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What is a Good Alternative to Wisteria?

elliotp981elliotp981 Posts: 105
in Problem solving
I am wondering this as I am sort of worried about biodiversity, this does not mean I will get rid of my wisteria but I am wondering if there are any native alternatives that may do the job just as well or even better (I wish for flowers, appeal to pollinators/wildlife and possibly scent/fragrance). 
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  • robairdmacraignilrobairdmacraignil Posts: 782
    Honeysuckle is a climber with nice flowers and seems to appeal to pollinators and have a good fragrance.

    Happy gardening!
    https://www.youtube.com/user/sustainableveg/videos
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    Wisteria are bee magnets.  All sorts and sizes.   The flowers are beautiful and perfumed and, in agood year,repeat over summer so have a wide spread of food for pollinators.   Our two also shelter lizards, small birds and a pair of nesting wood pigeons.

    Why would you think they're not good for biodiversity?
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    A long and oft repeated concern about some plants by this poster @Obelixx - several threads.
    You'll regret mentioning honeysuckle @robairdmacraignil :D
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • Butterfly66Butterfly66 Posts: 970
    Our wisteria is a bee/pollinator magnet too. The blue tits also seem to be frequent visitors
     If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.”—Marcus Tullius Cicero
    East facing, top of a hill clay-loam, cultivated for centuries (7 years by me). Birmingham
  • elliotp981elliotp981 Posts: 105
    I don't even know if we should worry about our native species because almost everything we have wasn't here originally. Surely growing superior plants would make a blank slate like the UK better?
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    The blank slate was just after the Ice Age when the ice receded leaving not a lot.   Seeds, micro-organisms, creatures and people moved in as things warmed up but then there was a temporary halt when the Channel became sea instead of a land crossing.

    British bio-diversity flourished nonetheless a seeds, birds and insectscan blow or fly across water.   Recent climate warming has sent some species north to stay cool but encouraged other species to move in or stay on over winter where before they would have migrated south.

    if you want a bio diverse garden, tend to your soil and its organisms by adding plenty of organic matter, don't be too tidy, leave piles of stems/leaves/wood to provide shelter for small mammals and invertebrates, plant trees for blossom, fruits and shelter, plant shrubs and perennials plus some annuals that have different colours and flower forms to suit the feeding needs of a wide range of insects and try and have a spread of interest over the whole year.  Keep at least one compost heap and make a pond, however small.

    Be wary of planting invasive species that may spread outside your garden.  The RHS website gives lists of plants which are good for pollinators.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    edited August 2023
    Whatever makes you think the UK is ‘a blank slate’ where wildflowers are concerned? 😵‍💫


    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • McRazzMcRazz Posts: 440
    edited August 2023
    Bees are largely indiscriminate and should not be relied on as an indicator of a plants ecological attributes. A far better measure would be to identify the specialists which rely on a certain species of plant and use this as a measure of its ecological value. And as for nesting birds - the tits and pigeons that visit my garden all nest in a large standing of our old friend Lleylandii...

    The 'perfect for pollinators' moniker that the RHS adopt for many species is only part of the story and I think people can be quite blinkered into thinking that if they see a bee on a plant then it must be great, which isn't necessarily true.

    So to answer ElliotP's question, yes if you want to increase biodiversity and positively contribute to the environment you'd be much better off ripping your Wisteria out and replacing it with a native climber such as Lonicera Periclymenum.  

    If you're serious think Native. 
  • elliotp981elliotp981 Posts: 105
    I'm certain most plants that we have now were introduced rather than always here. 
  • McRazzMcRazz Posts: 440
    edited August 2023
    elliotp981 said:
    I'm certain most plants that we have now were introduced rather than always here. 
    If you're viewing the world through the context of gardens alone then perhaps that's a view you could be forgiven for having. 

    However, as a keen amateur naturalist i'd have to disagree. Even many garden favourites are selectively bred versions of natives. Google Dan Pearson, he's a landscape architect that effectively reverse engineers our view on the traditional garden and traces many well known cultivars back to their natural forms. Piet Oudolf works a little like this too with his approach to US prairie style planting. 
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