Types of Wisteria

Silky Wisteria

• Native to Japan, silky wisteria (Wisteria brachybotrys, synonym Wisteria venusta) quickly grows to 28 to 40 feet tall. It grows well in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 5 through 8, blooming fragrant violet to white flowers with yellow markings in late spring or early summer. Cultivars of silky wisteria include Alba, Alba Plena, Murasaki Kapitan and Shiro Kapitan.

Kentucky Wisteria

• Native to a wide area around the Ohio, Tennessee and lower Mississippi River valleys is the Kentucky wisteria (Wisteria macrostachys). It is a less-aggressive vine that matures 15 to 30 feet tall, and blooms in late spring to early summer with fragrant lilac-blue blossoms. Grow it throughout USDA zones 5 through 9a. Cultivars include Clara Mack, Blue Moon and Aunt Dee.

American Wisteria

• The American wisteria (Wisteria frutescens) blooms its fragrant light-violet flowers about a month later than Asian wisterias, anytime from late spring to midsummer. The leaves often partially mask the flower clusters, but blossoms sporadically appear across summer to early fall, unlike Asian species. American wisteria isn't as rampant or large of a grower as Asian species, and matures only 15 to 25 feet tall. Cultivar names include Amethyst Falls, Longwood Purple and Nivea. Grow them in USDA zones 6 through 10a.

Chinese Wisteria

• Also called the blue wisteria, Chinese wisteria (Wisteria sinensis) grow rampantly to 30 feet or more tall, and one plant can eventually cloak nearly an acre of area, choking out grass, shrubs and trees. The fragrant lilac-blue flowers open in a long cluster at about the same time the leaves emerge in mid to late spring. It grows in gardens and escapes into woodland edges in USDA zones 5 through 9a. Cultivars of Chinese wisteria include Prolific, Alba, Sierra Madre, Pink Ice, Rosea, Black Dragon, Caroline and Cooke's Special.

Japanese Wisteria

• The Japanese wisteria (Wisteria floribunda) is the first to bloom, often in early to mid spring well before its leaves begin to emerge. This species also rampantly grows in gardens and quickly escapes cultivation to cover trees and shrubs on abandoned lots or on woodland edges. Grown across USDA zones 5 through 9, Japanese wisteria perhaps includes the widest selection of cultivars, with many flowering features. Examples include Alba/Shiro Noda, Violacea Plena, Kokoryu, Kyushaku, Naga Noda, Honbeni, Yae Kokyuryu, Issai, Lawrence, Purple Patches, Multijuga and Texas Purple.