Wisteria Wow Factor

What a perfect time it was to visit Kew Gardens recently. On visiting Kew for yonks, I was privileged enough to see this astonishing Japanese Wisteria, forming a canopy over a giant pergola.

Wisterias show off their highly scented racemes of flowers up to 30cm long. Flower colour changes according to variety but is normally a mixture of blue, purple or white. Flowers appear in late Spring or Summer and are followed by pendant bean-like green seed-pods.

The Japanese Wisteria pictured here at Kew can be dated back to 1820 when it was propagated from the first Wisteria cuttings imported into the UK in 1816. Originally housed inside, this Wisteria was moved and planted outside since 1860.

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