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woodyoak

Chinese wisteria in bloom today - finally!

It's been a very cold spring here (until today). The Chinese wisteria is usually in bloom on the Victoria Day weekend (21-23), but it didn't get around to blooming until today:

{{gwi:156622}}
I need to let some whippy growth develop in the middle this year so I can train it into the empty space that is bugging me in the mid-section...

It doesn't look like the young Japanese wisteria will be blooming this year. This is its fifth spring in the garden so I was hoping it would bloom this year since the Chinese one started blooming in its fifth spring. Maybe next year....

For those of you who have them, how is your wisteria doing this spring? Pictures...?

Comments (12)

  • Lilyfinch z9a Murrieta Ca
    12 years ago

    Oh I am so envious! I really love wisteria and every time I see it at a garden center I get so tempted but I honestly don't have space. Does it smell as amazing as it looks? Did u start it from a standard or just a regular plant?
    Thanks for sharing your beautiful picture!

  • woodyoak zone 5 southern Ont., Canada
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    It does smell wonderful - but it doesn't broadcast the scent. You have to be fairly close to it to smell it. I started it from just a regular vine, not something that had been already trained as a standard. It's a bit messy in form and we need to do more shaping pruning next spring. We trimmed off some bottom stems this spring to give the perennials that grow under it a bit more room. A neighbour took the trimmings and put them in water to 'force' them. They bloomed for her a couple of weeks ago. So, if we do some shaping pruning next spring, we now know we shouldn't just discard the prunings!

  • lavender_lass
    12 years ago

    I would love to get some wisteria...it's so beautiful and purple!

    One day, I hope to build a sturdy arbor and grow wisteria, but for now, thank you for sharing your beautiful picture :)

  • kathi_mdgd
    12 years ago

    I don't know what kind i have,only know that here in S.Ca it already bloomed.I've had this bush for more years than i care to count,and for years it never did anything.I moved it around a couple of timesetc,still nothing.Finally i cursed it out and told it i was going to dig it out and get rid of it,and i thought i had.The next year it popped back up in the last place i had it,and has been growing and blooming every year since.Mine grows against a very sturdy galvanizedsteel fence,that can take the weight.

    I just last week dug up some seedlings from it,and put them in pots.
    Kathi

  • woodyoak zone 5 southern Ont., Canada
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Picture Kathi? Is it a Chinese one or a Japanese one?

  • Thyme2dig NH Zone 5
    12 years ago

    Woody, I wonder if the Chinese and Japanese inerently take longer to bloom than the American? I purchased a W. frutescens last year and it was in full bloom when I bought it. I wasn't quite sure what it would do this year but I checked it yesterday evening and it does have quite a number of blooms. I hope the smell doesn't waft too far away from the plant because the blooms stunk to high heaven! We had to cut off all the blooms in order to put it in the car for the drive home from NC. It was not a pleasant smelling flower at all.

    Is Wisteria one of those plants like climbing hydrangea that may be blooming in the pot but then sulk once planted and not bloom for years? Or when Chinese and Japanese wisteria are sold, are they generally not blooming plants and you always have to wait? I've heard that root pruning may promote bloom?

  • Calamity_J
    12 years ago

    Lovely blooms!!!I didn't know it takes so long to get blooms, I may not give up on my dogwood just yet!lol!
    I saw one yesterday(wisteria) while driving into town(why don't I carry my camera???!) that was just 3ft high, looked to be about 3inches round stem, with a poof of flowers on the top...was amazing what they did to it, is that what they call a standard? I may have to go by and take a pic!

  • kathi_mdgd
    12 years ago

    Woodyoak,
    Here's a picture,like i said i don't know whatkind it is,japanese,chinese,american.It's mine so i guess that makes it American____Just kidding!!!LOL,LOL The pink plant in front is a geranium manderense(sp)
    Kathi

    {{gwi:682963}}

  • newyorkrita
    12 years ago

    I love the looks of Wysteria in bloom. Plus it smells heavenly. Beautiful, just beauitiful.

  • woodyoak zone 5 southern Ont., Canada
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Kathi - that looks like it might be a Japanese one. They tend to have more leaves at the same time as the flowers so the flowers look like a fringe dangling under the leaves. I think the American ones have leaves at the same time as the flowers too, but I think they're later blooming. Japanese ones twine clockwise (stems rise from lower right to upper left) and American and Chinese ones twine anti-clockwise (stems rise from lower left to upper right) so that should help you identify the type.

    calamity - yes, that would be a standard. You can keep them very short or make them whatever size and shape you want. We're keeping the Chinese one in a bush form 8-10' tall (the shorter flower racemes of Chinese ones display better on a bushy form). The Japanese one that hasn't flowered yet we're keeping to about 5' tall and more upright with no lower branches. The Japanese ones have longer flower racemes so display best with the flowers dangling down from higher up - too low branches would have the flowers dragging on the ground!

    The Chinese one starts blooming without the leaves, but within a day or two the leaves start appearing. It actually looks better I think one the leaves appear. The color of the flowers seems to darken as well. Here it is again today with a tree peony in the foreground:
    {{gwi:160407}}

    And a bit closer - from ground-level looking up (I was weeding nearby - the scent was heavenly...)
    {{gwi:160408}}

  • Calamity_J
    12 years ago

    Gorgeous! Mine is a twig with barely a leaf pushing out?! Seriously! Like 2yrs old and it is a foot tall and no real progress? Sheesh! I think I am doomed!

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