7 Early Wisterias
to flower and scent your garden in spring
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With its long clusters of flowers, most often mauve but sometimes blue, pink, or white, wisterias are very vigorous climbing perennial plants. They elegantly and romantically adorn gardens. Trained against a wall, arbor, or pergola, they create a stunning effect when their fragrant flowering occurs between April and June. The most commonly cultivated wisterias in our gardens are the Chinese wisteria and the Japanese wisteria. The Chinese wisteria is the earliest to bloom. Its flowers appear from April before the leaves, and it sometimes offers a second flowering in summer. The Japanese wisteria produces flowers from May, although some varieties bloom earlier.
If you desire a wisteria that flowers early to enjoy its fragrance and beauty as soon as possible, discover our selection of early-flowering wisterias.
Chinese wisteria - Wisteria sinensis, with highly fragrant purple flowers
The Chinese wisteria produces beautiful clusters of purple flowers with a honey scent from April to May. Its highly fragrant clusters measure 30 cm in length and its flowers open gradually from the base to the tip of the cluster. Its graphic and airy foliage appears after the flowers, along with the fruits that take the form of long pods at the end of the season. Very vigorous, this wisteria climbs up to a height of 8 metres and can spread to 4 metres wide. It wraps around its support in a counter-clockwise direction and smothers anything growing nearby.
If you wish to pair the wisteria with other plants, position them not at its base, but at a distance that will allow these plants to survive. The Chinese wisteria pairs well with climbing roses, which you can choose in pink, such as the climbing rose ‘Albertine’, which blooms from May to July. The combination of the Chinese wisteria with the Japanese wisteria – Wisteria venusta ‘Rosea’ with its light pink flowers is also a lovely idea. This way, you will have staggered flowering times, as the Japanese wisteria blooms from May to June.
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Wisteria: how to plant, prune and care?Chinese wisteria - Wisteria sinensis 'Alba', a repeat flowering white flowering plant
The Chinese wisteria ‘Alba’ delights us from April to May with its large clusters of white, fragrant flowers. The clusters can reach a length of 60 cm. They appear alongside young bronze-coloured leaves, which then turn light green and eventually yellow. The scent of its flowers, resembling small butterflies, evokes that of honey. It can also bloom again in summer. Very resilient, it can reach a height of 10 metres and adapts well to well-drained soils, unless there is an excess of lime.
It is possible to pair it with another Chinese wisteria of mauve colour, taking care not to plant them too closely so they do not suffocate each other. This will create a beautiful duo of fragrant wisterias. It can also be combined with a Clematis montana.
Wisteria sinensis ‘Alba’
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Chinese Wisteria - Wisteria sinensis 'Flore Pleno', the beauty of double flowers
The Chinese wisteria ‘Flore Pleno’ is unique for producing clusters of double flowers, which enhances its beauty. The 30 cm long clusters bloom before the leaves, in April, and continue to flourish until May. They return for a second flowering in July. The mauve flowers come in gradient shades, ranging from white to deep mauve, and are highly fragrant. The stems reach towards the sky, growing up to 9 to 10 metres. The young leaves are bronze in colour, turning to light green and then golden yellow in autumn before falling.
You can pair it with a honeysuckle, such as Lonicera x delvayi, along a wall or on a pergola, which offers fragrant yellow flowers in summer. The contrast between the complementary colours of yellow and violet adds a cheerful touch to the garden and enlivens the eyes.
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6 pairing ideas with wisteriaChinese wisteria - Wisteria sinensis 'Prolific', with variegated purple and white flowers.
The Chinese wisteria ‘Prolific’ stands out for the colours of its flowers, which are lavender variegated with white. Highly fragrant, the clusters of 30 cm exude floral and sweet scents. It blooms in April and May, then more discreetly during the summer. Exuberant and vigorous like all wisterias, it sends its voluble stems up to 9 metres high.
To enhance the variegated colour of its flowers, you can pair it with a white climbing plant such as the Japanese wisteria – Wisteria floribunda ‘Alba’, which, with its flowering from May to June, will provide a staggered bloom, or the clematis ‘Etoile nacrée’ that is covered in large white stars in May and June, then from August to September.
Wisteria sinensis ‘Prolific’
Chinese Wisteria 'Blue Line' - Wisteria sinensis, a lovely blueish mauve
The Chinese wisteria ‘Blue Line’ captures attention with its stunning bluish-purple flowering and its young purplish leaves. It produces an abundance of flowers from April to May, and then again in July and August. The flowers initially appear alone on the branches and are later joined by the light coppery foliage, which turns light green and then golden yellow in autumn. The clusters of flowers are fragrant and measure 25 cm in length. This resilient liana grows up to a height of 7 metres with a spread of 3.5 metres.
To highlight the blue of its flowers, you can pair it with a climbing rose with orange flowers, such as the climbing rose ‘Alchymist’, which produces apricot-coloured roses with a fruity fragrance in June and July.
Graceful Wisteria - Wisteria venusta 'Okayama', for small spaces
The graceful wisteria is a Japanese wisteria, characterised by a development that remains moderate as it climbs up to 3 to 5 metres in height, which is relatively low compared to other varieties. It flowers early, from April to May. It produces clusters of flowers measuring 20 cm in length, in a lovely purple mauve, which are highly fragrant, with complex scents that blend jasmine, orange blossom, caramel, and honeysuckle. Due to its modest size for a wisteria, it is an ideal plant for small spaces. It can be placed on a terrace or in a container. Another advantage over its relatives is that it starts to produce flowers from a young age. It can also be pruned into a bush measuring 2 metres by 2 metres.
It can be paired, on a terrace, with a Clematis viticella ‘Purpurea Plena Elegans’ planted in a second container, for a blend of soft and romantic colours. The clematis will take over the flowering from June to September.
Japanese wisteria - Wisteria floribunda 'Premature', a profusion of flowering
Here is another Japanese wisteria that blooms early, starting in April. The Japanese wisteria Wisteria floribunda ‘Premature’ offers abundant flowering in spring, in April and May, then more sporadically in summer. Its clusters of blue-mauve flowers measure 18 to 25 cm long and are slightly fragrant. Like other wisterias, they attract pollinating insects. The stems twine around the support in a clockwise direction (unlike Chinese wisteria) and its growth is rapid. It can climb up to 10 metres high.
In the garden, pair it with a vigorous rambling rose, such as the Banks rose ‘Alba Plena’, which reaches a height of 12 metres and is planted in full sun. In May, this thornless rose produces clusters of small double white roses with a violet fragrance. A beautiful combination full of charm.
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