For January, 1923 



Wistarias and Their Training 



EVEN those who have least love for Japanese gardens 

 and Japanese gardening must admire the Wistaria. 

 Like the Japanese Cherries it is "'everybody's tree," 

 and yet hovi^ many houses does one see smothered in vari- 

 ous, more or less effective, climbing plants, but destitute 

 of Wistaria? Why is this? For a house with any pre- 

 tensions to architectural interest the Wistarias are surely 

 the best of all climbing plants. (Climbing plants they are, 

 though they cannot climb on a flat surface, needing some- 

 thing comparatively thin round which to twist the young 

 wood.) The growth of both the commonly-grown species 

 — the so-called Japanese, multijuga, and the Chinese, 

 chinensis — is vigorous without being overpowering, so 

 that they may be readily trained to adorn rather than to 

 smother the front of the building against which they are 

 planted. 



The "Japanese" Wistaria, as we know it, has doubtless 

 been considerably improved by the Japanese florists, but 



The supcrintc.u... ., .„.,i:,c ..; "Lyndhurst," tlic estate of Mrs. 

 Finley Shepard, Tarry tozi'n,N. )'.. li'itli the tvistarias in bloom. 



it is really a native of North China and probably not in- 

 digenous to Japan. It is magnificent for training over tall 

 pergolas or on an elevated trellis. For walls it is really 

 less suitable than \\'. chinensis, though by training main 

 laterals horizontally and a sufficient distance apart, it mav 

 be shown to advantage there also. 



The association of various habited "furnishing" plants 

 to architecture receives much less attention than it should. 

 A bald uninteresting expanse of walls is caused by want 

 of appropriate detail. If a cornice would have filled the 

 bill in the original design, the bad effect can be at least 

 greatly mitigated by training a Wistaria horizontally to 

 replace the missing element. Similarly, living pilasters of 

 Crataegus, for example, will provide upright features 

 where desirable. 



If the wood of the past year is reduced each \Mnter to 

 three or four eyes, the Wistaria will make a satisfactory 

 self-supporting bush. Indeed, plants which have been 

 stunted in pots in the nursery often retain the bushy habit. 

 If thev are wanted to climb, care should be taken to pur- 

 chase health}' young trees with an abundance of young 

 wood. The pruning of a climbing Wistaria is ("or should 

 be), similar to that of a trained pear tree. I_^terals are 

 taken off where required and allowed to extend reasonably 

 each year until their allotted space is filled. The sub- 

 lateral's are Summer pruned to ten or a dozen leaves — if 

 this is not done there will be yards of thin growth tangled 

 all together — and in Winter spurred back to the flowering 



wood. With plants trained on wires to give the "floral 

 bell tent" effect so well known to visitors to Kew Gardens, 

 the training may be more informal, but the same principles 

 will apply. 



The common form of the Chinese \\'istaria has flowers 

 of a delightful mauve tone, so distinct as to be a com- 

 monly used color shade. The "Japanese" species is, in 

 commerce, a much more variable plant, but if one can but 

 obtain them, its best fonns are darker and even more 

 desirable as regards coloring than the Chinese. The 

 length of the racemes in this species in extraordinary. 

 The rosy form — rosea, is well known, but less beautiful 

 than the mauve purple ones and there is a pure variety 

 which is rather shorter in the raceme, though still long, 

 and later to flower. The white form of the Chinese species 

 is, strangely enough, earlier to flower than the typical 

 plant. The general experience is that it is less free to 

 flower than the typical mauve. 



Like the Grape \'ine the Wistaria develops quite a trunk 

 and butt with age. A diameter of more than 18 inches 

 is not uncommon for the trunk of an old specimen. The 

 Wistaria, fortunately, is comparatively long lived. Its in- 

 troduction to English gardens dates back just over a 

 century (1816), and some specimens now in existence 

 must be close upon a century old. The oldest specimens, 

 however, almost invariably show signs of decrepitude with 

 hollow trunk and diminishing foliage, so that the effective 

 age of the plant may be placed at from eighty to a hundred 

 years. 



Bush \\'istarias are, as a rule, planted to associate with 

 water which, of course, redoubles their charm by reflecting 

 the glorious trails of blossom. One feels that had these 

 beautiful woody climbers been knOwn in Tudor days, 

 many of the pleached avenues of Lime and such like 

 would have been carried out in Wistaria. There really 

 seems no reason, therefore, why those with old gardens 

 ( or with gardens to an old house) should not plant 

 Wistaria to be trained in this manner. They would ulti- 

 mately become almost, if not quite, strong enough to stand 

 alone. It is not quite evident why, when reconstructing 

 an old garden, we should be bound by the limitations 

 which handicapped our forefathers. Surely it is better 

 to build upon the past with whatever of old or recent in- 

 troduction will best serve the end in view ! The Wistaria 

 is assuredly an old-fashioned flower. Even though it has 

 been cultivated for a mere century in Britain, it has been 

 grown no doubt by the gardeners of Japan since long 

 before Tudor times and it has that peculiar sophistication 

 characteristic of plants long in cultivation. 



As previously stated, both the Wistarias commonly cul- 

 tivated in this country are of Chinese origin. Though 

 sufficiently distinct, they are obviously closely related. 

 There are, however, other species in existence of which 

 two at least are Japanese. Of these the only one of which 

 much is known, W. japonica, was introduced as long ago 

 as 1878. Compared with chinensis or multijuga, this 

 species is a pigmy with numerous small white flowers in 

 racenes 6 inches to 12 inches. It is said to provide a won- 

 derful spectacle when smothering a large bush or small 

 tree, but is seldom seen in cultivation in this country. 



The American species, W. frutescens, bears its flowers 

 in short terminal racemes, often held erect. The flowers 

 are pale lilac in color, but it never gives a very striking 

 display because the racemes do not display their beauty 

 simultaneously. Commencing to blossom in June, it con- 

 tinues more or less in flower until the end of Summer. .\ 

 form of this or, iwssibly, a distinct species, variously 

 (Continued- on page 12) 



