Wisteria

A wall covered in a mature Wisteria is a truly wondrous sight. These beautiful twinning, woody, deciduous and hardy climbers are natives of the Far East.

They have easily recognisable alternate, pinnate leaves which can be up to a foot long (30cms). But it is their pea-like blooms hanging down in great scented racemes which make the Wisteria such a popular plant. The flowers appear from late spring to mid-summer depending upon the variety.

Trained up a wall, over a pergola or let them scramble through a tree. If you do plant Wisteria in a tree you can extend the flowering season of the tree if you take care to ensure your chosen Wisteria flowers at a different time.

A new Wisteria plant will benefit greatly if you tie-in the emerging lateral shoots where you wish them to travel and cut back any lateral that is heading in the wrong direction to three buds. The reason for this is not to allow the plant to waste precious energy on any shoot that will ultimately be removed. In my experience you should not be surprised that you are cutting back such unwanted shoots every two weeks during the second summer!

Be careful if your climate is a particularly cold one, as you may have to experiment by retaining upto five buds instead of three. The whole purpose to all the pruning is to encourage more and more spurs from which buds like the one here will grow from.

Wisterias are divided into several groups W. brachybotris or sliky wisteria with its softly hairy leaves. W. sinensis wisterias originating from China. The W. floribundas originate from Japan. Regardless of which Wisteria you choose I'm sure they will provide a lifetime of pleasure.

 For full cultivation details on how to obtain the best from your wisteria.