Sunday, December 14, 2008

Today's Flowers: Wisteria Pods

Luiz invited us to post something about Christmas. I hope you enjoy an ornament from my tree.


My entry for Today's Flowers is a little different. Winter has taken all the beautiful blooms from my garden. Today I am showing you what is left on my Wisteria vines. Wisteria is a member of the Pea family, Fabaceae. Most of us know it as a climbing vine, with purple, and sometimes white, flowers in the early spring. Less noticeable, at least from a distance, are the seed pods that form afterwards. These pods are very soft and velvety, and get to be about 8-10" or longer. The pods are filled with smooth round brown seeds. A few things to bear in mind about these seeds: first, they're poisonous; second, they, the pods and the leaves do create a bit of garden litter; and third, fresh wisteria seed sprouts readily, but vines grown from seed, as opposed to grafted plants, sometimes take upwards of seven to ten years to bloom.
Silhouetted Against A Brilliant Winter Sky
Dangling From The Vines
Nature's Ornaments
Be sure to click on the Today's Flowers badge to see the beautiful array of blooms from around the world.

40 comments:

Jorge Pinheiro said...

How strange. Very interesting shots.

Anonymous said...

Very interesting pictures Carletta!
I have two posting for Today's Flowers..one for Christmas and one about flowers..
-Cheers.

Anonymous said...

Quite the fascinating looking Pod. For some reason it gives me the image of an elephant grabbing them from the ground to snack on. :)

Leora said...

Lovely to look at the winter plants. The skies behind are so pretty, too.

Inkivääri said...

Nice pics of your wisteria!

♥ Denise BC ♥ said...

Very interesting, thank you for sharing, like the explanations and creativity.
hugs, Denise BC

Rune Eide said...

They will be back next year!

Anonymous said...

Interesting and different. Thanks for sharing.

Champ Townboy said...

Beautiful photos. Great education. Thanks!

Arija said...

Isn't nature wonderful. Those pods hang about like our Australian b
fruit bats during the day. The fruit bats are more numerous though.

kayleen said...

Seed pods may not be quite as pretty as the flowers/plants that result from their seeds, but they are certainly a vital part of the life cycle. Thanks for the information shared about them.

Lavender and Vanilla Friends of the Gardens said...

Hi Carletta, a pretty Christmas ornament. I think the Wisteria pods look as good as the blooms in a different way! Wisteria pod Christmas ornaments.They are very pretty pictures.

Gill - That British Woman said...

I love the first shot, so interesting....you certainly have a talent for photography.

Gill in Canada

Day4plus said...

Very interesting. Thoughts of Spring maybe? MB

Grammy said...

Hi thanks for stopping by on my camera critters. I had to stop here. I so miss my wisteria vine. I had to leave it at my old home in St. Louis.
Do you post on bloomin Tuesday? I was till I ran out of blooms.

Napaboaniya.Elaine Ling said...

For a second they look a little like trumpets against the sky :)

juliana said...

love this post. the pods look like ornaments hanging from the vine, and that blue sky... is there still such a thing? it has certainly disappeared from my life...

Anonymous said...

I've never seen wisteria pods but the promise those pods hold is exciting!! Looking forward to seeing the blooms in the Spring...

DrowseyMonkey-Photos said...

How interesting! Never seen anything like this before - thanks for sharing!

sweetmom said...

nice capture! very beautiful and interesting..

Dr.John said...

Even without flowers they have a certain beauty.
I like the ornament.

Vylat said...

Very interesting story about your Wisteria vine. They are truly beautiful flowers. I've never tried growing one, but always admire them in others gardens. happy Todays Flowers.

Twisted Fencepost said...

Cute ornament, Carletta.
I love my wisteria. My blooms are lavender and each spring I can't wait for them to bloom!

The Good Life in Virginia said...

wisteria are gorgeous vines...a town in california called sierra madre has some very old ones that are simply breathtaking when in full bloom.
i have not even seen them here in virginia...now I will have to look since you have them in your state.
thanks for sharing.

Anonymous said...

You know, if you were to dry those pods, seal them and then paint them, they would make awesome ornaments!

Lilli & Nevada said...

Thanks i have never seen Wisteria Pods before. also love your ornament

Neal said...

A little different huh? :) I don't remember seeing those on other wisteria vines....just shows how observant I am.

Jan said...

Carletta, love your ornament. The wisteria photos are great and your post is informative.

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

Carletta: I remember when you showed these earlier in the year. The cycle of life in the flower world.

Becky said...

How interesting about the pods. I have a Wisteria, and have had it for about 6 years. No flowers yet. There is hope.
Like your little ornament. Don't ya just love em?

Raven said...

What gorgeous shots. Such fascinating plants and so incredible against that rich blue sky.

Anonymous said...

It interesting to learn about these flowers and to see them in the off season. Clever take on the theme..

Reader Wil said...

Very interesting post about the wisteria. I didn't know that. Thanks for your visit.

EG CameraGirl said...

The pods are sooo pretty. They look almost like Christmas ornaments. Are they still fuzzy? I love them when they are green and fresh and feel like velvet.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful ornament. Beautiful silhouettes against the sky.

Paz

Leedra said...

I planted a seed from a pod and it bloomed the 2nd summer. I think one thing that promotes blooms in the wisteria is to trim back. The one I had bloom so quickly was trimmed several times. I then dug it up and gave it away. I usually plant them out in the middle of the yard so they can be mowed all around. That keeps down on the sprouts every where. Definitely not one for a flowerbed.

Gattina said...

Very cute ornament ! and your "flower" pictures look so strange ! very special !

Shelly said...

Love the contrast against that blue blue sky...very pretty.

nonizamboni said...

Nice ornament and info about wisteria. Hope your holiday season is good!

Rose said...

I didn't know wisteria vines had these pods...I guess the flowers are always what I think of. Mom had a big vine when we were kids. It grew at one end of the front porch and eventually it had a vine or two that went almost all the way across the front.

I just last year got a wisteria vine and planted it at the end of my porch now.