Strongest Wisteria Fragrance - Chinese or Japanese?
floweryearth
14 years ago
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jimshy
14 years agofloweryearth
14 years agoRelated Discussions
Is this Chinese wisteria?
Comments (18)Carla - not wishing to nit-pick, but you still don't seem to be quite clear on the difference between a leaf and a branch, as NHBabs described above. What you have in the last photo is not a branch but a leaf. It is a compound leaf of the type known as 'pinnate'. Pinnate means 'like a feather' i.e. there is a central stalk and there are leaflets coming off it. But it is still just one leaf and in the Autumn the whole thing, including the central stem, will fall. If it were a branch the central stem would not not fall. This may seem a fuss over nomenclature but it is an important distinction for plant description and will really help if you need to identify anything else. Other examples of pinnate leaves are ash, walnut and tree of heaven....See MoreWisteria Questions (Companion / Colors / Containers )
Comments (1)I would go with one of the native American types of wisteria, such as macrostachya Blue Moon instead, as I've heard too many people report that the others can take years to bloom. I'm afraid I can't answer your other questions, as my Blue Moon grows in the ground and climbs a corner of the garage with no other vines nearby. It flowers freely without fertilizer, so I would avoid fertilizing it unless your soil is poor....See Morewisteria questions
Comments (4)To add to gg48's comments.... 1. The scent is strongest on mine in the morning and in the evening, but neither 'broadcast' the scent very strongly - i.e. standing close to it gives the best effect! The native wisterias have a reputation of having little scent or what is politely described as 'musk' :-) 'Blue Moon' is supposed to be the native one with the best scent. 2. the twining direction is easiest to sort out if clockwise is described as the stems twining from lower right to upper left while counterclockwise stems twine from lower left to upper right. Japanese clockwise: Chinese counterclockwise: The native wisterias are supposed to twine counterclockwise as well. From my perspective the main reason you'd want to know which type you likely have is because their slightly different flowering habits mean that the way they display best is slightly different.... The Chinese ones produce most of their flower show before the leaves fully emerge. So growing them somewhat 'shrubby' - i.e. encouraging flowering wood from top to bottom - makes for a great show. The Japanese ones, on the other hand, has vigorous foliage growth at the same time as the flowers are extending/opening. So the foliage can obscure the flowers! That is one of the reasons why they are the kind most recommended for pergolas - the top structure of the pergola would help hold back the foliage and allow for the flowers to dangle free beneath. If you look on the 'mystery' wisteria thread, you can see a picture I posted of our relatively short Japanese wisteria 'tree' before and after we pruned off some of the foliage so the flowers display better. There is also a picture there with both types in the same picture so you can see how we prune them/grow them differently based on how the flowers display. I gather the native wisterias also produce their flowers after the foliage is well along. I suspect they might also need to have some foliage pruned off to give the best flower display, especially as they are supposed to have relatively short flower racemes. 3. If you are buying a wisteria, you'd definitely want to buy a grafted one as that would give you a somewhat greater assurance that you are getting a plant that will flower in a reasonable time and be showier than is likely from a seed-grown plant. If you root a cutting yourself from a wisteria you know blooms and you like the color and scent, it should do fine - although I don't know how long it will take to mature enough to bloom for you. 4. Full sun is definitely needed....See MoreMost fragrant wisteria?
Comments (1)John, It depends on what planting zone you are in. If you are zone 8 or higher, do not plant the asian wisteria in the ground. Go for a Blue Moon, American type. If you are colder than zone 8, like zone 6, plant the asian, and enjoy the strong fragrance. They all smell wonderful. I have a tree that is Japanese, in a pot, in zone 8, and the smell is delicious. I also root prune it every year to keep in this big pot, and the roots still grow through the bottom every year. They can become very aggresive in warm zones....See Morejimshy
14 years agofloweryearth
14 years agoUser
14 years agofloweryearth
14 years agojeff_al
14 years agofloweryearth
14 years agosocalgal_gw Zone USDA 10b Sunset 24
14 years agofloweryearth
14 years ago
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