Anyone growing Wisteria M... "Blue Moon" ? Have questions

I saw this Wisteria in a catalog, read that it had survived -50F and bloomed the next summer in Minnesota. Had to try it.
Two plants survived one winter and are growing pretty well this summer. One I planted on a fence, the other in my nursery garden. Transplanted that to a fenceline about two weeks ago. Was surprised at how few and how small the roots were. Would like to learn all I can about the growth patterns, ultimate size, bloom time (how many years after planting, what month of summer), pests, everything. I've not hear of anyone else in AK growing it.
It has occurred to me that even if it survives and grows, it might not flower because our summers are cooler and, several weeks shorter than Minnesota's.

Here's the Plant Files entry for it which has some of the info you're looking for http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/162499/ It's supposed to bloom in mid-summer so I suspect it'll probably have time to bloom for you--if it was a fall bloomer that's where you'd probably start to run into problems with the growing season being too short. I'm not sure how long it'll take to bloom though, some vines can take several years to really get going. Since this is one of the American native wisterias it won't be as aggressive of a grower as the Asian wisterias (although I don't think those would be hardy in your zone, so I guess they wouldn't be particularly aggressive for you!)

Have never tried a wisteria, but am anxiously waiting for your feedback, as I also have been toying with the idea of planting one here. I think one of the advantages you might have there would be a longer growing day. Since you have more daylight hours, it might be a huge advantage for you. Just an idea.

to ecrane, lol your ( ) comment.
Thanks for the link. I'm realy hoping to find some Blue Moon owners in cold zones I can just talk to about it from time to time. So here's hoping some tune in.

SFD,
The plant didn't survive -50°F, but it did survive -35°F here in MN.

I have Blue Moon planted on my arbor and it bloomed for the first time this spring. I purchased a small plant in a 4" pot three years ago at a local nursery. Blue Moon has beautiful flowers about a foot long that smell great.

I've heard that Blue Moon can also bloom sporadically throughout the summer, but my vine just bloomed during the spring, so far. Maybe once the vine is larger it will bloom during the summer, too?

The original vine, at a local nursery, was pretty large (covered the entire south side of the nursery building. It is wisteria, after all, but Blue Moon is not quite as rampant as Chinese wisteria.
Mike

I am going to receive a blue moon wisteria as a gift. My initial plan was to let it go crazy on the chain link fence between my yard and my neighbor's yard. I d-mailed a fellow dave's gardener from Blaine Minnesota (I am in Rosemount, Minnesota) who has a blue moon trained onto an arbor in her back yard. Her feeling is that it could potentially get very big over time. They prune it back off the roof of their house so it doesn't it over. She also commented that the plant produces big messy pods which was a downside for her.
So I am unsure what I am going to do here.

Seeds are what happens after a plant blooms. (:o) It's why plants bloom!

I trimmed the spent flowers from my Blue Moon this year so the plant didn't put any energy into making seeds. I wasn't aware the seed pods were "messy". Your friend may not like the look of the pods, but I don't believe the pods are messy.

I wouldn't put this vine near the house; it is a wisteria, after all, and even though it isn't one of the very aggressive Asian forms, it is a fast-growing vine.

I read an article in the paper (Twin Cities) a few years ago about a woman that had a trumpet vine growing on the side of her house and the vine got under the shakes on her house and up into her attic and did $5,000.00 worth of damage to her house. Wisteria is much more aggressive than trumpet vine.

Yes, this vine will get large over time. Rather than putting the vine on your fence, you may want to purchase a heavy arbor so the fence is not harmed. The original Blue Moon is growing on a chain link fence in St. Paul.