill.  It was one of the last things to surrender to frost.  The vines in the exposed part of the garden go first, but the ones by the house hung on through several light frosts.  

Using Cup and Saucer Vine as a cut flower

I think this plant is best enjoyed in the garden, however, it does produce stems long enough to drape over container edges and use low in bouquets.  The key is cutting early before the pollen emerges.  As you can see from the images, the pollen is quite abundant and sticky.  The vines aren't ideal to arrange with either.  The ends are sticky with lots of little griping feet.  It's thick-stemmed and inflexible.  I much prefer Love-in-a-Puff for arranging.  I will say though, I had a few stems of the white variety from a friend this year and the vines were much nicer for arranging, not so sticky.  The flowers are dreamy for weddings, again just cut pre-pollen and use right away.

News: Workshop Details are out

In the news department, I just got the 2017 Workshop details all set up and registration is open! See the progression of the workshops here...

P.S. How cute are Lauren and Maegan?  This is an image from our 2014 event in Boone!