White wisteria when to prune? Why no blooms?

Hello,
I'm an eager gardener in Metrowest Boston, zone 6 I believe. We have an arbor and fence on the western side of the house where a small wisteria tree (that was blooming when bought) was planted two years ago. It has not bloomed since. I first started gardening in England, where I always pruned my wisteria mid February and mid summer. I suspect part of the problem is that it receives too little light. Our neighbors had originally planned on cutting down two very large oaks that shade this side of the house, but never did. Should I plant it elsewhere? Or is it a problem of me not pruning correctly or at the proper time? I'm afraid I do not know much more about what type of wisteria (Chinese, Japanese, or American). My pictures aren't the best definition either, sorry! But it shows mid-summer light, or lack thereof. Thanks, Cottagegarden Fairy

If you know the vendor (on the tag), contact them and ask which species you bought. It takes anywhere from 3-20 years for a Wisteria to settle in and bloom. Most likely, you have a grafted plant.

Three factors could contribute, any one of which could have prevented it from blooming since you planted it.

1) needs time to settle in. There's a saying "first year they sleep, second year they creep, third year they leap" which applies to many things after you plant them. The fact that it was blooming when you bought it doesn't mean anything (except that the plant is old enough to bloom), once you transplant it into the ground you reset the clock until it gets its roots going

2) pruning in Feb. I suspect you have one of the wisterias that blooms on old wood, so on the off chance it was established enough and wanted to produce flowers, you probably cut off the buds. I'd wait until after bloom and then prune them.

3) light. They need a good amt of sun to bloom well. How many hours of direct sun does that area get? Full sun is generally considered 6+ hrs so I'd guess you'd want to be close to that to get the best bloom. You may get some bloom with less than that, but if it's really shady (no direct sun, or only an hour or two) then I'd move it (but be aware if you transplant it, you're resetting the clock again on it getting its roots going

What a beautiful setting!!!! Any self respecting wisteria should bloom with a such a beautiful spot to call home. LOL

My wisteria is in sun all day. My DH built a huge pergola for it. One side bloomed some this year, other side is much smaller and didn't bloom at all. They were planted 3 years ago exactly same time. Who knows. Lots of foliage but not much in the way of blooms I think our crazy weather gets the plants confused. We are having colder winters than in many years but this past winter was very mild. I just keep watering and fert. and hope for the best.
BTW your arbor is simply beautiful. I see a lovely hosta onto right side of 1 pic and thats something that won't do well here at all cause its too hot for them. I lived in RI from birth and used to grow many things that won't make it here and visa versa. I've learned a lot in 43 yrs. about gardening in the south. Sandy soil need amending, water and plenty of fertilizer all the time. We have cows so I keep a compost pile going at all times. Really helps.

Have patience and you will find the right spot for your wisteria where it can be happy and prolific. You know the old saying "right spot right plant" " wrong spot sad plant" I have moved some plants 3 times and then I tell them live or die its up to them.

Bonnie

We just bought a Japanese wisteria and the directions say that if you want it to flower you need to let it grow horizontally. The Japanese variety we have grows counterclockwise. Could this be the reason? Are you forcing it to grow up your arbour? It will have a great deal of height but when it does blossom, the blossoms will be too high for you to enjoy. That is my 2 cents worth. Good luck.


Elaine and Otis

More than likely it's either Chinese Wisteria (sinensis) or Japanese Wisteria (floribunda). One way to tell them apart is in the way they twine around objects. If they twist clockwise it's Japanese (floribunda), if it twines counter-clockwise it's Chinese (sinensis). I agree that it will probably take some time to settle in to it's surroundings. I transplanted a pink Wisteria floribunda that was blooming fine in my back yard and replanted it in my front yard. It took 3 years before it bloomed again. They prefer full sun, but I have a Wisteria sinensis at the northneast corner of my house that blooms like crazy every year, yet I have several peonies planted nearby that don't bloom from lack of enough sun. I do prune this Wisteria back drastically twice a year, once in mid-summer when it's so full of new foliage that it blocks out surrounding plants, and again in late Fall while it still has leaves on before it goes dormant. This is when it needs to have it's long thin "whips" of late Summer growth cut back to thicker sections full of nodes that will produce the many flower buds for next Spring. I never prune in the Spring because it has already set buds and any cutting would sacrifice some flowers.
From your photos it looks like your vine is still young and I would let it get some major growth before I start pruning it back. When it starts getting out of bounds then you can start trimming it to get more flower buds. Mine has been in that corner for over 12 years and if I didn't prune it, it would be covering the house by now! It's also very fragrant and a magnet for fat bumblebees when in flower.
There's a photo showing my Wisteria after Fall pruning, early buds in Spring and the glorious show it puts on every year in full bloom.