Tuscany’s Wisteria
Wisteria is such a fascinating plant that it is also popular on social networks, in April and May, excellence months excellence for flowering there are so many photos of wisteria that the hashtag: #wisteriamania becomes trendy on Instagram.
In Tuscany there are wonderful flowering wisteria that look like timeless postcards!
Wisteria, a plant not present in Europe for a long time
Wisteria plants arrived in Europe only in the nineteenth century from Eastern North America despite being native from China and even Miocene fossil forms have been found that prove its long presence and diffusion on our planet.
European gardens and parks were not adorned before with this beautiful climbing plant for the long period in which the Far East was forbidden to foreigners.
Wisteria or Glicine (Wisteria in Italian)?
Both terms are correct, they simply have different etymologies and can be used in english as well.
The term glicine comes from the ancient glikìs, a Greek name to indicate the sweetness of the wisteria nectar and is still used in Italy.
The scientific name of the plant is instead Wisteria, Thomas Nuttall, famous English botanist and writer of The Generate of American Plants, in 1819 defined this plant from North America Wisteria in honor of the illustrious Kaspar Wistar German anatomopathologist and personal friend of Nuttall.
Types of wisteria
Wandering in the streets of your cities or browsing the internet you will find wisteria of more varieties.
Suffice it to say that in German this plant is called blauregen, meaning blue rain, while in Chinese it is called zi teng, meaning blue vine.
Wisteria is easily recognizable for its clustered flowers that vary from light blue to violet. The plant is climbing and can reach a height of 15 meters.
The meaning of wisteria
As we know every flower hides a meaning, some more known, such as red roses to show one’s love, others more ancient.
Wisteria is present in Chinese and Japanese stories and legends as a gift of friendship and benevolence, it seems that the Japanese emperor gave a small plant to his foreign visitors as a symbol of friendship and bond.
The most famous wisteria in Tuscany
Walking in our beautiful cities often you can see purple wisteria coming out of gates or walls of buildings, so beautiful that you have to be careful not to lose concentration if you are driving!
Among all the wisteria, however, one wins over all for beauty: Villa Bardini’s wisteria in Florence!
Villa Bardini’s Wisteria
In the marvelous setting of the garden of Villa Bardini enclosed within the medieval walls of Florencethere is the most incredible wisteria in Tuscany, to be precise more types of wisteria.
The wisteria of Villa Bardini extend over a pergola of 70 meters and 4.5 meters wide which when it blooms becomes a real colored tunnel.
This colorful tunnel is reminiscent of other tunnels, in this case of holm oaks, in the nearby and older Boboli Gardens.
The wisteria of the tunnel come from the collection of a nursery from Pistoia and are: Wisteria Floribonda, Royal Japanese purple, Showa Beni and Wisteria Prolific.
These varieties create a tunnel with colors ranging from purple and dark purple, to pink to purple.
Wisteria are waiting for you!
We are waiting for you at Villa Campestri to recommend other beautiful wisteria present in Mugelloand welcome you to a region rich in naturalistic, cultural and artistic terms!
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