Wisteria

The wisteria in my garden grows like a canopy outside the bedroom window. I'm not very good at pruning it so some years it's better than others but it's flowers are always splendid.        

Wisteria sinensis raceme

I benefit too from the borrowed views of wisterias in the gardens on either side of mine. 

One neighbour's wisteria has been pruned to create a spectacular small tree absolutely covered in huge purple blooms. 

Wisteria as a small tree

My neighbour on the other side has a tall plant with a cascade of paler racemes up at the far end of the garden that I can admire from the kitchen. So I have the benefit of three distinctly different versions of this lovely climber all at the same time. 

Wisteria as a waterfall

These are all varieties of Wisteria sinensis, brought to England for the first time in 1816 by John Reeves, Chief Inspector of Tea at Canton. 

                                              

Walking through the streets just now you catch glimpses of  wisterias wherever you go, always eye-catching and breath-taking. 

The most stunning of all is down the road from here and covers the complete front of two houses like a white curtain. It is Wisteria floribunda, originally from Japan with extremely elegant 3ft long racemes and it takes all the prizes. 

Wisteria Floribunda (Japanese wisteria) - so spectacular

Wisterias need pruning twice a year in February and August because they put out new growth at a mile a minute. Apparently the Chinese varieties climb in an anti-clockwise direction while the Japanese grow clockwise. I wonder why?

Finally - just to prove that  the sparrows are back in London here's a trailcam picture of the bird baths, with a pot of ragged robin growing over them.