Get Your Wisteria "Fix"

The plant is planted close to the house, near the window in the background. Here it is in the back yard.

Here it is in the front yard. It is growing over the garage roof.

The termite inspector said that we should get rid of this plant, but I don't think so.

...

shades of romantic Old California

O.K. last picture

Yes, they are gorgeous! The one in my yard if finally blooming and the wild ones up the road are in full bloom - they smell YUMMY!

You must have a different kind than I do. Mine have virtually no fragrance.

We not only love the wisteria but 15 years built double arbors just to hold it. Two years ago we extended wire across the rest of the deck to cover more. As you say, it is a sensory experience. The aroma is intoxicating.

Especially with the aroma of the Lady Banks rose next to it.

Have a good day.

Christi

Kelli, That wisteria is just gorgeous. I have been keeping mine trimmed down to a smaller size as the fence section that is holding it wasn't up to the job. In the next week or so we will be building a very large arbor for it and then it can just go wild. Here is an old pic taken a couple of years ago.

LouC, Yours is beautiful also. Looks like you have Trumpet vine growing there, too. Yes BTW my Wisteria is very fragrant. Here is my Trumpet vine. Both vines were planted at the same time 25-30 years ago. Actually there was a mistake I thought I ordered 1 Trumpet Vine and 2 Wisterias. So when the plants came I planted the 2 matching plants out front and the 1 single along the driveway. Three years later when everything started to bloom I found out that I or someone had mixed up the order. The Arbor built for the Wisteria now held the Trumpet Vine. LOL

Thank you Holly. The wisteria will cover your arbor in one season. Really hard to capture it in a picture but it provides dense shade all summer. I love it.

LouC, Yes I know it will. LOL
I am constantly cutting it back just to keep the steps clear. Can't wait to get it up where is belongs. That stone parking area you see in the pic is where the new Arbor will go. The stones will be replaced with brick and I have a potting shed that sits along the parking area, that has been put in since that pic was taken. It's on the east side of the house so it should make a nice shady place to work, sit and relax

hahahaha. Very reason we built the arbors, we came out every morning and cut back the new growth and decided we could use it. There are two side by side that have the shape of a pagoda. Have to put an umbrella on the table to keep it clean enough to use.
3-4 years ago decided to expand it, there is about 16 feet from the arbor to the house all connected with a three level deck. We strung heavy wire across and let it go. Works beautifully.

Great pictures everyone. Whoever planted our wisteria also planted a purple trumpet vine beside it. That's a different species from the red one that you guys have. It blooms later. I'm thinking June.

wow - beautiful pics! I've come to this thread looking for wisteria advice if anyone can help. I've built a pergola outside and am looking for a vine to climb and hopefully eventually cover it. I've been researching wisteria and the american vs the asian type and I'm wondering what you all recommend? I've heard differing reports on scent, how early certain types flower etc. My pergola gets alot of sun and is pretty sturdy but I'm in zone 5b and I'm wondering how hardy these vines are? How long do you all get flowers and is the vine pretty when out of bloom as well? Thanks so much and I've really enjoyed the pics of your gorgeous wisteria!! (Spring IS coming soon right????)

Wisteria isn't a long bloomer, It blooms in the spring for a couple of weeks and then is gone. Puts on a beautiful show when it does. One year we went on vacation for 2 weeks in the spring and missed the entire bloom cycle. I like the looks of the leaves, Nice green kind of sprays out, very pretty. I haven't really looked at the different types or newer cultivators so I couldn't give advice on that. One of the things you can do is train your wisteria up and keep all the leaves and blooms on the top of the pergola leaving the supports free for other viners maybe annuals that you could change from year to year. That would give you the best of both. My Wisteria does very well in my Zone 6.
I have my Trumpet Vine trained up in this pic you can see the bare branches growing up the sides of my Arbor with only the greenery on top. I like this look and have seen it done with a lot of Wisteria.

The American one is definitely better behaved than the Asian ones, but if Plant Files is correct it's only hardy to zone 6, vs the Asian ones are hardier so they may be your only option. But the USDA database shows it being native to IN so maybe it would work...although I know that the southernmost part of IN is in zone 6 so maybe that's the only part of IN where it would do well. The Asian ones (W. sinensis and W. floribunda) would both be hardy for you and they're more widely available in nurseries, etc, but they have a tendency to be invasive in some areas and they're definitely big aggressive vines so make sure your pergola is sturdy!

okay wow - HollyAnnS THAT is a trumpet vine??? That's gorgeous. I see what you mean about leaves only on top, that is a really great look and I think that would work for me too, thanks! By the way, same thing happened to me last year when I left for vacation I had a whole garden of my favorite peonies finally ready to burst and when I came back they had just finished! Oh well, the neighbors said they enjoyed them lol. ecrane3 thanks for the info, if the only big problem with the Asian ones is problems with being invasive this pergola is probably a good spot for them. It's pretty large and sturdy and there's not much else nearby for the wisteria to interfere with, I've heard those are the ones with the nicer scent also? By the way - were yours quick to establish like I've heard? I'm curious how long they'd take to make an impact on the pergola, I was going to try to buy a larger one from the nursery.

I have a wisteria growing in the woods----but, it doesn't produce many blooms. Can any one recommend a fertilizer and when? The few blooms that are have are a gorgeous shade of purple. Thanks for any suggestions.

Shirleyd
Zone7b

Hard prune now and be sure it gets lots of sun.

LouC----thanks----will try--

Shirleyd

I heard that kentucky blue is the best since it blooms on new growth most of the summer is this true, since I want to get one and they one hundred dollars but a large one with blooms on it so no waiting 15 years to get the blooms

WHAT??? $100 dollars for a wisteria????? They have them blooming at Wallyworld right now for less than $15. and they are in bloom.

