Wisteria Sinensis (Chinese Wisteria)

A large heap of organic compost goes a long way in the quest for a beautiful garden.  However, you also need a never-ending supply of patience.  Try to growing a Wisteria and your patience will be tested.  If you buy a plant that is not grafted and you could wait 20 years for the first bloom.  Thankfully, garden centres and nurseries now stock grafted plants - but even so, you will have to wait up to 5 years before you see any significant action.

If you try growing a young wisteria you will have to get used to it sitting in the garden for a few years, doing nothing in particular yet still needing your attention.   In fact I will go as far as saying that young wisterias look quite ugly, with those straggly stems that have to be coaxed and trained.

But upon its first show of colour, a Wisteria is truly a wondrous display of pink, lilac, white or purple flowers that hang like bunches of grapes.  It is a celebration of gardening and the best plant for drama, colour, and fragrance.  It encourages garden envy like no other plant and is has earned its place as a must-have for any garden. 

Ours has flowered for the first time this week.  It can hardly be called a show stopper yet, but half a dozen flowers is a promising start and has lifted our spirits.  I found the label it came with but unfortunately neither of us can remember when it was planted!  I really must put the date on all plant labels in future.

If you are thinking about growing a Wisteria you need to consider a few things first.  Wisterias are not self-supporting and the stems need something to twine around.  They can be grown as standard trees but mostly they are grown against buildings and walls, or draped over arches, pergolas and pillars.  Remember though that the support needs to be robust.  When it takes off, wisteria can be rampant and very heavy.  Consider too, that a Wisteria needs lots of sunshine so plant it in a spot where it has space to grow and preferably in full sun for the best blooms.

I have read that the most popular variety is Wisteria sinensis, the Chinese wisteria.  It twines anti-clockwise and the fragrant mauve or lilac flowers bloom before its leaves appear.  The Japanese wisteria, W. floribunda, twines around supports in a clockwise direction and there are blossoms and leaves at the same time.  This is confusing for us because our plant label says we have a sinensis and yet we have flowers and leaves at the same time.  I wonder if our plant had the wrong label attached to it?

For many people, pruning their wisteria causes great anxiety.  However, it is not difficult to do.  Just follow a few simple rules and you won’t go far wrong.  Firstly, prune your specimen twice a year so it will be floriferous and not grow out of the space you have allocated to it. 

In July or August, cut back the whippy green shoots of the new growth, to 3-5 leaves.  This restricts the plant’s growth and stops it escaping from the garden. 

Winter pruning is best carried out in January during the dormant season.  However, if it snows, do it in February.  Cut back the same growths to 2 buds and give the plant a tidy up.  Make sure the flowers will not be covered by too many leaves and check the supports are firm. 

Persevere with a Wisteria and you will be rewarded with colour and scent that turns your garden into a paradise.  And the bonus is that you will be the talk of the neighbourhood!