In the language of flowers, wisteria means obsessive passion. Once you've discovered their beauty, you too, may be obsessively passionate about wisterias!
Wisteria is a climbing tree, native to China, and Japan. Wisterias grow tall, and wide. Many will grow to 10 metres (30 feet) high, and 20 metres (60 feet) wide. The world's largest wisteria is an acre in size! You'll find wisterias growing along the walls of houses, reaching over arched doorways. They're often found on trellises, or pergolas, sturdy enough to support their weight.
For all their strength and grandeur, wisterias appear softly feminine, ethereal and cloud-like.
Although wisteria trees provide welcome shade, they love full sunlight. They grow beautifully in a South facing garden, or in an open park, away from shade trees.
Wisteria intertwines as it grows, forming braided wood tree trunks and branches. Chinese wisteria grows counter clockwise, while Japanese wisteria grows clockwise.
Another way to tell the difference between Chinese and Japanese wisteria, is to study the timing of the blooms and leaves. Japanese wisteria leaves appear on the tree before the blossoms. With Chinese wisteria, the blossoms appear, then the leaves begin to grow later.
Cultivating wisteria takes patience...years of patience! It can take twenty years to grow a wisteria tree from seed, and wait for it to bloom. Or, you can take a cutting, and wait about four years before it blooms. Most people buy a mature wisteria tree from a nursery, take it home, and plant it in a sunny spot. Once wisteria takes hold, stand back, and watch it grow, and grow and grow!
In celebration of the awesome strength and ethereal beauty of wisteria, and women, I've created a line of dresses and draped kimonos, that will move gently with the Summer breeze. Lovely for a bridal kimono party, or a cruise.
All dresses and draped kimonos are available online in my Art of Where shop.
Photographs Copyright of: Ruth Adams, Widow's Endorphins Photographic Images Incorporated.
