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.
What a beauty. It is worth all the extra effort of a sturdy support.
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.
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.
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.
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
So pretty! I like the idea of training it into a tree, too.
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.
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…
I was going to suggest growing it as a standard, too! The Cleveland Botanical garden has a few, and they were spectacular this winter. 🙂
I was going to suggest growing it as a standard, too! The Cleveland Botanical garden has a few, and they were spectacular this winter. 🙂
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!