Speaking of Wisteria...

Where does it thrive? I'm in the finger lakes region of NY. Hard to tame? Will it bloom here? I think I remember seeing some here but who knows. The plant I saw looks like Kelli's link, but again I don't know! I would love to start something on my side porch that will climb. Living in grape country it would be beautiful, especially the lilac color.

Wisteria floribunda and Wisteria sinesis are hardy to around Zone 5, so you should be pretty OK climate-wise. If you buy bare root plants, you can get a good size one for a lot cheaper than if you buy them in buckets. People have differing opinions about how much work they are. They are aggressive growers, and hefty vines. They are the sort of thing that can take the roof off a house, if you let it.

I have three old established wysteria. I am in northern Ohio - zone 5. Wysteria are so pretty - and the fragrance is sweet. Such a welcome in the spring. To keep wysteria in check you do need to give it solid support - like a fence, arbor or pipes. They need pruning three times a year - once in the spring after they bloom, once in mid summer, and once in mid winter. It is usually too cold to prune mid winter, so I try to do it as late in the fall as possible. Also tend to the dead wood that developes underneath the bush. And prune off any runners unless you want them to root to make more wysteria. The runners take about one full season to make good roots. The next summer, cut the runners off the host and plant them where you want them. I do not let the seeds develop on mine.
Wysteria can take anywhere from 3-10 years to bloom from seed. Transplanted runners may bloom the following year because by that time they are already in their third season.

Great! It is so pretty. I'll have to take a walk across the street and make sure that my greenhouse buddy orders some for me. What do you mean by bare root? Can't picture it. Maybe I haven't had enough coffee. Anyway thanks for the advise I think I'll do it! Mere

Living in the south, wisteria falls into the category of a plant I enjoy in other people's yards. Beautiful, fragrant, and invasive. My mom has it coming up everywhere because hers is just too large to cut off the flowers before it sets seeds.

Your greenhouse buddy will know.

In the early spring you can buy plants and fruit trees bare root. They are shipped in big communal crates to nurseries in soil less peat mix or some such.

Here, a good size Wisteria in a 5 gallon bucket will run around $50. The same size plant, bare root, will cost around $30.

Frequently, all you are paying for is the cheap 5 gallon plastic bucket and the soil mix the nursery dumped in there after they split the plants out of the crate they were shipped in.

hpluver,I have a wisteria and its completly hardy up here and I'm north of you.

My problem was it took over my house and never bloomed.....

I talked to pete. He won't charge me the extra, I'll just walk across the street and get them when they come in. His gf even offered to help me plant. I think that it'll be ok, I'll do my research and make sure that I trim responsibly. TX Mere

We trim the wisteria once a year, mostly to keep it in our yard and to keep it from pulling the shutters off the house. In this climate, we don't have problems with it self-sowing. The spent flowers, seed pods, and leaves can be kind of messy but no worse than a flowering tree, and isn't it worth it?

Kelli - Your wysteria is beautiful. How long does it bloom in California ?

I haven't really paid attention, but I'd say no more than a month. It started blooming two weeks ago (very first buds opened) and now it is at its peak. I would imagine that heat has a major effect on how long it lasts, but maybe not. It's been hot (80s and 90s) and hasn't rained for a couple weeks.

Kelli, your Wisteria is beautiful.

Thanks! It's past its peak now. We'll get about three weeks out of it this year but only a few days of peak bloom.

Dear hpluver,
If you possibly can, try to find a Wisteria vine with a bloom already showing. It will cost more, but it will be well worth it. Wisterias can vary as to amount of bloom, color and fragrance.
I was lucky enough to find a small Wisteria sinensis at a local garden center. It was amoung several taller vines, but this one had a bloom at less than 3 feet tall while the others didn't. The color was good and the fragrance fantastic!
I have purchased Wisterias in the past and have been disappointed with the size of bloom, color and fragrance, and how long it took (3 yrs.) to see the first bloom.
As a rule, Wisteria sinensis (Chinese) will have fuller but slightly shorter flowers and better fragrance than Wisteria floribunda (Japanese). Sinensis also will flower all at once before the leaves appear. Floribunda flowers from the top of the bloom down with the leaves already starting to show.

