Some of the larger clematis would work if you gave them welded wire or a trellis to climb. Clematis montana varieties bloom in spring and are lightly scented and are certainly large enough. Clematis virginiana grows wild in several places on my property and is able to get up into small trees but aren't heavy enough to do damage. If you do a search on Clematis on the Web, they have categories for 4-5 meters, 5-7 meters, and 7+ meters if you want them large enough to grow across the top, and if you are happy with ones that are shorter you will have even more choices. While many of the clematis listed aren't readily available, many of them like Paul Farges, Lambton Park, and the C. montanas are. There are also quite a number of hybrids like 'Tie Dye', 'Ernest Markham', 'Ville de Lyon', and 'Galore' that I have seen listed at many nurseries. Many of them you would have to get mail order and would plant early this fall, but that would give you time to do in any wisteria sprouts that try to regrow. Scarlet runner beans could fill in for this summer. Here is a link that might be useful: Clematis on the Web search page

I have had my "Amethyst Falls" for two years now. Mine is a rampant grower, (capable of covering an arbor in a season, but mine is in part sun, so it stretches a bit. It has been a wonderful bloomer. Though the rebloom has not been spectacular, if it was in full sun it might prove better for the flowering. I have not noticed any scent, pleasent or otherwise associated with this plant. I enjoy the spring show so much I have the vine in a prominent position right beside my front door. It is such a nice plant I don't even mind having the naked woody stems showing all winter. I have mine planted in the ground now, but will be digging it up so I can bring with me when I move, (otherwise it may cover surrounding trees if not pruned). ---Keith

Annie - first you need to be sure that what you have is a Chinese wisteria and not a Japanese one. Chinese ones bloom quite easily on new wood in summer but the Japanese ones, I gather, do not. My Japanese one is still a baby (3 years old) and has not yet bloomed in spring or any other time. The Chinese one in the picture is 9 or 10 (I keep forgetting if I planted it in 2000 or 2001...) It has produced summer blooms since the summer after it was planted. It took 5 years to do a spectacular spring bloom for the first time. Some summer bloom is natural even if you do nothing, particularly on older vines. But what I noticed is that everytime you prune back one of the whippy, curly new growths, about 10-14 days later a flower bud appears near where you cut it off. So it's not related to temperature or light or anything light that I think. The summer bloom started about 10 days ago and will continue into mid-late August. Because I want my wisteria to be a tree - big shrub really... - I cut off the new growths as they appear to control size and shape. A Chinese neighbour leaves all the growths long until the fall and then cuts them off and shapes the tree. That's the 'proper' way to do it and she has a much neater tree than mine. But mine flowers a lot more, both spring and summer. I think that's because my way forces the tree to produce a lot more new growth which, once pruned back, becomes flowering wood for this summer as well as next spring. We need to do some shaping on the wisteria - it needs a substantial pruning after the leaves fall and we can see what's what. It is so dense that the foliage acts as a sail. It was whipping around in the wind earlier this month and broke one of the metal supports. So we need to reduce it in size and install a sturdier supplemental support.

Thanks for responding Rich. It is nice to know that somebody read this thread. I really want that wisteria on the wall. Actually the trellis is set a good 8 inches off the wall (did that to improve air circulation). I've done a little more research since last time. Apparently AMETHYST FALLS is a dwarf cultivar of an already mannerly vine. It is said to mature at 15 feet. My fear is that would not climb high enough to reach the roof line and fail to completely cover the side of the house with greenery. The good news is that I've corresponded with another Gardenweb member who lives in Maryland and he said AF can reach up to the required height provided it is well cared for. As for the invasiveness he didn't see much. Just a few shoots here and there that were easily removed, which is nothing compared to the Japanese wisteria that seems to want to take over the state. As for the color both cultivars are really close. LONGWOOD PURPLE is slightly deeper and more "purple" while AMETHYST FALLS is a little lighter/bluer. In all honesty I'm probably gonna get both so I can compare fragrance and drape, two critical factors. The fragrance in particular. AMETHYST FALLS has a spicy fragrance that some folks don't like. On a previous thread one person even described it as smelling like cat pee! Yet there were others who really like it. To be honest I've smelled Amethyst Falls and the fragrance, while not offensive, wasn't as attractive as Chinese/Japanese wisteria. More fresh/herbal smelling than the floral bouquet I'm used to smelling from a wisteria. I'm hoping LONGWOOD PURPLE is sweeter and more "wisteria" like. Another factor is drape. AF is supposed to be a slight improvement in this regard looking more like "traditional" (i.e. Asian) wisteria. The specimen I saw at a garden center had flower clusters that really did drape down. No they weren't huge like with Chinese or even more so with Japanese wisteria but they did hang down, especially the immature clusters that hadn't completely opened. Hopefully next year more folks will have tried American wisteria and can continue this discussion. Now if only somebody would cross American and Japanese wisteria to create a repeat/early blooming, non-invasive mannerly hybrid vine with sweetly fragrant, long pendulous flower clusters. Yeah, that would be the perfect wisteria. Image of Chinese wisteria by Nora-in-Vancouver at Hortiplex Here is a link that might be useful: Amethyst Falls info at Duke edu