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istaria 
Cl q WISTARIA, one of the oldest and most popular vines in cultivation, 
was introduced to America in 1818 by John Reeves, a tea-taster. 
In 1825 a famous French botanist named it Wistaria, after Caspar Wistar 
of Philadelphia. 
Because of its hardiness, its adaptability to all conditions of rainfall, 
soil and temperature, and its natural beauty and fragrance, Wistaria is 
unexcelled by any other hardy climbing vine. Its resistance to adverse 
climatic conditions is a blessing. The root system is ample and affords 
generous protection against prolonged droughts and cold after two years 
in location. Extreme heat occasionally burns delicate young foliage in 
the summer, generally the edges of the youngest leaves only. Twenty-five 
degrees below zero has not injured Chinese nor Japanese Wistaria in the 
vicinity of Mt. Kisco, New York, not even the dormant flower buds. The 
old vines were uninjured and bloomed freely after enduring 25 below 
zero for several weeks. The cambium did register injury. 
In the extreme South they prosper and flower seemingly equally well, 
but I have no positive or personal knowledge of their behavior in New 
Orleans for instance. If the common Chinese thrives there, the long- 
cluster Japanese should do equally well. 
The extremely longcluster sorts require time to ma¬ 
ture. They are not likely to produce flowers for several 
years, but are worth waiting for. 
Wistaria is generally used as a vine, but may be 
used advantageously in tree, or standard form. With a 
trunk 5 to 6 feet high, it is effective for formal uses, and 
as smaller trees, for a garden entrance, or for accent in 
a formal garden. For this purpose, the vine is staked 
to a neat bamboo pole for the first 5 or 6 years because 
the top is at first too heavy for the feeble stem. Wistaria 
should be pruned before flowering each spring—that 
is, the past season's growth should be cut back, leaving 
not more than 8-inch stubs. The main advantage of 
severe pruning is that it makes longer and better 
flower clusters. 
The above illustra¬ 
tion offers a sug¬ 
gestion for training 
Wistaria vines. 
When Wistaria is used as a vine to cover pergolas 
and trellises best results are obtained if not more than 
three leaders are permitted to grow up from the plant. 
