Chinese Wisteria
Chinese wisteria, also known as Wisteria sinensis, can be seen growing up the sides of the house facing the South Lawn. Chinese wisteria is invasive to the United States, but it does not look particularly exotic; it has green oval shaped leaves that are about three inches long and look to be somewhat wavy. Olmsted did not want the house to stick out in his landscape. He wanted the house to look more natural, so while he was living and working in the house, the entire south side was covered in different vines including wisteria. Olmsted was always looking for ways to make the structures in his landscape look more natural. He made many of the bridges and buildings throughout the Emerald Necklace out of Roxbury Puddingstone because of its rustic look. The wisteria is used in the same way with his house. It is currently growing on a trellis system added by the National Park Service that allows the wisteria to grow up the house without having to be removed or cut down whenever improvements or renovations to the house must be made. It can just be unclipped from bolts that have been screwed into the house. In addition to creating a diverse effect within the other vines on the house, wisteria also adds diversity to the landscape, as there are not many vines located in the South lawn area.
