The conifer which acts as a support for the wisteria is quite dead. Do you suppose the wisteria killed it or was planting the wisteria a way to beautifully cover an existing corpse?
The vine certainly has a stranglehold on the trunk of the tree!
Because of the location, I had to park a couple of houses away but even from that distance, the sweet fragrance of the massive blooming vine was sweetening the spring air.
It's larger than it appears in the images and standing beneath it was a beautiful experience.
The whole thing is much more beautiful in soft morning light but someone never has time to stop in the morning if he wants to get to work on time.
On one hand, this is a great way to quickly cover up a large dead tree. At my age, planting a new conifer in it's place would be nice but I'd never see the results. A wisteria can do this in about seven years. (Lord willin' and the creek don't rise, I'm planning to be on the planet that long.)
The good news is that this wisteria is deciduous so the branches don't have the wind drag of lots of foliage in the winter when we have nearly all of our wind storms.
Perhaps one morning I'll get there early enough to get a better picture but for now this will have to do.
Happy weekend everyone and happy gardening!
That is a fabulous sight! But you're probably right about the weight eventually bringing some of the dead limbs down. My neighbor has a wisteria that covers a pergola in her back yard. I'd never take a chance on growing one, since they're so vigorous. But the flowers are truly pretty.
ReplyDeleteThat is beautiful! Given the strangle hold the wisteria has around that trunk, it may very well have killed the conifer. I've seen other instances, though, where a wisteria is growing through a conifer that looks perfectly healthy. Maybe by the time the conifer branches weaken to the breaking point, the wisteria will be self-supporting, like a strangler fig in the tropics. Wouldn't that be something? I'm so tempted to plant wisteria somewhere, but I'm too leary of exactly this scenario, the vine strangling the tree and creating a hazard. Cistus has one growing through a dense bamboo thicket. Maybe that's a better option, provided you can control the bamboo.
ReplyDeleteLeery. Jeez, two cups of coffee and I'm still clearly not awake.
DeleteThe wysteria will eventually cause top of tree to fall
DeleteThat's quite spectacular! I've never seen much mature wisteria, and certainly nothing as HUGE as this! Will it look like a giant coiled rope on the ground when the tree eventually collapses?
ReplyDeleteThis might be one of those "moments of glory". You know, you see something at the peak of perfection, you buy that plant, only to learn that its fifteen minutes of fame lasts only five, to be preceded and followed by mediocrity, if not downright ugliness. That said, the Wisteria tree is a marvel at this moment in time.
ReplyDeleteWow Peter that's magnificent. And much lovelier than a silly old conifer.
ReplyDeleteA sight! That's probably the best wisteria display I have ever seen, And it's not threatening someone's house, to boot.
ReplyDeleteWonderful! but probably not for that once living tree. I wonder how long before the tree starts breaking up.
ReplyDeleteWe planted a Paul's Himalayan Musk Rose at the base of a non-producing cherry tree and let it go. The rose covered the tree, killed the tree, and then it started breaking up. Eventually the whole thing had to come down. It was glorious white it lasted, though.
Our wisteria is blooming. See my post.
Vines do hug tight and I've seen them kill trees far bigger than they are (at least at the start), Still, it's impressive.
ReplyDeleteI've known people here try to grow wisteria as a standard but how successful it is I wonder. I tried once with Magnolia stellata but it was far too vigorous. To keep it in check I had to chop all the flower buds off!
ReplyDeleteA wisteria tree is a delightful thing.
What a wonderful way to greet the morning. It's really fantastic! It looks like something out of a kids book. Maybe that's why we both like it. :o)
ReplyDeleteA view to behold. I was thinking to myself: poor conifer .But since it is dead already... Or was it strangled to death? I'm sure the wisteria is in large part self-supporting by now. It will be interesting to visit again in a winter.
ReplyDeleteWow, that is amazing! Even if it did kill the conifer, it is much better than having a boring evergreen - stunning!
ReplyDeleteToday it covers a dead tree; next week the house. As soon as he feels up to it, I am about to have He-Who-Pulls-Up Thugs dismantle a wad of wisteria and 7 foot boxwoods the size of a bus.
ReplyDeleteI only noticed the wisteria when the incredible perfume reached the side door. A bunch of dead vining limbs in winter, a green mass after it blooms. Can you tell how highly I value it?
I'm at Jean's level when it comes to Wisteria enthusiasm, but from my vantage here safely distant from that conifer-strangler, it is a fabulous, fabulous sight. Around the corner from here a Bougainvillea is engulfing a dead Sequoia, but it doesn't look nearly as good.
ReplyDeleteWisteria scares the crap out of me. I'd lay the death of the conifer directly at its tendrils. Depends what zone you're in, I suppose. In LA we have tourist destinations where the wisteria ate a neighborhood -- only slightly kidding!
ReplyDeleteWow! Nice to drive by and enjoy without having to deal with such a monster.
ReplyDelete