WISTERIA BRACHYBOTRYS

HERE is a lovely wisteria with a difference. The racemes of spring flowers are thicker, longer and heavier than with Chinese wisteria. Even the blooms seem to be larger. Native to Japan, they have names such as honko, kyushaku or yae-kukuryu and come in a wider range of colours than Chinese wisterias: soft blue, white, pale pink or intense purple. Hardy and fast growing, Japanese wisteria pruning regimes are similar: shortening long summer stems each August, then structural pruning in winter.