Home Garden Pond

 

Wisteria are vigorous, twining vines with wide landscape uses but gardeners must be  committed to keeping the wisteria in bounds as it can easily become invasive. Among their attributes wisteria are very hardy, vigorous, long lived vines with the ability to climb high. The wisteria is greatly valued for its large, pendulous flower clusters that occur in the spring. Flowers are pea-like and may be white, pink, lilac-blue, bluish-purple or purple in color.

The wisteria fruit/or seed is a long, green flattened pod that is not particularly ornamental.(inside the pod ,the seeds are flat round  and shiny resembling brown smarties but are  poisonous if ingested) The wisteria plant climbs by means of twining stems and has alternate, pinnately compound leaves. Older, established wisteria plants may have a twisted, woody trunk several inches in diameter.
Wisteria Plants that have been grown from seed remain in a long juvenile stage and often do not bloom for 10 to 15 years or longer.Wisteria  Plants that are grafted, and plants grown from cuttings or layered from a flowering Wisteria  plant will usually begin flowering much earlier than seedlings.

Wisteria Plant Profile

Plant type: woody ,perennial , spring flowering vine

Hardiness Zone 3-9

Plant Care category: easy ,Wisteria is one plant that seems to thrive on a certain amount of neglect

Bloom Time: spring ,May early June.
Color: wisteria blooms in an array of colors Violet/Lavender,Purple ,mauve ,bluish pink lilac,Fairly long flowering up to 2 months with possible second lesser show in September on some wisteria varieties..particularly those varieties natural to the US.

Size Height and spread 15-30 ft.

Uses:  divider, used on trellis or arbors covers unsightly sheds and garages

Light Requirements: Sun to Partial Shade, In order to bloom well, wisteria require a full sun (six or more hours of direct sun per day)

Soil Requirements: moist, dry, rich, but will tolerate poor soils but wisteria Prefers deep, moderately fertile, moist soil that does not dry out excessively. Wisteria  will adapt to most soils, though they prefer a neutral to slightly acid soil pH of 6.0-7.0 for best results.

Pruning: lite pruning in July heavy pruning late October to January Annual pruning is required to maintain wisteria plant quality; it is not advisable to allow the wisteria vine to grow randomly and take over surrounding plants and structures.as it is invasive by nature Pruning will also help reduce the vigor of the vine and promote flowering.

Other details:The wisteria  is attractive to bees, butterflies and/or birds

Foliage:Deciduous ,Smooth-Textured

Seed is poisonous if ingested
All parts of plant are poisonous if ingested
Wisteria  Self-sows freely; deadhead if you do not want volunteer seedlings next season

Propagation Methods:From woody stem cuttings,From semi-hardwood cuttings.The wisteria vines that you purchase from the garden centers  have usually been grafted, layered or taken from cuttings.  if you want to add to your wisteria stock,start additional vines from your own wisteria plant, by layering the lower side shoots ,it is the easiest method  to follow. Do this in the spring. Actually the lower growing wisteria  vine tendrils  will often come into contact with the ground and root on their own. Simply cut the new rooted wisteria shoots away from the mother vine and you have a new wisteria plant. Best time to do this is in springtime.
A 12 to 18 inch  wisteria vine tip  can often be started in water alone. but  the addition of a  little rooting hormone to the water, may help speed up the  process. Smaller cuttings 6 to 9 inches long can also be started in soil. Whether you do it in soil or water, the best time is to take these cuttings is in the late winter, just before the wisteria s new growth starts.
New wisteria vines can also be started from seed, but seedlings are very slow to flower. It may take 8 to 10 years or even longer for the first wisteria blooms to appear.
Wisteria is difficult to move once established, so it is important to plant where it can remain undisturbed.

The biggest frustration often faced  by gardeners when growing wisteria is that the wisteria tends to  have a longer than average juvenile period (the period before it becomes mature enough to  blossom) and sometimes fails to bloom at all.  The best bet is to start with grafted wisteria plants or those produced from cuttings rather than those grown from seed. The wisteria may also fail to flower if it doesn’t receive adequate  sunlight;   also the wisteria will not volunteer many blooms if it has been over fertilized  an indication of this is there is excessive vegetative growth around its base stimulated by excess nitrogen fertilizer;it can also fail to flower if it is pruned too heavily in winter and spring, Wisteria flowers develop in buds near the base of the previous year’s growth,so be careful. Also, in severe winters, wisteria flower buds may be injured or killed by cold or frost.

Some practices that may  induce non-blooming Wisteria to flower: a heavy application of a super phosphate fertilizer ,it is often said that a wisteria can be shocked in to producing flowers by severe pruning of new growth in late spring or early summer,or by  root pruning in late fall, Root pruning of wisteria vines  serves to check top growth and favors flower production and must be combined with summer pruning to be effective. Use a spade to cut vertically into the soil (about 18 inches deep) and about four feet from the main trunk, all around the wisteria vine.
INSECT AND DISEASES That Trouble Wisteria Vines

On the whole Wisteria is a pretty trouble free vine and is seldom bothered by insects and only occasionally by problems like mildew.