Wisteria Trees

About

Choosing & Growing Wisteria Trees The abundance of fragrant summer flowers hanging down in pendants, known as racemes, make Wisteria trees exceptionally popular. Some racemes have been known to grow to 1 metre in length! Choose flower colours from white and pale pink to blue and deep purple. All our Wisteria are grafted, helping them to flower considerably earlier and more reliably than other forms (grown from cuttings etc). Wisteria are woody climbing trees that can be trained along sunny walls, arches or pergolas to create wonderful twisted architectural forms from which the flowers hang down dramatically. They all require strong support in the form of a framework or wires and it is easiest to install this before planting the Wisteria. Some varieties, such as W. floribunda 'Multijuga' and W. sinensis 'Prematura', can also be trained as a tree. To do this, plant the Wisteria with a stake and encourage the leader stem straight up the stake so it becomes the trunk. The following February, remove the tip of the stem at the desired trunk height. Full sun is key for Wisteria plants to thrive and so the aforementioned sunny wall or pergola where the flowers can hang down is ideal. Wisteria are relatively easy to grow, requiring some pruning to give them the best start. Wisteria are tolerant of poor soils although they do prefer a moist, well-drained site. Wisteria has nitrogen fixing properties and should not be treated with nitrogen based fertilisers. Instead, use a phosphate or potassium based fertiliser. History of Wisteria Wisteria is native to eastern U.S, China, Korea and Japan. It has been bred in Japan and China for over 2000 years and was first introduced to the U.S in the 1830s. An easy way to distinguish between Chinese and Japanese Wisteria is by the direction of their twining vines. Chinese Wisteria (W. sinensis) twines anti-clockwise, whereas Japanese Wisteria (W. floribunda) twines clockwise. There is some controversy surrounding the origin of the name