I got a Kentucky Blue Moon (2-year-old vine) from Bloom River Gardens. It was about 2 1/2 feet tall, well packed, very healthy, and they shipped it to me in short order. The cost was $35.00, shipping $10.00. It's listed as being much better behaved than the Chinese varieties and it has a good scent.

Lovey to see the wisteria blooming.. I guess mine.. recaimed and moved from one roof top planter.. to up on my roof a few years ago ..last year it bloomed sporoticaly all sumer.. it's not American.. but just so abused [ underfed..unpruned.. ] for so many years where it had lived..
So today.. one of my clients and I met under his wisteria.. about 4 -6 vines... grown together as a stalk.. about the size of my waist.. [ I'm fairly trim ] it grows up from a floor below ground level.. [ out of a basement entrance.. growing out of a corner.. never fed .. it's a stone floor.. except for the 2 sq ft the vine occuipies as it leaves the earth ] up to the top of the roof.. some 5 floors above.. Gordon.. I want to cut it down.. can you help me.. [ well I do it and he critiques.. ] he's displeased..as it only fowers on the roof.. it used to grow across to some of the street trees.. but was cut away a year or so ago by the city.. there it fowered some....
so.. how brutally can I chop it back for him.[ aganst his best wishes of it being gone ] and sti have it survive.... about the thrid foor it's grown over to his neighbors balcony.. there there's a bunch of branching.. coud I leave this vine clump and cut everything above it and get after branching this year.. some flowers next year..
I pan on cutting it severly soon.. everything above the third floor branching cump goes.. in hopes of it pumping out fowers lower...
OK I'l bring the camera there tomorrow..

what do you guys think of planting a sweet autumn clematis alongside a new wisteria on a pergola? I was thinking it would smell good and prolong the bloom season but I'm wondering if these too vines are too vigorous to be on the same structure, could they both thrive together? Naturelover1950 - I'm going to check out that nursery, thanks!

they may choak each other but my sister have four vines on hers so blooms from spring to fall and they are fine overlapping like that but she trims them back in late fall almost to the edge and they planted one at each corner so the roots get what they need the space to grow a great root system

Peony,
If you put both of those on one pergola, make sure it's a REAL strong one! They will both get quite heavy with age. Bet it would be a pretty mix. My wisteria I just got is growing real fast. I'm sure it won't bloom this year but maybe in a couple of years or so it will--I can't wait.

scicciarella - your sister has 4 wisteria vines on one? Did she plant different varieties to get different bloom times? Sounds nice. NatureLover - I'm glad to hear yours is growing quickly! Do you really think it will take a couple of years for blooms? So hard to be patient isn't it? I've got a bunch of climbing roses on their third year this summer and I'm just dying to see if this is the year for all the blooms so I know how you feel!

no four different vines
one wisteria
one trumpet vine
and two different clematis

oooowe. Wisteria and trumpet can really, really be heavy. I have both but the trumpet is on a fence. The wisteria blooms on this years growth. Mine is almost through blooming so it is time to whack it, although I do that all through the season. I kid you not a stem can almost grow as you watch it. Sometimes more than 2 feet a day. Very wispy to begin with but it gets more sturdy as more grows from the end. That is pretty hard to explain. Mine doesn't bloom on old growth very well so I don't know about topping it to force blooms on the lower branches. About 10% dies out every year under the main vine but it is all matted and covered so I don't bother it unless we do the 10 year start all over thing.Just looking at it now, the branches I cut last winter, told you I whack it all the time) are all growing multiple new stems at the ends where it is cut. Have to run some errands right now but maybe I can get some pictures later today.

her pergola is made from six by six posts and the top is 2 by 10s so problem there
she cuts each one back as it finishes to bloom and keeps them trimmed I think she just love to do it since she is at every weekend hahahah

peony,
It is hard to be patient. I'm not exactly sure just how long it will take it to bloom. Some plants will bloom more quickly if they have everything they need and I made sure to do everything just right for mine so I sure hope it might bloom a little sooner :-}
LouC,
When I was a kid we had a wisteria growing on our fence right by our gate (not too good, you know how the bumblebees love them!) My father kept it pruned to a reasonable size and it was loaded with blooms every spring. That's where I fell in love with them. Fortunately, I have 5 acres and mine is on a section of split rail fence a good ways out in the yard where the bees can enjoy themselves and not be a problem for DH and me.

a peony planted this year from bare root will not bloom but maybe next year if it gets the full sun and lots of fertilizer in order to make the buds

ooh ouch - I forgot about the bumblebee issue, I was actually going to be planting it above a seating area near the house - probably not the best idea. Oh no I'm already seriously hooked on all the great pictures!! I actually like watching the bees by my catmint in the front yard (it's like a bee farm almost, you hear them before you see them there's so many) but it probably would not be good here. Do the bees just like it during bloom time I guess?

Ours attracts valley carpenter bees, which look like black bumble bees, and they only come around when it is blooming.

I've heard that it takes something like 7 years before a plant grown from seed will bloom. My plant came with the house and probably was already a good 30+ years old at the time.

Photo below stolen from this web site http://www.sierramadrenews.net/wistaria.htm

that would make sense for your zone in mine they can take 15 minimum and up to 20 years from seed that is why that this year I am getting one with blooms on it and it will cost me about 100 dollars but well worth it

The bees are prolific when the wisteria and the Lady Banksia is blooming. They are not interested in people. I think they are frustrated with such a banquet before them. Wish I knew how to keep at least one hive. My yard is certainly the place for it. Have no idea where they come from or where they go. We, too, started with it on the fence at the house with the gate right at the house. Had to trim it off the gate everyday or it would take over. One day it dawned on me...hey, we can build our own shade and we built the arbors.