Pergola Wisteria Flowering
Two Wisterias were planted to grow up and over the house patio pergolas, replacing a pair of rust-prone New Dawn roses. They were a delicate pale purple shade when in flower - but what a beautiful fragrance!
Wisteria on the Moosey House
I was a Wisteria novice, and sitting underneath in spring was even more joyous than I'd imagined. I just didn't know that the flowers were so beautifully perfumed.
Wisteria - Looking Outside
Of course the green leaves would form a great canopy for summer on the patio, and the golden autumn colours seemed to last and last. Then they were well-behaved, all seeming to fall down at once! This was convenient for the sweeper of the house patio (me).
Autumn Wisteria
The winter sun could easily reach the house through the bare twisty branches. That was every season covered.
Wisteria Close-Up
Oops. We won't talk about correct pruning. I did it when I remembered. Not really good enough?
Wisteria Worries
When the new Wisteria was in its second summer, I got into a real dither. Here's what I wrote back then:
How much should I prune it? When will it flower? Will it grow into a monster and be another of my gardening disasters? Wisteria is the type of scary plant which affects my gardening self esteem. How much should I train it? Clockwise, or anti-clockwise? Should I cut off the floppy tendrils which are appearing now towards the end of summer? Aargh! I was an intelligent gardener with more than adequate research skills, even back then in the pre-Ms Google days. I had books and magazines in which all the answers to all my Wisteria questions would undoubtedly have been answered. So why did I stare at this ever expanding plant and feel so nervous? I was most worried that it wouldn't flower. Silly.
Under the Wisteria
Maybe this was a premonition. In the spring of 2012 my worries came true - none of the Wisteria buds opened to produce flowers. I waited and waited. Eventually things looked awfully dead, and I sadly chopped both plants back to near ground level. But wouldn't you know? New shoots started appearing from both bases. I suspect the graft had let in a fungus, which killed off the climbing pieces but left the rootstock alive.
Seedpods?
By 2017 all was well again, and the Wisteria covered the pergola once more. This new version, however, had a tendency to develop hanging seedpods. It's still flowering each spring, still with that gorgeous perfume. And I still don't know when to prune it.