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?

Good for you Bev, This gardening stuff can be very easy, sometimes.....I'll try some of my "doubles" rose of sharon bushes your way! I've just receintly read of someone on another forum, (haven't a clue which one as I "lurk" everywhere) who just plunks the cuttings in the ground and hers' take. She started doing this when a storm caused many fallen branches. After reducing their size and stripping all but a couple leaves she stuck them back into her garden and they rooted. Now she uses this as her main propigation method. Easy peasy!!! I'll put a couple in the ground too. See how both methods work. Please let us know when the neighbourhood plant exchanges are, see you in the spring. Great gardening, Justine

Pam, Plant a wisteria. Even the chinese kind, which is extremely fragrant and grows like a weed, is much better to have than a trumpet vine. If the wisteria gets out of hand, just cut it down, all the way down in the spring, it will cover your arbor or pergola in one season. (it's like a snake, freaky) If you plant the wrong kind of trumpet vine, you will always have it because it has invasive roots that travel underground like bamboo. Personally, my vote is for the wisteria. Can't beat it! I have the chinese kind, it fills the yard with tremendous fragrance and if you keep cuttine it, it will keep blooming. If you buy one this spring, make sure it is blooming when you buy it. VERY important.

I just saw this thread. I'm also in zone 4. I brought two young wisteria vines (in pots) with me when I moved here from the north SF Bay area of CA five winters ago. One is still in its pot, the other is planted in my front yard. When I checked with the local nurseries here, the best we could come up with is "iffy" on the wisteria surviving the winters. They're actually both doing fine. So far. The potted one comes inside as soon as it goes dormant, and spends the winter in my enclosed, but unheated, front porch. I give it 'some' water about once a month, depending on how cold it is and how damp the soil is. In the spring, when the weather warms up, it goes back outside on my patio, which has a roof, but is otherwise open. The one planted in the yard, I will admit, gives me a strong case of "nerves" every spring, waiting for it to...do something. It's always the last plant to show any movement in the buds. The first couple years it was very hesitant and the growth wasn't as luxious as I know it can be. This past summer though, it took off like crazy, sending out new growth every which way. For the first time since planting, I actually had to prune a little. I'm wanting this to grow the same way you mention, as a standard. Winter protection, when it was small enough, was provided by removing the bottom from a cheap plastic garbage can, putting that over the vine, and then filling it with cedar mulch. The second year, the top was higher than the upside down garbage can, so I put a five gallon bucket, upside down, over the top. There was no mulch inside the bucket. I did have some top burnback from the winter temps (which can get -30° here), but the rest of the vine was fine. Last winter, and now, the vine has gotten too tall for the garbage can method, so I went to Home Depot and got a couple 4 ft high, 12 inch diameter, Quick Tubes. These are very heavy cardboard tubes used for pouring concrete pillars. I covered the bottom of one tube, inside and out, with plastic to keep it from getting wet. Then I "bundled up" the branches of the vine to keep them from breaking, and slid the tube over the vine, filling it completely with cedar mulch. Because it tends to be top-heavy, the tube has to be staked so it won't fall over. Then I covered the top with plastic (garbage bag) and duct-taped everything down. Worked last winter, and I expect it'll work again this winter, especially as mild as it's been. The only other problem I've encountered is that the Japanese beetles LOVE to munch on it. I put a trap out each year, and employ the "two-block" method - smash the beetles between two blocks of wood. Doesn't seem to harm the wisteria at all. This summer, I'm hoping to get some Milky Spore and spread it around the yard to combat the beetle problem. Hope this helps.