They nearly died last winter.
They are back this spring!
Full disclosure: I'm a wine drinker. Just in case my wine book Evolution of a Wine Drinker didn't tip you off about that little old fact about little old me.
I am also a grape eater of the table grape, produce variety such as Thompson Seedless, Red Flame, Vitis coffeetableis and Vitis breakfast-tableis. So last spring I planted some grape vines for edible fruit. Last summer the trunks and canes took off extending their vines all over the back yard like a scary scene from a Tim Burton/Edward Scissorhands/wine grower's nightmare movie.
Then after the New Year I did the unthinkable: I grabbed my clippers and chopped the vines back to the trunk! When the plants did nothing for months, I feared I had bruised their delicate canes; Mr. Wonderful feared I had totally annihilated them; Jackson feared the clippers would annihilate him.
None of us had anything to fear. By March the sap started flowing in my vines; Mr. Wonderful saw the green shoots pop out into leafs; and Jackson realized he's too furry and cute to ever be clipped.
Then the grape vines flowered! (See picture above). The grapes will grow from these clusters.
I can't wait to taste these Vitis breakfast-tableis!
