Good plant #24 - Wisteria Frutescens 'Amethyst Falls'

I really like wisterias.  They are deciduous climbing perennial vines but they are almost too vigorous. This 'American' wisteria is a bit easier to keep in check (it's slower growing) than 'Chinese' ones and I think the compact flowers are equally if not more attractive.  Mind you, I have two Chinese ones in my garden, which I like too.

The key to maximising flowers is judicious pruning mid to late summer (and again in late winter for mature plants).  For the summer prune, cutback the current year's long green shoots to a few (five or six) leaf branches and remove any seed pods.  The purpose of these pruning is to encourage flower buds to form instead of more green shoots.  The second pruning for mature plants is really just a tidy.  For very young plants, I tend to only prune for training purposes not flowering.  Once I've got the shape I want, this is the time I'm a bit harsher to encourage more flowers.

This plant prefers full sun and  fertile soil.  In early spring, I recommend applying a multi-purpose liquid feeding or using a bonemeal fertilizer to encourage plenty of flowers.

The easiest way to propagate this plant is layering in spring but you may have to wait years for flowers.  In short, layering involves burying and tying down a long green shoot with slice taken out of it in the soil until it grows its own roots.  My advice is if you want more of these plants buy another maturish plant in spring.

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