Making Scents

by Connie Handscomb

Title

Making Scents

Artist

Connie Handscomb

Medium

Photograph - Photography - Fine Art

Description

Nothing brings
to life again
a forgotten
memory
like fragrance.
~ Christopher Poindexter

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Wisteria (wistaria; wysteria)
Wisteria leguminocea; Wisteria floribunda;Wisteria sinensis

Family : Fabaceae (pea)

The wisteria is a bine - not a typo; it's a bine :)

This means it climbs by its shoots around a support, whereas a vine climbs using its tendrils or suckers. Apparently. According to one source I found, although most do call it a vine.

The wisteria grows very fast, but be patient for the flowers: it can take up to 15 years for it to bloom. It is incredibly strong, and can be quite heavy. Throughout its life, the wisteria plant grows increasingly larger. It expands as it takes on new wisdom and experiences. I have heard of porches being pulled down by their weight. There is one in California that is reputed to measure 1 acre in size, and weigh 250 tons! These plants also have a lengthy lifespan, up to 250 years, although there is one in Japan that is 1200 years old.

This legume is native to China, Korea, Japan, and the United States. Marco Polo brought wisteria seeds out of China in the 13th century. The Wisteria floribunda is known in Japan as fuji, so the next time you hear of Mount Fuji, you will think of the wisteria covered mountain. Wisteria is differentiated by its colour and the direction it twines (the Chinese flowers are pale mauve; the Japanese a violet blue. The Japanese twines in a clockwise direction; the Chinese, anti-clockwise).

The heavily scented flowers are not just a pretty bloom; they can be put to use for making dye.

Symbolically, the wisteria has many: love, grace, bliss, memory, longevity, patience, endurance, creative expansion, reverence, and immortality to name a few. In Japan, it is often presented for good luck in a marriage.

Sources:
The Gardener's Atlas: Origins, Discovery, And Cultivation Of The World's Most Popular Garden Plants [Grimshaw;Ward]
The Origin Of Plants [M.Campbell-Culver]

* ---------------------------- *

Before the wisteria finishes entirely for the season, I have captured its beauty forever. My original macro capture, painted digitally; squared .... nature in all its splendour :)

Uploaded

June 5th, 2017

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