This cold spring was very disappointing in terms of wisteria flowers - we had a very cold May, especially a week or two before the Chinese wisteria should bloom. We only had three (!) flowers on it so most of the buds were likely killed in that cold spell. The Japanese one bloomed but not very well either. So we had hopes of a good secondary bloom on the Chinese one after cutting back the first round of whippy new growth. The Japanese one never produces a secondary bloom but the Chinese one does. We saw new flowerbuds appearing about a week ago - this morning they are starting to bloom! They are not nearly as showy as the spring bloom but we're happy to have them :-) The Japanese one just continues to put out lots of whippy new growth all summer - it needs another 'haircut' but it's too hot to work out there! Clematises have been a disappointment here this year. Some died and those that survived are all weeks behind schedule and not flowering well. There is a Piilu in the hydrangea in the first wisteria picture above - the clematis is only flowering deep in the shrub and not visible from the outside of it! There is another one just visible on the far right in the first picture above - I wanted it to grow into the wisteria but it appears to have decided to grow into the Boomerang dwarf lilac instead :-) The Huldine clematis (and others) on the iron tuteur should be in showy bloom by now. Instead, for a long time everything looked dead. There is now a bit of Huldine climbing the structure and I see a few buds. There are a few Rooguchi blooms appearing now but, so far at least, this structure is not making much of a show in the garden! One thing that was nice to see - and they always surprise me when they appear because I forget they are there... - is a couple of clumps of Brodiaea laxa bulbs. It's been brutally hot out there so we're doing little to nothing in the garden this week! Rain would be very welcome....!

The 'Japanese' tag threw me as well :-) Neither genus has any particular association with Japan! IMO, laburnums - golden chain tree - are rather nondescript out of flower and even kind of weedy looking. And very often covered in masses of very poisonous, dried, bean-like seed pods. Everyone has differing opinions on trees they like but I would never consider a single laburnum to be a "centerpiece" tree. It just doesn't have enough presence or appeal to fit that distinction. And I can't say it would enhance a planting of Japanese maples!! More of a distraction in my book 🥴

I think woodrose’s point is vailid. ANY wisteria can be a rampant grower/seeder if it is not controlled. And that = invasive for most people, regardless of what the technical definition of invasive is! We grow both a Chinese wisteria (supposed to be ’Blue’ but certainly isn’t blue…) and a Japanese one (which is also clearly not the variety it was supposed to be…) but have kept them well controlled for all the years we’ve grown them (22years in the case of the Chinese one and 15 for the Japanese one). The big problem I see is that most people do not know how/are not willing to do the work required to keep them (even a native one) in check! When we sell here eventually, the odds are high that the house would be a tear-down and the wisterias would likely be removed.

Woody, I do have a lot of warm tones in my garden, rudbeckia making up a vast swath of color, then there's the pink, red and almost black hollyhocks, a few red roses and tall salmon colored 'Windsor' phlox being is a real show off, most phlox varieties pale in comparison to its lengthy display! I have plenty of annuals as well! Had tried a perennial red hibiscus, and yes, it was bust for being very late flowering. Thank you for all the photos, it demonstrates of the plants diverse genetics. I once had read an interesting article mentioning of the several American species utilized in breeding. I'd be happy to arrange for an exchange of seed collected from your very earliest of flowering plants, then fun to see how they might respond in my northern neck of the woods! Ruth, thanks for chiming in ... okay yes, 'Pink Elephant' was one I had grown and only had gotten to see a single bloom before frost. Here, a few weeks can make a significant difference in a plant really being able to show its worth or being something marked to be hauled off to the compost!