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Carol J. Michel

Award winner author of gardening humor books

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An impractical good choice of Wisteria

May 14, 2012 By Carol Michel 11 Comments

If one is going to do something  impractical like purchase a wisteria, at least purchase a native wisteria like Wisteria macrostachya, sometimes referred to as the Kentucky wisteria.

Why is it impractical?

This is a woody vine that grows up to 25 feet so it will need some support, some strong support. 

I’ve just about figured out how I’m going to provide that support.  I need a bit of lumber, some strong nails.

In fact, I’ve figured out enough about the support to convince myself to go ahead and plant the wisteria.   So I planted it.

Now I’ve just got to finish building that support before the wisteria really gets growing.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: vines

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Lisa at Greenbow says

    May 14, 2012 at 12:00 pm

    What a beauty. It is worth all the extra effort of a sturdy support.

    Reply
  2. Trainer John says

    May 14, 2012 at 12:21 pm

    Or you could try growing it as a small standard tree. Although I've never tried it (no room) I've seen a few here in the UK. You'll need a solid post for the trunk and the head will need to be kept small until the trunk has thickened enough to support the weight – but the end result can be quite spectacular – and very different.

    Reply
  3. growingagardenindavis says

    May 14, 2012 at 2:08 pm

    Wisteria is never a bad choice…as long as you pay attention and take care of it! But that is true of many plants. I think you will get many years of enjoyment from your purchase.

    Reply
  4. John says

    May 14, 2012 at 2:27 pm

    Carol, A landscape designer friend recently wrote on wisteria. I think you would find the resulting discussion and comments interesting. (http://melissaclarkphotography.wordpress.com/2012/04/21/wisteria-wild-or-wonderful/). I concluded that a native wisteria was probably worthy of consideration though I would never plant chinese wisteria again.

    Reply
  5. Dee/reddirtramblings says

    May 14, 2012 at 11:42 pm

    I dearly love this wisteria. I have its cousin, 'Amethyst Falls' too. Not only are they not as aggressive, they also bloom later and thus far, have avoided our late freezes. So pretty. ~~Dee

    Reply
  6. Fairegarden says

    May 14, 2012 at 11:47 pm

    So pretty! I like the idea of training it into a tree, too.

    Reply
  7. Lee@A Guide to Northeastern Gardening says

    May 15, 2012 at 12:34 am

    Wisteria is just beautiful. It can definitely be trained into a tree form by braiding the vines and staking it…just wrote a post about it on my blog. I trained a vine into a tree and now have magnificent fragrant blooms every spring.

    Reply
  8. africanaussie says

    May 15, 2012 at 12:49 am

    I thought I could plant a bouganvilla against my fence and it turned out to be a bad idea. Wisteria is lovely draping over a strong support (as is bouganvilla) but it needs to be very strong…. I do like the standard tree idea…

    Reply
  9. Unknown says

    May 15, 2012 at 4:52 am

    I was going to suggest growing it as a standard, too! The Cleveland Botanical garden has a few, and they were spectacular this winter. 🙂

    Reply
  10. Unknown says

    May 15, 2012 at 4:52 am

    I was going to suggest growing it as a standard, too! The Cleveland Botanical garden has a few, and they were spectacular this winter. 🙂

    Reply
  11. Gesine Seepferd says

    May 15, 2012 at 6:47 am

    Thanks for hosting GBBD!
    I like your Clematis integrifolia very much, I think I have one in my garden too! But mine does not bloom yet, Germany is a little bit colder it seems!

    Reply

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