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Re: Which wisteria?

8/4/97
Dear Tony and Moira- et al
Thanks for your info about wisteria for Elizabeth.  I have a wisteria - not
exactly sure what kind since it was a gift from a neighbor of my parents -
lavender blooms about 12 in/30 cm long which smell great to me, so I'll
guess sinesis.  I would like to start a wisteria vine for my great aunt who
is moving to the area.  I have about 5 seed pods on the vine now and also
have tons of shoots coming from the base.  So- what is the best wat to
start a new plant?  Seed or shoot?  How do you "layer" to start a new
plant?  My great aunt is getting up there in years, so I should probably do
what ever will bloom fastest.    Is this an OK time of year to do a start?
(I'm in northern Calif.).

Thanks in advance for your help.
Charlotte Strem
charlotte.strem
El Cerrito Farms (aka my backyard)

At 02:09 PM 8/2/97 +1200, you wrote:
>Elizabeth Morgan wrote:
>> 
>>    We have had a bulldozer in, and removed an 80-year-old cypress hedge.
It  was beyond us to keep it trimmed because it spread so vigorously and >
threatened to engulf everything. 
>>    I felt like a murderer.  But now we have all this space and sunlight.
>    In part of the space we have built an arbour, 3 metres wide and 39 >
metres long, which I would like to cover with wisteria.
>>    Is there much difference between Wisteria florabunda and W. sinensis?
> How many of either type would it take to cover an arbour of this size?
>> Does one have a much longer blooming season than the other?  Which one has
>> flowers which are bluer (rather than more mauve)?  These are the questions
>> which I think are most important to me in choosing which wisteria to plant,
>
>Hi Elizabeth 
>My authority (Climbing Plants, Christine and John Nicholls -A Godwit NZ
>Gardening Guide). Says W florabunda will grow to 10 metres and W
>sinensis to 20 metres, which will give you something to work from when
>furnishing your trellis. I have never started one off from scratch, but
>have the impression they grow very vigorously and probably would not
>take many years to reach full size. Florabunda has the largest
>inflorescences, but sinsnsis has the best scent.
>
>There are a number of hybrids of  Sinensis, one, W x "Caroline" is
>described as highly scented and as flowering on very young plants. W x
>"Royal Purple" has very rich-coloured flowers, but not much scent. Two
>outstanding varieties of W florabunda are "longissima alba" (The best
>white) and "Macrobotys" of which the racemes on mature plants can be up
>to 1.5 metres long! I think it would be worth trying to find a
>specialist nursery and seeing what they have to offer.
>
>I notice an English correspondent saying that they take years to reach
>flowering. My NZ book does not mention this as a problem and I doubt it
>would take very long for you either. Australasia generally seems to have
>much more favourable growing conditions than Britain.
>
>The formation of flower spurs is encouraged by pruning side shoots to
>three leaves in late summer. Any subsequent growth should also be pruned
>to three buds during winter. If you do not keep the side shoots cut, you
>will end up with an awful tangle, which could get too heavy for the
>support and you will not get many flowers.
>
>Some plants I have seen, regularly produce lots of shoots around the
>base of the stem each year and  usually these are best cut off as soon
>as they are spotted developing. However, they can easily be layered if
>you want any extra plants.
>
>Moira
>
>Tony & Moira Ryan <theryans@xtra.co.nz>
>Wainuiomata, New Zealand (Lat. 41.15'S Long. 174.58'E)
>
>
>
>
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