Plant Focus
For sheer vim and vigour, wisterias are a tough act to follow with their fast growth and long trusses of fabulous flowers that are loved by bees
Wisteria in full flower is a wonderful sight as it lavishly drapes over buildings and pergolas, dripping tiny, pea-like flowers that fill the air with a sweet, musky perfume. By the time the last blooms fade, light-green leaflets take centre stage, softly shrouding the gnarled forms of noble plants that have seen one hundred years or more.
Prized for many centuries in China and Japan, where, even today, there are wisteria gardens for strolling through long tunnels of flowers, it was not until 1816 that the first wisteria seeds were brought to Europe by Captain Robert Welbank. He had been captivated by the flowering tresses hanging from a pergola above his Chinese host’s dinner table. ‘Within ten years, gardeners saw the first young plants flowering around the UK,’ explains nurseryman Chris Lane. ‘In modern terms, wisteria went viral and was exported worldwide.’
The breathtaking flowering season is between spring and early summer when these twining, woody, deciduous climbers bear white, rosy-pink, mauve, violet-blue or purple-coloured flowers held in long racemes. According to the cultivar, the blooms can vary in length from around 20cm to up to 120cm long; often, velvety, bean-like seed pods follow the flowers.
From afar, many wisterias appear similar, but a close examination reveals intricate variations in the veining and intensity of colour that washes the upper, swept-back petal – known as the ‘banner’, ‘flag’ or ‘standard’ – and lower sections – the ‘wing’ and ‘keel’ – which house pollen-bearing stamens. Another variation lies in the spread of the flame-like mark that flares from the base of the upper petal and attracts pollinating insects.
Varieties for different positions
The four most commonly cultivated species are Wisteria floribunda (Japanese wisteria), Wisteria brachybotrys (silky wisteria), Wisteria sinensis (Chinese wisteria) and Wisteria x formosa (beautiful wisteria) – a cross between floribunda and sinensis. Chinese and Japanese wisterias are the two most common species, often confused but easily differentiated from above – the stems of Chinese wisterias twine clockwise, whereas Japanese twine anti-clockwise.
All wisterias are very vigorous, capable of reaching a height of at least nine metres; train them up walls or fences, over arches, across pergolas, or up a mature tree. They also make lovely standards to grow as standalone specimens in a bed or large container. ‘Once the plant reaches the top of its supporting post and has nowhere else to go, keep
