A small genus of about six species of deciduous twiners; natives of SE Asia and North America.There are perhaps no more beautiful climbers when draped with their multitude of long racemes of white, pink, blue and purple pea flowers.

May and June is the usual flowering season, but later blooms are often produced.The attractive leaves are pinnate.Planting in full sun is advised, and, if the soil is chalky, some good loam should be added.They are excellent subjects for walls and pergolas or for growing into old trees.They may be trained into small standards by careful cultivation. Large vigorous specimens on walls, etc., may require an annual pruning in late winter to keep them within bounds. A second pruning to shorten the leafy shoots in August will promote flowering on mature plants.

Once established, they may take seven or eight years to flower but in the meantime are adding lots of value to your property. Any prospective purchaser of a house certainly notices a wisteria, in bloom or not. Many of our customers have taken the lead from us and grow C.viticella varieties through them to have continuous flower from May to October.

Grafted wisteria take up to four years to produce flowers. They require a lot of training from the outset to secure straight vines and to ensure there are good roots.The high prices seen at nurseries and garden centres reflect these high production costs. We find many customers demand wisteria larger than the 3 litre potted-plants typically available; firstly, to obtain quicker cover with the tropical appearance of the leaves, and, secondly, to have them flowering as early as possible. It may pay you to invest more funds into a more mature specimen. We grow and sell wisteria of various sizes all year round, from 3 litre pots on 1m canes, up to 3.5m high in 30 litre pots.