Old Man’s Beard

These flowers have appeared in recent days alongside one of the footpaths I use regularly.

There are masses of them..the plants are huge and cascading over a fence.

They are in the same family as clematis..although this variety is considered invasive as it is so vigorous and swamps all other plants. It is also known as Traveller’s Joy.

The flowers are quite delicate  - and the seed heads eventually become a white fluffy mass - hence the ‘beard’!!

We had some very heavy rain (briefly) last night - with one clap of thunder! Just started to rain today  (10 a.m.) - it is forecast for the rest of the day and tomorrow…glad I got my walk in early again!