The Ashikaga Flower Park is one of the top locations to enjoy the flowers of Wisteria floribunda or “Fuji” in Japanese.
This park wasn’t famous for Wisteria until Tsukamoto Konami was engaged to think about how to drive more visitors to it.
She had the idea to plant many many Wisteria trees to make it a place that would be visited by the people in April/ May.
Tsukamoto Konami is actually a tree doctor but also famous for her ideas to make flower parks to a special place.
She was also in charge of the Hamamatsu Flower Park, which I also visited.
As you can see in the pictures, the Ashikaga Flower Park isn’t a traditional Japanese garden and the Wisteria festival is a real color spectacle! Not only Wisteria are flowering, but also many Rhododendron varieties. As seasonal plantings, Lupinus, Digitalis, Antirrhinum, and other flowers are used.
The predominant colors are shades of red, pink, and white.
Fuji – フジ – 藤
Wisteria floribunda
Japanese Wisteria
Native to: Japan
Height: 9 m (30 ft)
Bloom: April
USDA Hardiness Zone: 5-9
Wisteria is a deciduous climber.
It loves acidic, moist soil and exposure to full sun.
The single branch can grow 30 m long, a flower 30 cm. Usually, the flowers appear before the leaves.
The seeds are poisonous, still, the plant is often used for shading sand pits on Japanese playgrounds.
There are right and left-winding Wisteria in Japan. The common Fuji is right-winding.
The flowers of Fuji are often used in Kamon – the Japanese family crest. One very famous and powerful family using it is the Fujiwara clan, which is also carrying the flower in their name (藤原).
Where to go to enjoy Wisteria floribunda in Japan
Tokyo
Kameido Tenjin Shrine
Hamarikyu
Saitama
Tokaen
Tochigi
Ashikaga Flower Park
Kyoto
Byōdō-in temple
Hyogo
Byakugou-ji
Kyushu
Kawachi Fujien
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Anonymous
Nice post Anika. I haven’t been able to find any Fuji here in Seattle, just the Chinese variety which will not do.
Anika
Oh! Why will Wisteria sinensis not do? It also has beautiful breeds 🙂