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Wisteria Will Fill Your Garden With Flowers

Lately I’ve been focused on climbing plants. So, this week I want to talk about wisteria. The wisteria, (Wisteria sinensis ) is a wonderful vine capable of covering any facade that you propose, adorning it without sparing resources with its huge clusters of hanging flowers.

Wisteria is a woody plant with a powerful growth, which sometimes even reaches the shape of a tree. Its possible fifteen meters in height make it suitable to cover all kinds of structures (pergolas, walls, facades …) you just have to provide a firm place to climb, and it will go up hugging it with its stems.

In addition to being vigorous, this climber is resistant and long-lived; With proper care (good light and food) it is capable of living up to one hundred years – before it withers, you will end up getting tired of it.

How Is Wisteria

Wisteria is native to China and belongs to the legume family. Its leaves are compound (they have between seven and thirteen leaflets) that it loses when autumn arrives. Reason why if you use it for shading, they will not bother when temperatures drop. I would enter the select club of those that let the sun’s rays pass during the winter (see also the case of the virgin vine).

Wisteria flowers open in early spring (even before their dense foliage emerges) saturating the environment with their perfume. You don’t want to miss its long hanging bunches then. Violet, mauve or blue (in some varieties also white) will be the protagonists of a show that you can admire well into the month of May.

Later, in summer, its fruits will ripen. You will see that these flat legumes (similar to beans), after being opened, will often remain on the plant. Something important to consider, if you have small children or pets, is its toxicity. Be careful with both the pods and their seeds, as they are dangerous in case of accidental ingestion (among other symptoms they cause abdominal pain, vomiting or dizziness).

Uses Of Wisteria

Wisteria (Wisteria sinensis), given its light needs and future size, should be grown outdoors and preferably in the ground. It enjoys rapid development and a powerful root system, so it is best to plant it directly in the ground (next to the support you want it to climb) and if possible, away from foundations, pipes or pools.

You don’t have a garden, but you do have a patio or terrace? In that case you don’t have to give it up either. To decorate your pergola with the wisteria, get four large planters and plant a specimen next to each of the posts. Guide the main stems so that they begin to surround the wood and manage to climb.

It is important not to let them branch out until they reach their goal. The upper sleepers will be the beams for your future green roof . Remove all new shoots before reaching them and then encourage the sprouting of the stems by pinching the growing guides.

Growing And Caring For Wisteria

Wisteria is a resistant and generous plant (capable of offering you a lot in exchange for little effort on your part), but as in any relationship you will have to know it a little to know what to expect.

Exposure And Temperature

Wisteria requires a lot of light. You can place it in semi-shade, it will even appreciate it in those places especially punished by the sun, but in general it will bloom more and better with sunny exposure.

This climber withstands frost so growing it far from the coast, where winters are more severe, will not be an impediment (it is feasible, therefore, the same in Madrid as in Barcelona).

Substratum

By presenting an important root system, wisteria requires deep soils, preferably with a loamy or sandy structure. Although, as it is not demanding at all, it will be enough if they are sufficiently drained. A standard mix of mulch, peat, and perlite will be just right for pot growing.

Irrigation

The issue of irrigation is what you should refine the most. Although it withstands periods of drought, the Wisteria sinensis needs as a rule frequent watering in summer, or at least enough to maintain some humidity in the substrate. You don’t like it to dry out completely, but you don’t like it to stay watery.

Plagues And Diseases

Careful…! Too much water will displace oxygen from the soil and make your wisteria roots sick. You know, it could even lead to fungi like Phytophthora.

Another common problem that wisteria usually suffers is the appearance of aphids. Something that should not take away your sleep if you know how to act. Ecological insecticides, such as potassium soap or neem oil, will be enough to solve this.

Reproduction

The best way to multiply wisteria is by cuttings (using semi-woody cuttings) or by layering. The seeds have the disadvantage of needing to be cold stratified before to germinate (at about 5ºC). In addition, the new plants would take considerably longer to grow and produce flowers than with previous techniques.

Pruning

Finally, keep in mind that wisteria always blooms on the shoots of the previous year, so improper pruning could harm it. To avoid unnecessary risks, if you do not master the subject, limit yourself to dispense with those malformed or undesirable branches. Do not do severe pruning during the winter unless you are clear about it or do not mind the decrease in flowers.

At the beginning of the summer it eliminates, that yes, the buds with the flowers already withered; In this way you will avoid the ripening of the fruit, with the inconvenience that this entails, and you will also encourage the flowering of the new year.

Wisteria (Wisteria sinensis) is an admirable flower climber but usually takes a few years at first (when young) to produce buds. After waiting a reasonable time, if it does not start to flower, you should investigate the possible causes (lack of light, excess nitrogen, incorrect pruning …). In ” 7 reasons why your plants do not bloom ” you have a detailed guide of the most frequent errors that diminish or inhibit the obtaining of flowers. Review it and you will save yourself trouble.

ABOUT

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Hi my name’s Jessica Anderson, blogger, gardener, mom and wife. Discover my world and the love and passion I have for life. Find out what I have discovered and maybe it might just help enrich your life somehow.

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