Clematis montana

I have been a bit rushed today with preparation for a meeting.  After it had finished, I had to rush off to pick up Helena from her teaching job in Brimscombe, a couple of miles further up the Golden Valley..

When we got back we relaxed in the garden in the sunshine eating cake and croissants accompanying a cup of tea.

As the light was going I picked up my camera and after a couple of minutes eying up possible blips, I spotted the very first flower of the clematis montana had opened.  We will have hundreds of them in the next week or so, and it is always a joy to see these little flowers carpeting the fence by the back door.  But the first one deserved a special mention in dispatches.