One last question. I want to grow two of these vines up a trellis against the west wall of my house all the way up to the roofline.

Now I know this would be complete insanity for Chinese and Japanese wisteria (they've been known to crack foundations and ruin water pipes), but would this be possible with the more restained American cultivars?

Thanks,

Patrick

Hello? Anybody out there?

I just planted a 'Longwood Purple' this year at the base of the pergola over my patio. I got it in late so no flowers this year. My understanding is that they are much less thuggish than the oriental wisterias. However, they will still grow very long unless pruned (one site says 30-50'). I don't think the best use would be on a trellis against a wall but on an arbor or pergola where they can run horizontally as well as vertically. Of course, that's just my opinion. :-)

Rich

Here is a link that might be useful: Wisteria 'Longwood Purple'

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

I bought Amethyst Falls 4 years ago and planted it at the base of a large tree with a 3' diameter. It took about a year to really get growing but it eventually circled the tree up to about 6 feet and was very well behaved and bloomed well. The perfect wisteria.

Then - we had to have the tree taken down. We needed to remove the threat of a large tree going through our roof but we didn't want to lose the wisteria's prop. So, we had the tree people leave a 5' stump for the vine to grow on. I had pruned the vine almost to the ground so the guys could work around the tree.

When the vine grew back it became very tenacious. There were shoots coming up everywhere and while it covered the stump immediately it also covered everything else within 20' of the tree. Cutting it back seemed to trigger some bizarre reaction. My well behaved vine became a monster. Sorry to say I shovel pruned it yesterday.

Thank you Datawgal for the detailed description of your monster wisteria. Although American wisteria is less invasive than the oriental types it definately sounds like it is too too vigorous for planting up against the wall of a house.

I'll use a tall growing clematis instead.

I have a Japanese wisteria, I have had it for 8 years and only had three blooms. Right now it has very long woody branches. It is the end of December and I want to prune it in hopes that if I cut it back it will finally bloom. Also I would like to relocate it, when is a good time to do that?

I have loved wisteria forever and even more since I saw wild and elegant displays hanging through 60-80 foot eucalyptus trees in Australia. I finally have a location that is far from pipes, waterlines, walls, roofs and power wires. This gated arbour at the side entrance to the property is 8x8'10'high on 6"poles. This spring I have purchased a Japanese variety and plan to plant it on one side of the arbour. On the other I will plant an evergreen clematis which will fill in and bloom in the second year, while I try to be patient with the wisteria. I'll keep the clematis in check and at the first sign of buds on the wisteria, I'll likely remove it completely. Patience is not my strength in the garden, but I'm willing to pay the price in time instead of dollars, for beautiful wisteria.