Wisteria will definitely grow in Austin and in some cases, it can become somewhat invasive. There are two kinds of Wisteria and one is better than the other in terms of not being so invasive.--Sadly, I don't remember which is which, but I'll bet someone else here will know.

I don't know where you live in Austin, but if you are driving south on Brodie Lane past Slaughter toward 1626, there's a bunch of it planted on the west side of the road. Of course, right now it wouldn't be in bloom.

Good luck!

I have 4 plants of it here in Lampasas, and it is doing just fine. 2 are planted on oak trees that died from oak wilt or drought and we are just too cheap to pay to get more dead trees removed. It should do fine in Austin.

Look for the native, non-invasive kind. It's called American Wisteria, scientific name Wisteria frutescens. I think that's how it's spelled, anyway! It grows quickly - I bought two, a color variety called "Amethyst Falls," this past spring and they grew about four feet! Very nice plants. Just be sure they're in full sun, they don't get exposed to high-nitrogen fertilizer, and you only prune right after they bloom. (They'll still grow otherwise, but they won't bloom as well.)

I agree mommyfox, and you spelled it correctly.

Very Invasive:
Chinese & Japanese Wisteria
Wisteria sinensis / Wisteria floribunda
 Exotic wisteria vines impair and overtake native shrubs and trees through strangling or shading
 Plant a non-invasive native alternative - Texas Wisteria Wisteria frutescens

Texas Wisteria is, in my opinion, prettier than either of the exotic wisterias.

Here is a list of some more invasives.

thanks for this info. I had no idea there was an invasive kind! The link on invasive species is really great.

Sometimes wisteria is clipped and trained into a tree-like standard in the middle of a lawn - guess the mower chops off those sneaky sprouts.

Mandib, if you're interested, back in 2007 I blogged some photos of out-of-control wisteria in NW Austin.

Annie at the Transplantable Rose

Here is a link that might be useful: Wisteria Gone Wild

What fertilizer are y'all using. I'm in W Austin not far from downtown.

Mine does fine in Temple (planted by former owner) or at least it has the near 2-years we've been here. I just use Miracle Grow liquid plant fertilizer on it (and most of my garden) 2-3 times a season. These photos were taken in early March:

I went through a phase where I bought all sorts or vines and planted them in large pots. I started using the medina hasta grow plant fertilizer with the elevated P number. I think im getting better results now. Before i was just using a low numbered organic fertilizer.

My wisteria hasn't needed fertilizing but the neighbor behind cut down the ligustrums they were growing on so I've wanted to encourage them and didn't know what fertilizer to use. Suggestions? I just LOVE the stuff! And my star jasmine... which seems to have frozen back last winter and will take a while to catch up to its former glory.

Wisteria needs pretty full sun, and I think won't bloom if the soil is phosphorous deficient. It also won't bloom if the soil has too much nitrogen fertilizer. That encourages foliage, but not blooms. If you want the plant to grow fast, nitrogen fertilizer (any general purpose plant fertilizer) is the way to go, but don't expect a lot of blossoms.

Thanks so much!!

I found both types of wisteria to be rampant and invasive in Austin & Dallas. I removed two plants in Dallas and fought invading suckers from the two removed plants for 8 years.

Same here, I am in North Texas south of Denton, and it is much too aggressive for me. I am still digging roots and runners.

In the mid 90's I bought one called American/Texas. It was never aggressive/invassive like others. I suggest you look for it. https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=WIFR

The OP asked if it gets too cold in Austin for Wisteria. The answer is confidently NO. At least my Wisteria has been out there and thriving for 30 years. Probably a lot longer. Seen a lot of cold in that time.