Manhattan Wisteria Walk: Exercise for the Florally-Inclined

There are many reasons to walk in Manhattan, and a wisteria tour in mid-spring is right up there for flower people. While by no means exhaustive (there are many other grand vines on the island and in the other boroughs), here is a guide to some of my favorite wisterias to visit in a single, fleet-footed session that should take half a day. We begin in Chelsea, on the West Side of Manhattan, cross to the East Village by way of Washington Mews, and then hop on the 6 train to ride north before hiking over to the East River and a brand new esplanade where wisteria cascades over FDR Drive in an amethyst and green cataract of blossoms and new leaves.

Chelsea

Above: One of two impressive wisterias on West 21st Street.

The north side of West 21st Street, between 9th and 10th Avenues, is home to two venerable wisterias, each climbing all the way to the top of their respective townhouses.

Above: Twin columns have been trained from the single vine, which is likely over 100 years old.

This old vine is superbly cared for and meticulously pruned (not an easy feat) to maintain its disciplined vertical lines.

Above: Wisteria-viewing etiquette includes using indoor voices on someone’s sidewalk, and not pointing cameras and phones at residents.

Washington Mews

Above: A lesson in restraint—prune wisteria in summer and again in later winter.

The car-free, cobblestoned street that is Washington Mews (between 5th Avenue and University Place), is pedestrian-friendly. The fruitily perfumed, carefully trained street-side wisteria blossoms invite polite sniffing.

East Village

Above: In late April this East 10th Street vine is heavily scented.

The south side of East 10th Street, just east of 2nd Avenue, is home to a magnificent wisteria whose arms extend across black railings to bring the scented panicles within reach. The rest of the vine soars five floors.

Above: A wisteria on East 10th Street.
Above: This wisteria faces south and is supported by a fire escape.

On Stuyvesant Place, just around the corner from East 10th, in a rare triangular block, is the wisteria monster that may eat Manhattan. The rambunctious vine, allowed more freedom to roam than most, has appropriated the fire escape in a way that makes one suspect that the FDNY might have a real soft spot for flowers.

Above: Will this wisteria be allowed to stay?

The townhouse has recently been sold, and there is a sense of a neighborhood’s collective held breath: Will this old vines be allowed to stay? I hope so.

Time to hop on the 6 train from Astor Place to Lexington Avenue/East 53rd Street:

East Midtown Esplanade

Above: The East Midtown Greenway can be entered at East 54th Street or East 60th Street.

Between the sleek slab of the United Nations and the iron ramparts of the Queensborough Bridge, the East Midtown Greenway is a new park built on a slender concrete arm that extends on pillars above the East River from East 54th to East 63rd Streets. The narrow waterside park is dominated by bike and pedestrian lanes and softened by a central vein of green. On the land side, cascading from Sutton Place over the roaring six-lane FDR highway, as if to silence it, are a couple of hundred feet of sumptuous wisteria. Previously the privilege of tugboat pilots and water traffic, that wisteria at last has a larger and very appreciative audience.

Above: Sutton Tower rears above the wisteria opposite the East Midtown Greenway.

It is notable that these wisteria pods, when ripe, drop seeds into the East River below to be carried away by the brackish flow. Have they given rise to new vines in downstream? Only a vast tagging experiment could tell us.

For home gardeners, North America wisterias as the better choice: Wisteria frutescens 101.

See also:

• Wisteria Syrup: Drink Your Flowers
• Wisteria: How to Make It Flower
• Mysterious Wisteria: An Irresistible Flower Goes from Vine to Vase