PlantFiles: American Wisteria
Wisteria frutescens

Too many of the comments here are general to Wisteria, for the oriental species, not for American Wisteria, Wisteria frutescens. If you bought just a Wisteria, or see one somewhere, it is not this species. You have to try especially to have this one. In fourty years of landscape and gardening, I have seen exactly one, wild as a native beside a stream in NC. The horticultural ones, I have been fighting as rampant invasives for the same length of time. The comments about the bad/non-fragrance of the native and later blooming time were especially interesting to me, thank you.

We planted a wisteria to climb over an arch...which it did -- beautifully! We had to temporarily remove the arch and pot the wisteria...I can't wait to 're-ground' it and be able to see the gorgeous blossoms again. My cousin had planted some in Shafter, California -- but they never bloomed for some reason. We have lots of wisteria plants here in the Ojai Valley.

(Raleigh, NC) I planted American wisteria last year in my front yard with the intention of training it to a weeping form, and so far it seems to be complying. The vines arch gracefully with lots of leaves and a few clusters of pretty purple flowers. I personally dislike the smell of the flowers- to me they smell like cat urine! I was afraid that it wouldn't bloom this year because we had some spring snow in April that killed off some new growth, but it has come back lusciously. Also, I have it in a spot in my garden with poor soil but it's doing quite well. I'm pretty impressed with my plant, though I think the Chinese wisteria is more aesthetically pleasing (and smells much better in bloom!).

Ways to differientiate between Japanese wisteria, Chinese sisteria and American wisteria:

The Japanese wisteria (Wisteria floribunda) has large 12 to 18-inch clusters of flowers. The bloom cluster is elongated. It usually flowers as the leaves are developing. Its leaves have 13-19 leaflets and the vine twines clockwise around its supporting structures. The plant twines clockwise around its hosts. Its hairy, brown, narrow at the base seedpods are 10 to15 cm in length. They are constricted between the seeds.

The Chinese wisteria (Wisteria sinensis) flowers before the vine begins to leaf-out. Flowers are a bit smaller than those of the Japanese wisteria, ranging from 9 to 12 inches in length. This type tends to bloom at an earlier age and most blooms are open at the same time. The ones here in San Antonio have completed their blooming cycle. Its leaves 7-13 leaflets and the vine twines counter-clockwise around its supporting structures.

Wisteria frutescens is a native wisteria. It can be distinguished from W. floribunda in that it produces flowers from late May or early June. Its leaves are 10 to 30 cm long and have 9 to15 oblong leaflets that are each 2 to 6 cm long. Its about 6 inch long bloom racemes are not scented as are the other 2 types. It has brown seedpods that are 5 to 10 cm long and they are hairless.

In my opinion, the American Wisteria is much better
behaved than the Chinese.

There is a gorgeous American Wisteria in the next
town which seems to almost maintain itself. The folks
who own the Wisteria shared seeds with me one year,
a rare treat considering it rarely blooms due to the lack
of pruning it gets.

A nice tree form with drooping branches. Beautiful!

I bought this plant and planted it by a fence in my side yard. Everyday it seems to grow inches at a time! This area, Lake City has them everywhere, and they are just the most wonderful display of blue flowers. Can't wait for mine to get big enough to flower!

I have the cultivar 'Amethyst Falls'. I obtained it as a small plant, but it appears to be less aggressive than other Wisteria spp. It survived the winter in icky heavy clay.

We have an overgrown "old" Wisteria we inherited with our old place. I appreciated some of the comments here. Ours seems to grow only one direction, which is what our sellers told us as well. Anyone heard of that??

I am hoping ours is not beyond redemption, cuz we love the flowers scent. I really hope to get it controlled around the archway so it doesn't look so much like an unruly teenager!

I don't really know what type it is, but we have seen flowers more than once after pruning its abundant growth back.

This is the Native American Wisteria, which is much less commonly used in gardens in the US than Chinese and Japanese Wisteria. It blooms in late spring, early summer after leafing out, and will sometimes bloom sporadically throughout the summer. This is unlike W. floribunda and W. sinensis, which only bloom before leafing out in the spring. It is also less agressive than either two.

Hello all,
I collected some wisteria seeds from Central Park, NYC. I have successfully sprouted a few in a cup of water, and I wonder if anyone knows of any special care I need to provide them. Put them right in the soil? Peat pot? I noticed that the ones I collected last autumn wouldn't sprout but the ones I collected in February did much better. Any help would be appreciated very much! Thanx!
Kevin

I recently bought a wisteria with four plants in one pot. I was told I could train it into a tree. I also have two seperately growing but would like to have more as they are so beautiful. The main trunk on both is about eight inches high but the vines are several feet long.

Wisteria is a very strong grower when established. Mature vines benefit from twice yearly pruning, in August and February, when you should cut back side shoots to a few flower buds.

In Washington DC (U.S.) huge vines can be seen gracing the front of the Smithsonian Buildings along Constitution Ave. Visitors to the Dumbarton Oaks in the springtime can see many mature vines in bloom; they have Chinese Wisteria (W. sinensis) Japanese Wisteria (W. floribunda) and several species and varieties.

Wisteria is a beautiful plant but it needs a good bit of training to manage it. In tropic/suptropic areas, it is often trained into tree form because it is easier to manage. It grows at a similar rate to Kudzu in these areas! Do not fertilize, or it will grow more foliage and fewer bloom. The scent of the blooms is as intoxicating as Gardenia, making it worth the effort to grow.

I have found the best way to get new plants is to take the runners and either bury a portion or place them in a pot. after about a month they will root and you can cut the feeder. This month I have 8 potted plants.