Crazy Plant Trend of the Day: Japanese Wisteria Tunnel
Photographs of some of the amazing wisteria tunnels in Japan. The wisteria festivals, or fuji matsurii, which come after the cherry blossom festivals, generally from mid-April to late May, have been an event for centuries, inpsiring poetry and woodcuts in Japanese culture.
Here in the United States, many of us are familiar with sakura matsuri, or the cherry blossom festival that occur around the world during this time of year. But after the cherry blossoms fall, Japan has another beautiful floral celebration fuji matsuri, or the wisteria festival. Here are some photographs of the amazing wisteria tunnels that bloom in Japan, generally flowering from mid-April to mid-May.
These photos were taken at the Kawachi Fuji Garden, about a four hour drive from Tokyo, but there are wisteria festivals all over Japan, including at the Kameido-Tenjin Shrine, where tourists in the Edo period often visited the famous wisteria; the Wake Wisteria Park, in Wake-cho, Okayama, and at Ashikaga Flower Park, which has three massive wisteria trellises that extend 3,280 feet squared. (Time Out Tokyo has a list of additional notable wisteria around the city worth visiting.)
The wisteria at these parks are Wisteria floribunda, which grow with powerful clockwise-twining stems. In Japan, these varieties bloom in this order: 'Usubeni fuji' (light pink), 'Murasaki fuji' (purple), 'Naga fuji' (long), 'Yae kokuryu' (double-petaled black dragon), and 'Shiro fuji' (white).
All photos from stomaster.livejournal.com/1102877.html
