Following the drought/beetle kill of 2002, I planted a wisteria beside a dead pinion tree. With irrigation water, it grew rather impressively, and in 5 years had a 4 inch diameter trunk and a vine that not only covered the dead tree, it was rather rambunctiously moving onto the cotton wood beside it. Then we had a wind storm which blew the whole shebang over, snapping the stem off at the base.

During those intervening years, I'd been researching a bit more about wisteria, and had seen a few around the area that were well established. These things are huge, they may or may not flower in the spring depending on late frosts, and you need a serious, serious structure of some kind to hold the things up. Like a trellis made out of railroad ties. Not so much here, but else where, they are invasive weeds, taking over entire forests.

So, I decided that it wasn't worth it, and some other trees had grown up to fill the gap, and there was nothing for the new shoots to cling to. I've been trying to kill the vine now for two years. It is winning.

Try a clematis. A Jackmanni will flower for 6 weeks.

Hmm, that doesn't sound fun! I, for some strange reason, do not have a trellis made of railroad ties!

I have been thinking of a clematis and my neighbor grows one, so that could be a good sign!

Thanks David!

J.

I second everything David said, Jennifer. I bet youÂd love a ÂJackmaniiÂ, and at least youÂd get some flowers! When I was at PaulinoÂs, we had people coming in all the time asking how to get their wisteria to bloom, and I never found anybody who had an answer. As near as I can tell, here in the Denver area (where youÂre not!) we almost always get a freeze at the "wrong time" and they donÂt bloom. The girl I lived with when I was commuting to San Fran had a HUGE one that covered the whole (also huge) pergola between the gate into her front yard and her front door, and every spring it was completely covered with the luscious purple flower clustersÂjust like you see in pictures, but I donÂt remember ever seeing one in bloom here in our area. IÂm sure there are some that do occasionally bloom here in Denver, but I doubt that youÂd ever get flowers out there in Nederland.

Skybird

P.S. I had no idea that they were that hard to kill, David!

Here is a link that might be useful: 'Jackmanii'

I did find out how to make a wisteria bloom here - wait until mid-january, when the soil is as cold as it's going to get, and mulch / insulate the roots with about a foot of grass clippings.

One reason they're so hard to kill is because the below ground root structure pretty much mirrors the above ground plant structure. So I can spray where the old trunk was, and then lots of little wisteri-itas start popping up 10' away.....

Oh, San Fran!! I had a small one when I lived there and I was crazy about it. I gave it to my landlord when I moved. The hospice I worked/volunteered at had one that went up ALL three stories! the fragrance was so heady and sweet and kind of like fresh corn tortillas. I know, strange!

Well, I don't feel like waiting for it to bloom only to find it won't! I'm adding Jackmanii to my list for next year.

Wisteri-itas?!! I kind of think I'd like those!

Thanks,
J

Well if you have wisteri-itas, David, than it must be cotton-itas that I have all over my back yard, and aspen-itas that I have all over my front yard! I just never knew what they were called before!

;-)
Skybird

I grow the wisteria Aunt Dee,it is Minnesota bred if I remember correctly.It is also a smaller vine then the others.Its bred for cold zones so it tends to bloom , but for the large blooms others want you need to give it root abuse.I have two of these in and they have been very nice plants.I have never had them sprout new plants from the roots.I do not have them on a trellis.One climbs up the rock wall and is growing onto the honeysuckle that is on top growing down.The other lays flat.Mine are growing this way to fit the over grown neglected garden look we aim for with our design..just another option.I have tons of clematis as well and Jackamanni is nice but so not the same..

Thanks, Gardenbutt! I had a feeling David and Skybird might be thinking of the sinensis or floribunda ones and not the macrostachya one. I'm pretty sure the Minnesota one is the macrostachya...or maybe it is the Kentucky one? I might need to do more research! I think I may need to check with my neighbor. Knowing her, she has probably got one or tried one.

J :)

I didnÂt look up the species, Jennifer, and I WAS assuming the standard Japanese wisteria when I replied! I just googled the macrostachya and found contradictory information. Below IÂll link the DaveÂs Garden page where I started, and then hereÂs a few more (copy and paste) links with slightly different info. The last three are specifically for ÂAunt Dee variety.

At least this gives you some info to check out, but good luck in making a decision!

http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/factsheets/vines/wisteria_macrostachya.html

http://www.naturehills.com/product/aunt_dee_wisteria.aspx

http://plants.mickman.com/NetPS-Engine.asp?CCID=12070011&page=pdp&PID=1609

http://search.schultesgreenhouse.com/NetPS-Engine.asp?CCID=12070008&page=pdp&PID=1609

If you get one and it ever blooms, I wanna see it  and smell it!
Skybird

Here is a link that might be useful: Dave's Garden - wisteria

And, once again, Skybird shows up with all her fancy research! You rock!

