Wisteria

The charms of wisteria are almost impossible to resist. Lounging languorously over a fence or pergola, she will beckon to you with her heady perfume. Before you know it, her nodding, pendulous blooms have hypnotized you.

 Wisteria is a genus of about ten species of woody, deciduous twining vines. Eight are Asian and include Wisteria floribunda, Japanese wisteria and Wisteria senensis, Chinese wisteria.  Wisteria frutescens, the often less fragrant and floriferous American wisteria, is a native vine and often recommended as an alternative to the Asian wisterias which are on the USDA list of invasive plants.


Along with its gorgeous flowers, wisteria produces large seed pods. In the early 1800s, collectors imported wisteria seed from China and Japan to the US and Britain. However, plants grown from the seed produced disappointing flowers.  When plant collectors later brought home cuttings made from layering or grafting, the plant thrived and bloomed abundantly like its predecessors in Asia.

The dark side of this vine has to do with its amazing vigor and the ability for its tendrils to travel swiftly underground, popping up far away from the main plant, and devilishly wrapping around trees, rose bushes or virtually anything else that is in their path and standing still..

If you are determined to plant wisteria or already own it, you may be interested to know that all those leaves and stems you prune away can be put to good use. See a simple technique for using wisteria to dye fabric at DIY: Make a Natural Dye from Wisteria.

 

 

 

 

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