My ONE piece of advice: *Never* buy a wisteria from a nursery unless it is sitting there in full bloom. This from a person with a runaway plant and NO blooms in nearly ten years. :-(

I bought my Wisteria from H.D. 3 yrs ago. It was a very large one $89.99. It bloomed the following Spring. I think the key is to buy one in bloom as TF said or buy a older more established one. I know Susie and Jim both have Wisterias that have bloomed for them for years :)

awesome... I think I'll keep my eye out for one to try. Do you have a photo of it?
Ashley

I have a nice big wisteria vine on the east side of my house. It grows up the V part of the entry, that slopes down about 3' above the ground. It is about 15 or 16 years old now and does wonderfully. They lose their leaves in the winter, then have a large bloom flush before the leaves come out. The smell is heavenly! Then it blooms on and off the rest of the summer. Hummingbirds adore them! Lots of people have complained about not getting theirs to bloom, so it might be good advice to buy one that is already blooming or has spent blooms on it. We cut ours back a couple times a year, they can get quite large and are a heavy vine, so make sure that you provide a good heavy duty support system. The usual trellis would not hold up under one of these puppies very long. (grin). I feed it a couple times a year and soak it every week in the summer and twice a month in the winter. Otherwise it is easy to care for.

Susie

Hmmmm, just went thru my pics and can't find one? Mine has barely grown tho :( I have a feeling that becuase when my house was built..it was apparently used as the construction dump site for cement, nails, roofing tiles that my soil is not so good. I built a HUGE Pergola in anticipation of the growth. At least it blooms tho LOL!!

Birdlady has good advice about Wisteria. My plant has been in the ground about the same length of time as her's. Was in a container for several years prior. I use the plant for summer shade over my patio, and for winter sun. They can be a little messy, but well worth it. I live in North Central Phoenix, and see a lot of huge Wisterias around here. They get deeply watered every two weeks in the summer. I agree with buying one that is blooming, or you know it has done so. They easily grow from seed, but then will take a LONG time to bloom. The grafted ones will bloom much faster, so be sure you buy it from a reputable nusery.

Everyone is talking about trellising (sp?? I know)... but my parent's twisted there's and it grew into a tree with a beautifully twisted trunk... it was gorgeous... they recently lost it to bark beetles... keep that in mind...
Brittany

Gee Garden trolip!
You must live in my neighborhood. All kinds of junk
especially glass buried in my backyard that is
continuously surfacing. But I keep dumping in the
compost and cleaning out the mess.

Gemfire

Where's the best place to plant in terms of sun, shade needs, etc?

There's no Wisteria Lane here in Phoenix ! (Desparate Housewifes) :(

Mine gets pretty much full sun :)

Mine gets full sun too. The roots are in shade.

But Chicago90, what secrets lie underneath this vine? No Wisteria Lane in Phoenix, however the plant sees all.

About eight years ago I planted a blooming one that I purchased at a local nursery. It struggles and is about the same size. It blooms in the spring, and that is it. What variety do you have that grows so well in Phoenix? My experience with buying plants in the Phoenix area for the past 35 years is that often nurseries will buy anything that looks pretty at that moment and will sell well, regardless of whether it is suited to the desert. The gardener ends up wasting a lot of money and time trying to make the plants grow. Very frustrating and expensive. I will rip out my wisteria and re-plant with one that will actually grow here if I can find out what variety to buy. thanks

Snooper...How beautiful! I bought one from Lowe's a couple of months ago and I thought it died but it started growing in the last few weeks and already has started blooming. I'm in Palm Desert, CA and have it in the shade for the most part with some morning sun hitting it.

We live just southeast of Phoenix, and have already wasted a lot of money on star jasmine plants for our trellis. The first pair of plants initially thrived and blossomed...until they were overrun with spider mites. We tried many different techniques to rid the plants of the mites but to no avail. We ordered two more star jasmine plants, this time younger plants, and purchased new large pots for them. However, we decided to hold off on re-potting them until they had a chance to grow a bit. We never got the chance to re-pot them, because, once again, a spider mite infestation killed them. We have other plants that remain untouched by spider mites. We have a beautiful wrought iron trellis that's standing empty right now, and we'd like a fragrant vine for it. We love wisteria, but it looks like it's not an option for us, since we don't want to waste money on more high-risk plants. Does anyone have any other suggestions?

Lady Banks rose might be an option. Or purple bouganvilla

It can take 10-12 years for a wisteria to bloom Depending on how it was started. Also if you give it fertilizer that will help produce lots of new vines and leaves everywhere but at the same time it can also prevent it from blooming.

Does anyone know what to do when the wisteria's leaves turn brown in the summer? I live in central Phoenix and have had two wisteria vines since spring of last year. I've been deep watering them 2-3x per week since it warmed up. The soil is well draining. It is mid-June now, and the leaves are rapidly turning brown. This happened last summer as well, and they survived, but I don't know if they can take this kind of beating year after year. They are mostly covered under shade cloth, with direct sun exposure only in the morning. Thanks!

You might not like this advice but replacing it is your best option IMHO. There are so many plants that actually like your climate and look good in phoenix why waste effort on something that doesn't want to live there? This time of year is a good time to drive around and see what really holds up to the brutal summers. You also have a great arboretum there that could be an idea resource.