Wanton Wisteria

 

If you have not seen this sight, make your way to where Waverly Parkway ends at US 280. There is space to pull off the road as you go over the bridge. You have to get out of the car and stumble over a few vines to see this, but it is worth the effort. The perfume of this mass of blooms is enough to make a person swoon.
I really enjoy seeing (and smelling) Wisteria this time of year, and am always amazed at how much of it there is blooming around the Auburn/Opelika area. The rest of the year I despise the stuff. It runs rampant over trees, shrubs, houses, everything in it's path. And it is strong. It can literally pull down trees and houses. Don't try to grow it on any trellis except an iron one. Better advice yet: don't grow it at all. And if it is growing on your property, don't stop till you cut the vines off and paint the stumps with herbicide.
There is a native wisteria, Wisteria frutescens, which is much more restrained in its growth than what we typically see. Chinese Wisteria, Wisteria sinensis, is the VERY invasive plant we see wrapping things up. Additionally there is a Japanese wisteria. Genetic studies show that these three have hybridized in the wild to produce a plant that cannot be stopped without extra diligence over a period of years. Abstract of one paper can be seen here.
Wisteria is far worse than kudzu. Instead of wrapping trees up and perhaps shading them out,it actually squeezes them to death. The growth of the wisteria wrapped around the tree combined with the growth of the tree will eventually kill the tree. When it dies and drops to the ground, wisteria simply runs along the ground till it finds another vertical to climb.
When I got home after my wisteria walk, I smelled the familiar fragrance in my own yard, and Yup, it was back. Time to get the pruners and pesticide!