Non flowering wisteria
- To: C*@aol.com
- Subject: Non flowering wisteria
- From: m* l*
- Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2000 18:35:09 PST
Since you mention that these plants were in flower when purchased,
I assume they are nursery propagated cultivars (i.e. not grown from
seed), so they should be old enough to flower. Seed grown plants
seem to take forever. I'm still waiting on one I grew out of curiosity
about five or six years ago.
I assume also that they are in full sun or a reasonable approximation
thereof. It is possible to maintain wisteria in a vegetative state
in shade, but what it really wants to do is climb up into whatever
is shading it and choke it to death. It will then begin flowering
as a sort of botanical celebration of the flush of victory.
If I had to guess, the two most common causes of failure to flower
in wisteria (and in many other flowering plants as well) are:
First, too much water and an excess of fertilizer, especially nitrogenous
fertilizer. In other words, too much kindness. Once
established and grown to the approximate size desired, wisteria
should be given no additional water or fertilizer. They will
in such circumstance devote their energies to vegetative growth
rather than production of flower buds. A number of plants share
share this characteristic (e.g. some of the Narcissus).
Second, incorrect or improperly timed pruning. It is quite possible
to prune off most or all of the coming spring's flower buds if you
prune heavily and don't know what the flower buds look like. Additionally,
Wisteria floribunda seems to need drastic pruning to flower well, unlike W.
sinensis which has a reputation for flowering regardless. When I had W.
floribunda (at my last house for about
ten years) I used to prune it pretty drastically each fall and it flowered
not only in spring but in smaller intermittent flushes throughout the
summer. However, if you're customers don't know
what they're looking for (flower buds) they would be better advised
to do their pruning just after flowering and then leave the plant
alone.
At some personal risk of public embarrasment, I will here opine that
in my experience, the flowering process in many plants seems related
to environmental stress. If they are overfed, the tendency is to
continue in the vegetative growth cycle rather than initiating the
reproductive cycle which begins with flowering. I can already hear
the responses of "what about chrysanthemums?" and "I've been using
Miracle-grow for roses and watering copiously for years and I'm
buried in flowers every year." Regardless, my own feeling is that
plants such as wisteria, that have not been so extensively hybridized
and selected for cultivation under ideal conditions, are better off
"grown hard".
As a last resort, if the two above mentioned don't do the trick, you might
advise some judicious root pruning (which induces some stress)
to try to kick the plant into flowering. By then you've little to
lose and wisteria is notoriously hard to kill.
Yours most respectfully,
Michael Larmer
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