Looks like the garden is celebrating this holiday weekend with a small scale fireworks display. The red and coral blossoms of this trumpet honeysuckle
Lonicera sempervirens "Major Wheeler" shoot out like tiny versions of those sky-shattering explosions.
In the past, I've grown sweet peas on this trellis, but this year, I missed the early spring planting out season for seeds, and later I couldn't locate any nursery-grown plants. The past few years, too, I've had real difficulty keeping the sweet pea vines from going bleached and brittle by mid-summer. Flower yields have been less than impressive. Anyway, all these thoughts were rattling around in my head as I wandered down the aisles of my local garden center wondering what to do. As soon as I picked up a potted vine with the name "Major Wheeler," I knew I had my answer.
The twisting vines of my own family history are heavy with military Wheelers. No Majors, but lots of other officers. To mark this patriotic day, here are a few.
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| Captain Wheeler (1796/1798-1867) |
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| Colonel Wheeler (1826-1901) |
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| Lieutenant Wheeler (1895-1918) |
They definitely set off fireworks in their own days. And so did we!
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