I JUST PURCHASED ONE OF THESE BEAUTIES FROM MY LOCAL NURSERY. FORTUNATELY THEY HAVE A PROFESSIONAL WORKING THERE, (they have a weekly radio program on gardening & have written several books), AND I GOT QUITE AN EDUCATION. THE REALLY COOL PART IS THAT THEY HAVE BOTH TYPES GROWING NEXT TO A DRIVEWAY AROUND THE NURSERY. THE ASIAN WAS OUT OF CONTROL TO SAY THE LEAST. IT HAD TAKEN OCER TELEPHONE POLS, TREES, POWER LINES. I AM NOT SURE THERE WEREN'T A COUPLE OF PEOPLE AND PETS IN THAT MESS! THE AMETHYST FALLS AMERICAN WISTERIA WAS QUITE CONTROLABLE AND LOOKED QUITE NICE, LESS THAT ONE THIRD THE SIZE AND THE SAME AGE. THEY TOLD ME TO EXPECT IT TO BLOOM FROM LATE SPRING REPEATEDLY UNTIL FALL. IT WAS HOT( FOR HERE) ABOUT 80 DEGREES AND I FOUND NO PEE SMELL, AND AFTER THE EARLIER POSTINGS I STUCK MY FACE RIGHT IN IT. I PLANTED IT IN THE MIDDLE OF AN ARBOR ABOUT 6 FEET WIDE AND TALL. I WAS TOLD THAT WITH MINIMAL ANNUAL TRIMMING, (LATE WINTER), IT SHOULD BE QUITE HAPPY THERE FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE. AFTER THAT I DON'T REALLY CARE). I HAVE PUT BIRD FEEDERS INCLUDING HUMMING BIRD, ON AND AROUND THE ARBOR, AND SO FAR EVERYBODY SEEMS HAPPY. I WAS WARNED TO WATER IT REGULARLY TO KEEP IT MOIST, ESPECIALLY THE FIRST YEAR SO THE ROOTS BECOME WELL ESTABLISHED AND TO FEED IT WEEKLY THE FIRST YEAR THEN MONTHLY DURING THE GROWING SEASON AFTER THAT. SO FAR, SO GOOD, BUT MY NEIGHBORS CAT IS VERY INTERESTED IN IT ALL. I AM GETTING MY AIR HORN OUT FOR THAT ISSUE. ANY OTHER SUGGESTIONS OR WAS I GIVEN BAD INFORMATION?

Clematis, are you referring to 'Blue Moon' being underwhelming? My patio roof isn't so large, maybe 12 x 12, so I don't want a vine that in a few years ends up taking the patio roof down :-) I know that the Chinese wisteria do have those lovely long racimes, but they are SO aggressive here. My vet's old building they were in had some Chinese wisteria cultivar growin up the side. It covered the entire 1/2 of the building, including the roof. I'm not sure what was more breathtaking/horrifying - the incredible display of flowers when it was in bloom, or the fact that it covered the entire half of a decent-sized commercial building! Patty S.

Hi amyta! Have you found something yet? I would recommend Aunt Dee, which is also a Kentucky wisteria and has a less controversial scent than Amethyst Falls. I bought an AF in bud without knowing anything about the fragrance. Oops! I expected it to smell like Aunt Dee (sweet, with violet & hyacinth like notes). I was not delighted with the smell of AF. It does have a musky smell, but itÂs not horrible to my nose, just odd. To me is smells like spicy basil, with a musky note like boxwood (cat urine). One of my sisters loves the fragrance and buries her nose in the blooms to savor it. On the other hand, another sister exclaimed, "What is THAT SMELL?!," the first time she was within a few feet of if. Sister #2 says, "It smells JUST LIKE cat urine." So, different strokes for different folks. Regards, PoseyPlanter

It took me 3 years to train mine into a 6-foot tree form and it died this winter. :( Oh well, but back on topic ... sometimes the flowers smelled really sweet and grape-like and sometimes they smelled like cat urine. Go figure. If I remember correctly, they smelled sweeter and more pleasant when they were young and began to smell poorly as they aged. This year I'm going to try again to form a Wisteria standard, but I'm using Wisteria macrostachya 'Blue Moon'. It's supposed to be more hardy, but like Amethyst Falls it's not crazy aggressive. Also, the flower panicles are longer (about 1 foot) and it supposed to repeat bloom at least 2-3 additional times through the season. Wish me luck!