Distinctive features of wisteria, agricultural technology for cultivation on the site, advice on reproduction, difficulties in growing wisteria, interesting facts, species. Wisteria (Glicinia) or as it is also called Wisteria (Wisteria) is included in the genus of plants of the legume family (Fabaceae), which also includes 9 more species that have a seed embryo with two oppositely placed cotyledons. All of them have a tree-like, albeit curly (liana-like) shape. Mostly they come from humid subtropical areas. The plant is so highly decorative that it is very popular with landscape designers. This attractive flora can often be found in the Chinese forests, in the provinces of Hubei and Sichuan. In our latitudes, it is possible to admire the flowers of wisteria in the South of Russia, the lands of the Northern Black Sea region and along the coast of the Crimea. In the US, the wisteria, which had been acclimatized, quickly turned wild. Naturally, you can grow it in bonsai-shaped rooms.
The blooming liana got its first name thanks to the Greek word "glikos", which means "sweet". This is most likely due to the aroma that wisteria flowers exude when blooming. The second name of the plant sounded like "Wistaria" and it was given in honor of Kaspar Wistar, who lived in 1761-1818. This pundit was a physician and was a professor of anatomy at the University of Pennsylvania, located in America. Today this name is recognized by the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature as obsolete and in the current spelling it is left as - Wisteria.
So, wisteria is a perennial deciduous liana, which has a large developed trunk and a woody form. In height, it can reach 15-18 meters, and the branches of the plant droop to the soil surface. On the shoots, unpaired leaf plates grow, which can grow up to 30 cm in length. The number of leaves varies in the front of 7-13 units. When the leaf is still young, there is pubescence on it.
From flowers, overhanging racemose inflorescences of pastel colors are collected: white, purple, pale lilac, pinkish or purple. The flowers have a delicate fragrant aroma. The flowering process occurs in the month of March, but sometimes it also happens that it blooms again in late summer or throughout the summer months, but this time not so abundantly. Chinese wisteria begins to bloom only at the age of three, but the Japanese variety will have to wait for color for as long as 10 years. The abundantly flowering wisteria variety opens its buds from May to June.
Like all plants in the legume family, wisteria, after flowering, bears fruit with beans, the length of which varies within 10-15 cm.
Recommendations for growing wisteria, care and planting
- Choosing a location for planting wisteria. If you choose a place for planting a flowering creeper, you need sunlight to hit it for at least half of the day. If you do not follow this rule, then abundant flowering will not be observed. Also, the plant should be protected in this place from wind breakthroughs.
- Soil when planting. The substrate in which the wisteria will feel comfortable must have sufficient nutritional value, be slightly alkaline and drained so that moisture does not stagnate. There should not be much nitrogen in it, this will negatively affect the subsequent flowering. When planting, the soil is fed, but in the first months after transplanting to a new place, the plant will not show signs of growth, then this process is normal, since it takes time to acclimatize on a new land. After two years, thin long branches begin to grow in the wisteria, and only then a dense woody coating will form on the trunk.
- Planting wisteria. As soon as the last frost has passed irrevocably, it will be possible to plant your flowering liana in open ground. There is information that wisteria of any variety can withstand temperatures up to -23 degrees, but still you should not risk young seedlings, as they can be frostbite. A hole is prepared with a size of 60x60x50 cm. Before that, mineral fertilizer is applied to the soil when digging the selected area. Its amount is introduced on the basis that 25-30 grams should fall on 1 square meter. drug.
- Watering wisteria. From the beginning of the growing season, which occurs in the liana with the arrival of spring, until the end of summer days, it will be necessary to conduct moderate watering of the soil under the bush. The substrate should be constantly moistened, but in no case should it be poured. If there was little rain in the spring, then the watering is increased, since the overdrying of the earthen coma can threaten to drop the buds and wait for flowering, then it is not worth it. From mid-September, the humidification gradually decreases.