Thanks :)

And, if I do get one...although I am also tempted to try a bunch of currants seeing as how two don't provide enough fruit and two are not producing fruit...but, if I get one, you should come over and see it.

Oh, so many choices for new plants next year. Currants, wisteria, or maybe some apples? I don't know!

J

LOL,, gotta love the girl and her research,,Thanks Sky,I am terrible about putting up the references
Have to admit I also do several types of currents ,, yum granny raised them,,bad habit even when they drop all the leaves,,Apples on the other hand always fall into the group of productive,, I know myself I am looking at the columns or even the minis under 6 ft tall,
mary

I don't know what variety of Wisteria we have, but DH bought it about 4 years ago and we planted it in our garden about 3 years ago. I moved it from one location to another last year as well. So it's had a bit of disruption and had to get some settling in and adjusting to do.

Last year, and especially so far this year, it is growing vines nicely. We have a sturdy metal arbor for it to grow on, and do plan on keeping it in control by regular trimming. I expect it may not flower for awhile, especially hearing of others who complain they can't get theirs to bloom in this area. I hope it will eventually - I read someone's tip to keep pruning it back during the growing season, which stresses it a bit and somehow encourages it to bloom. So I will try that.

My main concern is that the leaves turn a very pale green. I don't know whether I need to provide some additional fertlizer (have been using a general slow release type), or if this color is normal. Anyone have experience with this? Also, I'm finding some dried up leaves on it - so I'm sure this is signs of it getting too hot. It is in the south facing side of the house, and I know it does get hot up there - I've set a thermometer out on the front porch in the sun, I have seen the temps get to be well over 100 at peak daylight hours even when the general temps are in the 80's. Not too much I can do about that, however, so if it gets worse guess that will just be telling me that I can't grow it in that location and I'll have to move it again.

I, too, had one in California - that's where I fell in love with it! We had an old one in our yard that my DH rebuilt the wooden trellis it was on and it was sooo lovely after that. It bloomed twice a year - one in spring prior to getting leaves, and then once again a few months later. Smelled devine! Ahhh, if I could only get just a little bit of that out of the one we have here it would be so nice!

Although it doesn't do it justice, here's a pic of that Wisteria we had in CA, taken when it first bloomed in the spring (pre-leaves):

Marj

A friend sent me wisteria from Ga.last yr. I have no idea what it is but it came up again this yr. I hope it will grow and bloom. I want it to cover an usgly stump I have in the front yard.
Good luck with yours.

Thanks, Sorie - hope yours does well, too!

I stopped by O'Tooles yesterday with a couple of leaves and talked with one of the perennial staff. She didn't really know, though. She pulled out a book and gave a few suggestions from that - which was don't fertilize at all, withhold nitrogen, and watch how much water it was getting. Since I used the granule slow release type of fertilizer, I may be able to rake some of it out of the soil, so I'll probably try that today. I don't think it is getting too much water, though. I water my whole flower bed by hand a couple of times a week and/or when the top of the soil feels dry.

I did another google search and ran into a site for the state of Colorado: http://www.colostate.edu/Depts/CoopExt/4DMG/Flowers/Vines/wisteria.htm. It definitely sounds like Wisteria can grow fine here, so that is good news! One thing I picked up from the article was that it likes Alkaline soil. Don't know what ours is, so will see if I can test it. I sent an email to the address they gave in the article for "contact a master gardener", and mentioned the problems I'm having. Hopefully I can get some more advice.

Marj

So I heard back from a master gardener. This is the info given to me:

"Wisteria will grow here in a protected area (sheltered from high sun and cold winds), it is considered a tender perennial here in Colorado. Please see the links below for more information.

After researching the CSU website I have found the following articles which may be helpful to you.
1. http://www.colostate.edu/Depts/CoopExt/4DMG/Flowers/Vines/wisteria.htm
-- wisteria article 2. http://www.ext.colostate.edu/ptlk/1608.html
--fertilizer ingredients.

In reading articles on wisteria it appears that the soil needs a pH of 6-7. A soil test would tell you if the
soil pH around your wisteria is conducive to growth. The fertilizer ingredients for wisteria is suggested to be 0-20-0, meaning Nitrogen 0, phosphorus 20 and potassium 0.

The label on wisterias suggest at least 6 hours of sun a day and approximately 1 inch of water per week."

So I will test my soil and see what the ph is. Can't do anything really about protecting it from the sun, though - I have it right up against out front bay window on an arbor. If adjusting the ph and/or the nitrogen/phosphorus/potassium doesn't help it green up and hopefully flower by next season, I'll have to try to transplant it elsewhere and put some other sun/heat loving trellising plant in it's place.

Marj