Wisteria is so beautiful in the spring. It can and does escape confinement in formal plantings (where it makes a nice shrub or vine on some part of a house or trellis)–and when it does escape, it decorates the woods in the spring.
Here it is along the walk I take every day. This particular vine is just one among three or four that are running through the woods and are blooming now.
Here’s more of the wisteria in the woods.
There are at least three types of vines here that can get loose in the woods that I know about. One is the Yellow Jasmine, which is the South Carolina state flower. While beautiful and so cheerful in the spring, every part of this vine is poisonous and can cause skin irritation if touched.
Here’s some information on Carolina Jasmine from Clemson University.
The other vine is Kudzu, which in my mind is like “the little shop of horrors” plants. It can take over whole woods and totally cover whole swaths of trees.
Here’s some information and pictures on Kudzu–from an article entitled “Kudzu: The Invasive Vine that Ate the South.”
Oh my!
Louisa Enright's Blog 