- Wisteria pruning and general care. In order to stimulate subsequent flowering, as well as to form a beautiful shape of the future liana, it is necessary to regularly cut its shoots. This will also be required if a decision is made to grow wisteria as a standard tree. In this case, it is recommended to choose one strong shoot, and cut off the rest. When an ampelous (climbing) form for growth is chosen, the branches that grow on the sides should also be removed so that the plant does not spend its energy and strength on them. Then the wisteria will direct the streams of life to the formation of more buds, and not to grow foliage. To properly prune wisteria, you will need to remove all young branches that grow outward with a disinfected garden tool. This will help the "flower clusters" to be brought to the fore during flowering so that they do not hide in the foliage. It is required to shorten the one-year shoot up to 30 cm in order to form a new inflorescence on it this year. For shaping, pruning is performed in the summer, shortening the side branches-lashes by 20-40 cm and then, repeating the pruning at the end of August by another 10-20 cm. But you should not cut off the shoots too much, since you can not wait for the lush flowering of wisteria … When the flowers of the wisteria begin to wither, then the inflorescences that have grown completely pepper are recommended to be removed. If dried shoots appear, then they also need to be cleaned up. The branches constantly demand to be tied and guided. Otherwise, they will fall or grow in an unnecessary direction. Before the arrival of the winter months, the root rosette must be piled high, while the lash branches are removed from the supports and laid neatly on the trunk circle - this is somewhat reminiscent of caring for climbing roses when they are being prepared for winter. Then all branches of the vine should be sprinkled with dry foliage and covered with a special agrofibre (for example, spunbond or lutrasil), this will protect your blooming green beauty from frost in a snowless winter.
- Fertilizers for wisteria. It is necessary to ensure that the presence of nitrogen in the substrate (and in the dressing) is not too high, since in this case the plant will increase the leaf mass, but will refuse to bloom. In order for the wisteria to tie more buds, bloom beautifully and for a long time, during the period of its growth activation, it is necessary to feed it every 7 days. For this, liquid mineral preparations are used, like Kemira-Lux. Organic fertilizers work well on wisteria. As such dressings, take an infusion of mullein in a ratio of 1:20. It is also recommended to add the liana with chalk tincture (chalk water) once a season, which is prepared as follows: dilute 100 grams in a bucket of water. chalk.
Self-breeding tips for wisteria
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There are many ways to get a new blooming vine plant: cuttings, green shoots, root grafting, air layers and sowing seeds. But it must be remembered that with seed reproduction, as a rule, you can lose parental traits.
Vegetative breeding methods are the most reliable. In springtime, it is necessary to choose a shoot with an age of one year and make an incision along the oblique in the middle of its length. Further, the branch is gently bent to the prepared pot, where soil is poured from clay mixed with turf in equal parts. Then the layering should be dug in and the top of the branch should be left above the ground surface. It will be possible to separate this layer from the mother wisteria only next spring. When planting a wisteria layer, it is necessary to preheat the soil, slightly moisten it and loosen it well.
When propagating by the seed method, there is not only the likelihood of loss of varietal properties, but even grown and strengthened seedlings may never bloom, the reasons for this are unknown, but it is still worth a try. It is necessary to sow seed in late autumn or at the very beginning of winter days. They are placed in a container with a substrate of leafy and soddy soil with sand (all in equal parts). Sprinkle lightly on top with the same soil, spray and cover the container with glass or plastic wrap. The temperature during germination is 22-25 degrees, the place should be dark. After 3-4 weeks, the sprouts will hatch, and after another 1-1, 5 weeks they are transferred to a lighted place, but without direct sunlight. All this time they spend airing and spraying the soil.
When a couple of leaves appear, they perform a pick of the seedlings in separate pots, gradually accustoming them to cold air, but without the influence of a draft. Spring sowing can be carried out directly into open ground.
Difficulties in cultivating wisteria and ways to solve them
All the problems that gardeners face when caring for wisteria are provoked by mistakes in their cultivation. If the soil is alkaline, then the plant is affected by chlorosis, in which the leaf plates acquire a yellow color, but they are bright green on the veins. It will be necessary to fertilize with iron chelate or dressings containing iron salts, in extreme cases, transplant the vine.
Of the pests that annoy wisteria, aphids and clover mites are isolated. In this case, insecticidal preparations are used in the fight against aphids, and ticks do not survive when treated with an acaricidal agent. If necessary, after two weeks, you can re-treat the plant with anti-harmful insects.
