No trip to the Adelaide Botanic Gardens in spring would be complete without a wander through the iconic Wisteria Walk. Generations of Adelaideans and visitors alike have spent time admiring this flower filled arbor. Wisteria clad arbors, pergolas and rotundas are a magnet for happy snappers. Here’s a shot of the Syrus clan way back surrounded by a sea of fragrant wisteria blooms. One thing I’d say to anyone thinking of growing wisteria is, check how much space you have because this is one climber that really wants to go places. Wisterias are vigorous, quick-growing vines that love to grow along wires, frames, posts,… basically if it can hang on it will grow on it. So your structure needs to be sturdy to take the plants weight. It’s also important to give your wisteria enough height for it to allow its stunning curtain of colour to hang and be appreciated. Wisteria need a little winter chill to flower which is why they do so well in the Southern states. There are a two different types of wisteria the Chinese and the Japanese. The most common you’ll find in garden centres is the ‘sinenis’ or Chinese forms. Best to contact a specialist nursery for the Japanese cultivars. Wisteria are easy to grow plants, however there are some things to do to make sure you get loads of blooms and the most important thing is pruning. The time to prune wisteria is after flowering, don’t leave it too late otherwise you’ll be cutting off newly developing flowering buds. Trim back any new growth to the last 2 to 3 leaves. This is where new flowering spurs will be produced and where next year’s blooms will come from. You can grow a wisteria in a pot. Make sure it is something like a half wine barrel. Add a good strong stake and let it grow and hang and look good. If you’ve got any tips on growing wisteria or maybe some fab photo’s, share them on our Facebook page or via website. I bet you have some absolute stunners. FACEBOOK PAGE WATCH THE CLIP
