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phyl345

will my wisteria ever......

phyl345
17 years ago

i posted this on the midwest forum too....but that forum isn't any busier than this one is...i don't get it....anyway, i've been told my large wisteria is probably never going to bloom...(SO SAD) does anyone have a wisteria in zone 5 that BLOOMS?????

Comments (15)

  • greenhummer
    17 years ago

    This is mine in zone 5. Japanese wisteria tree form

  • phyl345
    Original Author
    17 years ago

    THERE IS HOPE!!!mine is a japanese wisteria also. i have had it 3 yrs, and it's really quite big...do you do anything special to it??
    thanks, phyl

  • Posey Planter
    17 years ago

    Hi phyl!

    I have a wisteria that is only about 5 yrs old and not yet blooming. I read that wisteria needs to be "spur pruned," similar to "summer pruning" of apples/pears to encourage flowering. Do a Google search on "spur summer prune wisteria" and you will find instructions similar to this page http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profiles0600/wisteria.asp

    Regards,
    PoseyPlanter

  • phyl345
    Original Author
    17 years ago

    WOW!! thanks for the answer...but...not only THAT, it's just nice to think there is SOMEBODY OUT THERE...i'm really disappointed that there is so little traffic on this forum and also the midwest forum....where do all the gardeners from around here post?

    phyl

  • Posey Planter
    17 years ago

    Hi Phyl!

    Glad to help:)

    LOL. Yesterday was my first day visiting this forum and yours was the only post I answered!

    Your post caught my eye because I have a unnamed wisteria (probably a sucker cutting) that I purchased a few years ago before I knew that best practice is to purchase a named cultivar. Oh well, IÂve been pruning the one I have for a 2-3 years. Maybe it will bloom someday. ItÂs supposed to be purple. If it turns out to be pink or white, I will laugh and be content that it bloomed!

    I choose forums based on specialty, not region because I think that the specialty forums draw aficionados, who hopefully have some expertise too. (We all have expertise in some area.) If I had a question about wisteria, I would lurk on the Vines Forum to see if I could find the answer.

    I spend most of my time on the main Roses Forum, my definite favorite:) Also, Antique Roses, Fruit & Orchards, Herbs, Herbalism and visit (rarely) Topiary and The Winter Garden. I also visit Edible Landscape and the Orchid forum. You get the idea.

    Best Wishes!

    Regards,
    PoseyPlanter

  • dg_rock
    17 years ago

    My grandfather has a large wisteria vine that took over five years to bloom. He had to threaten it. If it had not bloomed the year it finally did it would have been gone. Now it blooms prolifically every year

    Good luck with yours

  • phyl345
    Original Author
    17 years ago

    would now be a good time to go out and trim my wisteria ?(in hopes of promoting blooms) or should i wait ..... phyl

  • sheryl_ontario
    17 years ago

    Wisteria are usually at least 7 years old before they will bloom at all, and only then if pruned, etc. It needs lots of light and good soil, etc. too

    How to prune your wisteria: Keep the thickest branch as long as it will grow and cut off all the others back at the stock. Don't let the plant grow any more vines or suckers. Just that one. Cut the rest off at the stock as soon as they start. It will get really thick like a small tree, will take over and will bloom. But it does have to be at least 7 years old.

  • diggerb2
    17 years ago

    sometimes they suggest a rootpruning to shock it into blooming. the plant thinks its gonna get shoveled up and die so it puts some effort in procreating.
    i don't have wisteria, but you could search the forums for more on the topic-- just type wisteria in the search box and click go!!! lots of info
    diggerb

  • phyl345
    Original Author
    17 years ago

    everybody had such great advice!!
    poseyplanter, i printed the link you connected me to ... took it outside yesterday with me, but i had a difficult time with "distinguish the plumper flower buds from the slimmer growth buds"
    diggerb2 .. i am going to root prune today ... and ... dg rock, i will threaten and maybe even curse at it ...
    sheryl ... what adds up to 7 yrs? i bought it 2 or 3 yrs. ago, but it was already at least 5 ft. tall then, so it had been growing quite awhile ...
    greenhummer ... i WANT mine to look just like YOURS!

    goodhors .. after i finish root pruning my wisteria, i am heading to the library to get a copy of martha stewarts magazine ... do you have any general idea of how long ago it appeared? .. the library has 5 yrs worth of old issues ..

    thanks everyone, phyl

  • jgreen8520
    16 years ago

    Wisteria grow all the way up by Traverse City Michigan. I've seen them. Infact, I dug my start from an existing female plant (I'm told only females bloom) and tried it out for many years. I did the recommend whack jobs on it to no avail.

    It was 10 years old and never bloomed a lick. SO, I decided, enough was enough and sprayed it with round-up to kill it. Then after the leaves all turned brown and curled up, I cut it off as far below ground as I could dig around it, built up the sides of the bed with railroad ties, 2 high, and filled it in with good black composted cow manure.

    Then I figured it was dead so I planted the raised bed with other flowers, daylily, tulips, hyacinth, daffodils, hosta, shasta daisy and painted daisy, autumn sedum. Then usually border it with bright pink petunias to keep the color going. Yes, it's a very "thick" flower bed but it's gorgeous. hahaha

    That was 3 years ago and I'm STILL trying to kill it. It just keeps coming up and I keep whacking it off underground with a knife. It will NOT win !!!

  • ericami
    16 years ago

    Growing up in the Detroit area, my grandmother had a wisteria growing along her back fence line, she kept it trimmed so that it didn't overtake the area and dreamed of it blooming. It never bloomed for 32 years, no matter what she did to entice it. She passed away a couple years ago. Right after that, the neighbors behind her tore down their garage and now it blooms every years, but it is out of control.

    My mother's wisteria blooms a few times during the year.

  • phyl345
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    I followed every little piece of advice I received ... this year, nothing AGAIN! ... I really suspect i will NEVER see blooms ... damnation! ... phyl

  • laurie_aker
    7 years ago

    Yes! I am in Indiana and mine are in bloom now !

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