Dear hpluver,
Another (closer) photo.

Hi everyone, I'm new here and looking for info on Wisteria. I love it. I am wondering if it's poisonous? I breed Shih Tzu's and was thinking of using it to cover my outdoor kennel, which is used only as a "go potty" area. If wisteria is toxic, I am thinking of using Chocolate Vine. Any advice is appreciated.
Thanks in advance

countrymom - do you know what type you have that didn't bloom? I've been told by my nursery that the american variety blooms every year dependably but the asian varieties don't always in our climate. Do those of you with this vine enjoy the look when it's out of bloom also? It seems like it's still beautiful out of bloom as well.

AKelly,

Was in the "Get Your Wisteria Fix" thread & saw this one.

Yes---the seeds of wisteria are poison---do not advise having it around your pets.

I am planning to move a wisteria that is maybe three years old. It hasn't ever flowered, but likely still too young. This was purchased as bareroot. I understand wisteria hate to be moved and do not always survive, but this has to be done. The new location will be great (if it survives), large solid cement grounded arbor, good sun. So...any suggestions or advice on how I procede with this move? Any special techniques? Thanks in advance and wish me luck.

If it doesn't have to be moved this year, why not root a couple pieces as backups? That way, if the mother plant dies, you'll still have a couple of spares.

Don't know which type of wisteria you have, but have never heard of them not liking to be moved.
Have the "Chinese" variety & never had a problem moving it.

It is much like moving a tree---make sure you dig far enough down to get a good part the tap root & there shouldn't be any problems.

I also agree with taking cuttings, just in case & if still unsure---dig out some of the roots that have been cut from the mother plant when you dig it out---they produce faster than cuttings ( & will flower quicker).

We are trying to 'create' a tree wisteria both for beauty of form and (hopefully) to keep it under control. :o) . So far we have been successful, but it needs to be prunned regularly to keep it under control. The blooms produce a lovely and powerful scent. So far, I love it!

Snug, :o)

. . . . another pic:

Snug as a Bug,

Beautiful!!

Know that in the right conditions, wisteria can be pruned to form a tree, but it takes some-one that is willing to stay on top of the pruning to make it so!

Yours is a very nice specimen! You are doing a great job in training it to the tree form.

Agree---the scent of the wisteria has to be one of the most exquisite of all the spring flowers!!! Wish it would last all year!!!

Has anyone started this from a cutting, if so what is the best way, put cutting directly into ground or try to get roots first in water.

Thanks for any sugestions.


Doris

Snug as a Bug that Wisteria is absolutely stunning!

kaareoke.

Found that cuttings from both the plant & roots seem to do better in pots. Never had any luck with rooting them in water.

Have tried rooting them in water, pots, & in the ground. The ground didn't work out so well, as you can't keep them damp enough to grow new roots, water didn't do anything at all, as they are such a slow growing plant that the only thing that I saw happen was the algae in the water & the stem rotting.,the best luck I had was in placing the roots in pots, & baby- sitting them for about a year until they grew new shoots. You can then place them in the ground.

Notice that you are in the north & not really familiar with the type of Wisteria that you are looking to grow, there are so many types & most of ours down here, grow year round.

Mine is now blooming for the third time this year!

Started it from a root, about nine years ago & has bloomed for me now for about the last six or seven years. Now have five of them that I've placed in different parts of the yard.

One of the things that I have noticed is, the root cutting seem to produce a flower a lot sooner than a stem cutting. A stem cutting can take up to seven years to produce a flower, once it's established. (That can take years!!!!) You don't even want to know how long it would take to grow one from a seed!!!!

Thanks Camillia84 I am glad you told me this info since I am 83 I don.t think I would even get to see it grow let alone see the flower *LOL*


Doris