Wisteria hysteria giving neck-ache at Exbury!

Could wisteria flowering at Exbury Gardens be the tallest in the country? Many visitors to Exbury’s colourful Azalea Bowl could be forgiven for not spotting the flowing tresses of the wisteria, high in the air at the top of an English oak tree.  It was very fashionable in Edwardian times to place climbing plants at the foot of trees, something which Lionel de Rothschild carried out at Exbury. Some 90 years later Exbury boasts a number of mature climbing wisteria specimens.

But for visitors who don’t want to crane their necks, the glamorous stresses of the Sundial Garden Wisteria floribunda Macrobotrys’ wisteria and the spectacular colour of those by Exbury North station (a wisteria climbing into a yew and high into an oak beyond) and the Top Pond should be sought out.
“The climbing wisteria this year are very early.” said Head Gardener John Anderson. “Last year the flowers were difficult to see as the host trees were in full leaf, but visitors this year should easily be able to spot the spectacle – provided they look up!”