Wisteria

With cascades of scented flowers in purples, whites and pinks, this vigorous climber brings drama to the garden, says Graham Rice

- Graham Rice

Wisterias. Perhaps the most dramatic climbers we can grow. Spectacular when properly pruned and trained, but rampageous thugs if abandoned to their own devices. Where next after the chimney pot? Under the tiles?

So, although some wisterias are naturally more vigorous than others, it's safest to consider all of them to be very strong growing – 8m or more – and in need of repeated pruning to keep them down to a more manageable 3m.

All are colourful. Choose the colour you prefer, from deepest purple through blues and lilac shades to pinks and white. But are some more stunning than others? Setting aside Wisteria frutescens, which flowers later than all the others and usually only blooms well after a very hot summer, the varieties of W. brachybotrys have the shortest racemes (strings of flowers), varieties of W. floribunda usually have the longest (up to 1m long!), while those of W. sinensis are in between.