Wisteria questions

I just got a great deal on 3 large 5 gallon wisterias (japanese black dragons). I plan to plant them along my back wall - which is about 50 ft. long. Are 3 too many for that space? Should I plant 1, 2 or all 3?

I have noticed that the Wisteria blooms I see are those that are coming over someone's fence. So I can see what they can't see from their own yard. Will I be able to see any of the blooms, or will my neighbor get all the "show" in his yard, leaving me with just the leaves and vine?

Does anyone hate their Wisteria? I have read that they can be invasive, but I love the fragrance and beauty of the flowers. Comments welcome!! Thanks!

I'm not familiar with this particular one, I have the 'Amethyst Falls' variety which is not as aggressive and does not get so huge as most of the others. Dealing with wisteria like you describe can be a real challenge. It has become such a pest in the deep South although pretty to look at like bunches of grapes throughout the woods, it will eventually strangle whatever it attaches to. Some varieties take many years to bloom also. Check on the DG plant files and there will be info there for you. Here is mine.

Bugme,
Thanks for your insight. Your plant is gorgeous. I truly love the look of this plant, but after reading posts on "plantfiles", I'm hesitant to plant them. They are sitting on the porch, waiting for my decision. I am hoping others post and tell me of their personal experiences with wisteria. Mine is a japanese variety, and plant files has a bit of info, but no pictures or personal posts - just basic stuff.

Thanks again, Molly

The Chinese and Japanese wisterias are quite large, heavy, and very aggressive, the American wisterias like 'Amethyst Falls' are much better behaved. Your climate is more challenging though so they may not be as much of a problem for you as they are in other areas of the country. As far as how many you can plant along your wall, especially if it's not very tall and you have to train them to grow sideways along the wall you might not in the long term have room for all 3. On the blooms coming over the fence, there certainly will be some that your neighbor can see and you can't, but you ought to still see some blooms too as long as you don't prune the vine at the wrong time of year (the Chinese & Japanese wisterias both bloom on old wood, so you can't prune too late in the year or else you're pruning off where next year's blooms would be).

Wisteria floribunda 'Black Dragon' also known as 'Kokuryu'
Chinese Wisteria Vine
zones 5-9

Description: Dark purple flowers in 6-12" clusters.
Bloom Color: Dark purple
Bloom Time: Late April
Foliage Color: Green, yellow fall color
Height: 25'+
Spread: 40'+

http://www.bloomriver.com/home/br2/page_282
this is on the japanese one.

Thanks for all the info and link! Will the wisteria grab onto other plants or stay on the wall? The area I want to plant them in is a well tended garden area - lots of shrubs, flowers, tree, ground cover, etc...

Depending on what your wall is made of, you will probably need to help it. They don't have "stickies" like ivy or Virginia creeper so it won't climb a wall unless it has something to put its tendrils around, so unless your wall is something like a chain link fence it's going to need help. It will twine, so you can put a trellis there it'll climb that, but keep in mind that it becomes a huge, heavy vine so you need something really sturdy for it to grab onto or else it'll destroy it eventually. And you'll have to keep an eye on it--it'll twine around your plants too if you let a tendril go out in the wrong direction--not too bad to deal with if you catch it early but if you let it go for years it could choke out some of your other plants if you don't keep it pruned and trained where you want it to grow.

Thanks...this is the info I need.

Imzadi, thanks for the link. It was exactly what I stopped by here for. I have Royal Purple, but was looking for Macrobotrys. I stood under one in 1973, at the Portland, Ore Archdioces, on a field trip. The tassels hung down for at least 3 feet. I had to part them in front of myself with my hands to walk under the arbor they were hanging from. I think all the W.floribuna clones are grafted. That is why W.floribunda varieties are so expensive. You can go to that link and see all the floribunda varieties the site has photos for and they are named by the specie of origin. Frank

Tycamile, tell us what the wisteria labels say. You may have gotten them as a good buy because they do not have labels? Then you count the leaflets or post pictures of the leaves for the rest of us. If the labels say that it is W.sinensis....never never plant it.

A 2 year old plant of sinensis could fill a 5 gallon container!. Your first grade child, will be half way through college before it blooms. You may not even live there anymore. Nurseries don't really want you to know the truth about how long it takes sinensis to bloom, because it is a propagators dream come true. It roots everywhere it touches the ground.

I bought my wife a couple rooted cuttings in 1974, and we planted them where they would grow up our 12 food square , lattice covered gazebo.
In 1989 it bloomed for the first time. We no longer lived there. The flower clusters are very short compared to the floribunda varieties.
In addition, they grow many new vines yearly up to 10 feet long, and they turn right or left every two inches, not missing one square hole in the lattice work in 12 feet. Not good for the gazebo. Frank

Tycamille said in the first post that the wisteria are Japanese black dragon, which would be W. floribunda 'Black Dragon' (unless of course they were mislabeled)

It's generally just wisteria grown from seed that takes forever to bloom, ones started from cuttings (which is what the nurseries would normally sell) will typically bloom quicker. I'm not sure why yours took that many years but I wonder if there weren't other factors at work, like the fact that wisteria bloom best if they have full sun, heat, and not too much water, and you live in the PNW where it's cool & wet quite a bit of the time. In tycamille's climate, that won't be an issue! LOL

Thank you ecrane, sorry, I got rabid against sinensis. I planted sinensis.
Now that we know the thread was about black dragon, we can hope it is the floriferous double Japanese one. Mine took many years because it was not the Japanese variety, it was from the sinensis specie. It takes forever from seeds or cuttings. Our climate difference could make some difference, between you and me. I am at 46 degrees north lattitude.
Frank

Accoding to the link above, Black Dragon is the double purple of the floribunda specie. I wold like to plaster my ranch with that one. Frank

Hey, I don't like sinensis either (or floribunda for that matter--they both tend towards being invasive!) I still think your climate is at least partially to blame for your long time to get sinensis to bloom--they sell sinensis in nurseries here and they're in 15 gal pots blooming already, and those plants are not more than a couple years old (grown from cuttings)

Thanks to everyone who commented and gave great info. I decided to return them, although I was tempted to plant them in my neighbors back yard (they moved out and the house is empty), but I didn't. I thought I could enjoy the blooms without the upkeep. : ) I will continue to enjoy other people's wisteria as I do not want it grabbing on to all my other plants.

Thanks again!

If you really want wisteria, you might consider Wisteria frutescens, the American wisteria. It's still a big heavy vine, but it's not nearly as aggressive as the Asian wisterias so it'll stay where you want it a lot better. It also blooms on new wood so you don't have to worry as much about what time of year you prune it.