We've lived in our four year old home in the Willamette Valley of Oregon for over two years. The pergola over the driveway has a white wisteria on either side, finally beginning to meet in the center. The wistera on the WEST side of the pergola didn't seem to do well, leaf-wise, but was abundant with white flowers and now with strange seed PODs, that are still green, October. What is recommended to fertilize the WEST side to continue to produce flowers? And what can be done with the seed pods? Are they harvestable and replantable? Thanks, Marilyn, relatively new homeowner.
Hello. Here in India, Derris scandens is commonly called as "Indian Wisteria"? Are you refering to the same climber? It is very easily propagated by seeds. This giant woody climber flowers very profusely. Seeds from matures & dry seedpods are harvested & planted. They germinate very easily. See the attached photos.
Nandan - doubtful that it is Derris scandens, since that doesn't seem to be in cultivation in North America. Far, far more likely to be a white-flowered selection of either Wisteria sinensis or Wisteria floribunda. As for the problems - the sickly-appearing (fewer leaves) one may be flowering profusely because it is stressed, but it is hard to say why without knowing the differences in the cultural requirements between the two plants on either side of the pergola - more sun, different soil, underground obstruction? It can be propagated from seed, but it will take a long time to flower and it may not stay true to colour of the parent plants. Weekend Gardener's preferred method of propagating Wisteria is mentioned in this thread (air layering of mature wood to promote earlier flowering).
Marilyn, you might also want to read tese tow threads. http://www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/forums/showthread.php?t=19829 http://www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/forums/showthread.php?t=19013 Newt
Just want to say that IT is possible to tame the devil that is wisteria, but you've got to be on it like bees on clover!
In general, we do not feed our wisteria at all. In fact, they do much better in bloom production if they are kept on the "lean and mean" side (as you have noticed). Any fertilizing, particularly with high nitrogen feeds (high "N" number in the "NPK" labelling) is liable to produce a profusion of unwanted new vines and excessive foliage. Besides being a detriment to flower production, you will, unwittingly, create a monster out of your wisteria. In addition to inappropriate (a better term would be "lack of") pruning, overfeeding the wisteria is a common mistake gardeners make. If your wisteria on the west side of the arbour seems relatively "leafless" but is a better bloomer, than, that's the way you really want it to be. You should consider not fertilising the other one to get it into the same state of relative stress. The pods are conversation pieces and of interest, but there is really no mileage in germinating those and raising the plants, unless you would like to see if you could get a new plant that may look different from the one you have. It takes, on the average 10 years for a wisteria raised from seedlings to start blooming. The likelihood is that the flowers will be inferior to the ones your current plants are producing. 10 years is a long time to invest in a plant which has a low chance of rewarding you for your effort.
