Mrs. Greenhands - Wisteria

Edit - not one of my articles

This dramatic and climbing vine is multi-talented as it has long been associated with spooky mansions, as well as, used in Japanese gardens.  The Chinese and Japanese wisterias are many times grown as bonsai. Wisteria vine is one of the most popular flowering vines for the landscape and garden because of its ornate flowers; yet, in South Carolina, Wisteria sinensis grows like a weed.  This fabulous textured vine plays many leading roles in the landscape.

Photography by Joanne Taylor - American Wisteria located in the Philadelphia Suburbs

The Wisteria vine holds long, drooping clusters ofblooms that climb wallsand drape over trellises, pergolas, gazebos, and arbors. Wisteria can also be grown in mounds if trained and supported like this second photograph illustrates. There are 10 species of the woody climbing wisteria vines in the Eastern U.S.  The four common varieties of wisteria grown in our area are the Japanese wisteria, American wisteria, Chinese wisteria, and Kentucky wisteria.  

Chinese wisteria (Wisteria sinensis) - Blooms in white, violet, or blue and could take 20 years to bloom.  Chinese Wisteria is said to smell like grapes.(2)

Japanese wisteria (Wisteria floribunda) - Blooms in white, violet or blue and are the most spectacular because of its long flowers. The flowers also smell like grapes.(3)

American wisteria (Wisteria frutescens), is very similar to Kentucky wisteria, except the American wisteria only grows two-thirds as tall as its Asian cousins; and it’s the shortest of the wisteria family. It produces lavender and mauve-colored blooms that are not scented. It’s much less invasive than the Chinese and Japanese wisteria. The American wisteria can also bloom again in September.(4) The American wisteria vine is your best bet; it’s hardier in Philadelphia’s Zone 6, it’s less invasive, and it blooms faster than the others.

Kentucky wisteria (Wisteria macrostachya) grows much like the American wisteria, but it has a fragrance thats close to the lilac or hyacinth fragrance, and produces bluish-purple flowers. It can produce flowers within 2-3 years, it’s the fastest blooming of any of the other Wisteria, and it can live for one hundred years.(5)

Photography by Joanne Taylor - Chinese Wisteria located 3 miles outside of Philadelphia

Wisteria, sometimes  spelled (Wistaria),  belongs to the pea family ofFabaceae; and the blooms look very much like pea blooms.  Wisteria will only bloom after it passes from juvenile to adulthood, which could take many years. Wisteria has a hard time blooming because it hasn’t reached maturity.  While it only takes a few years for Kentucky wisteria to bloom; it takes almost twenty years for Chinese wisteria to bloom.  Any seedlings growing from the mother plant could take decades to bloom, which is why most gardeners usually grow plants that were started from root cuttings or grafted cultivars that flower easily. Wisteria can live for over 100 years. In Japan, there is a Wisteria named Ashikaga Tochigi that is 140 years old.

Wisteria grows well in moist, well-drained soil, although it will grow in almost any soil. The vine naturally produces nitrogen, so adding potassium and phosphatewill help the plant to blossom. Most Wisteria are considered shade tolerant and will thrive in partial shade, but will only flower when exposed to partial or full sun; remember, the more sun, the more blooms.

Beware; the heavy and strong vines twine their stems around anything that can support them and can wreck havoc on fences, lattice, trees, roofs, chimneys, gutters and downspouts.  Wisteria is extremely invasive, re-seeding themselves all over the landscape if left unchecked.  Also, wisteria is poisonous if ingested.  A mailman recently pleded not to plant wisteria near the mailbox, it’s his worse nightmare because of the bees it attracts. Speaking of the mailman, let’s take a walk down Wisteria Lane.