Interesting facts about wisteria
There is evidence that some specimens of this flowering liana crossed the life line of 150 years. Wisteria branches grow very quickly. According to observations over 5 years of active vegetation, it can reach a height of up to 12 meters. Then her activity stops, but she then lives for a long time, especially if the mild climate is favorable.
Flowers usually have a variety of shades of purple, but varieties with yellow or whitish petals of the buds are very rare.
If we proceed from family affiliation, then wisteria is the closest relative of peas and acacia.
Types of wisteria
- Chinese wisteria (Wisteria chinensis) represents a liana, the branches of which are densely covered with leaves. Shoots reach 15–20 meters in height. The shape of the leaf plate is unpaired, large in size. When the leaf is young, it has pubescence, but over time it disappears and the surface becomes smooth. From the flowers, inflorescences of a loose racemose are collected, which reach a length of 20-30 cm. The color of the petals in the buds is light lilac. The fruit ripens in the form of a bean, measuring 15 cm in length. There is a garden form with whitish flowers (f. Alba), as well as a species with double buds (f. Plena). The flowering process occurs in the spring months, but in some cases, individual cluster inflorescences are kept on the liana throughout the summer. Naturally, the name itself reflects the native growing lands of this species - these are the territories of China. The growth rate of the variety is very high. It can withstand 20 degrees of frost, but only for a short period.
- Wisteria abundantly flowering or abundantly flowering (Wisteria floribunda) can be referred to in botanical sources as Wisteria of many flowers or as the people call it Japanese Wisteria, since its ancestry originates precisely from the islands of the Japanese archipelago. Compared to the Chinese variety, this variety has a more modest size, the shoots reach 8-10 meters in length, but the leaf plates here are larger and can grow up to 40 cm in length, and the number of leaf lobes is also more numerous, their number reaches 19 units. In the process, the plant twists its shoots clockwise. The number of inflorescences is also greater on the liana itself and they are longer than the Chinese species, when measured they can reach half a meter. However, the size of the buds themselves is smaller. Their petals are painted in a violet-blue tone, and they do not bloom all at once, but wave-like, starting from the base of the inflorescence-brush. After flowering, a rather decorative type of fruit ripens. This variety is even more cold-resistant (up to -23 degrees) and the flowering process is 2–3 weeks distant from the Chinese species. There are also varietal varieties with flowers painted in snow-white, pinkish or purple tones, as well as the bud itself is distinguished by double outlines, and variegated wisteria with leaves covered with a variegated pattern is also bred. The plant has been cultivated since the 19th century.
- Shrub wisteria (Wisteria frutescens). The natural habitat falls on the lands of North America, namely from Virginia to the territories of Florida and Texas. In Ukraine, it is cultivated in Yalta. It is a liana with shoots up to 12 meters in height. Young shoots are bare. The leaf plate is divided into 9–15 leaflets. The apex of each leaf lobe is pointed, and at the base, the surface is broadly wedge-shaped. The leaf plate is smooth on top, and on the reverse side it has a rare pubescence. Flowers are lilac or light purple, their length reaches 2 cm, they gather in a dense racemose inflorescence with a length of 4-10 cm. After flowering, fruits ripen in the form of beans with a length of 5-10 cm, they are slightly flattened, their surface is bare. This variety is the shortest and the most late flowering. The process itself falls on the period from June to August.
- Beautiful wisteria (Wisteria venusta). The homeland is the lands of Japan, the plant was brought to Europe only in the 19th century, and it got to the CIS countries only in 1936, for the most part it is cultivated in Adler and on the Black Sea coast. It is a liana-like tree with shoots reaching 10 meters in length. Leaves are complex-pinnate, with pubescence, their length is equal to 10 cm. The petals of the buds are white, reaching 2.5 cm in length. And hanging racemose inflorescences, the length of which does not exceed 20 cm, are collected from the flowers.
As a fruit, a bean ripens, whose surface is covered with pubescence and is 20 cm in length. There is a varietal variety with double flowers and purple flowers.
Features of growing and pruning wisteria in this plot:
