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Will my wisteria ever flower?

I have a wisteria that seems very well established. It's like a tree with a trunk and those vines that want to climb. But never any flowers. I've watched and waited for 4 years.

When oh when will I get those lovely, sweet-smelling flowers?

Misty Brown asked in Trees & Shrubs about 1 year ago | Report

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2 Answers

  • Dsc_0339_small
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    Master Gardener Andrea

    Don't despair. It’s not unusual to hear about a wisteria not blooming for years. The reason you haven’t been rewarded with those glorious flowers may be that your wisteria isn’t old enough. I grew a wisteria, trained as a tree, in a container and it was years before my wisteria rewarded me with blossoms. I thought I must be doing something wrong and decided to ignore it.  Then, as if by magic and a lot of neglect, it started blooming. 

    According to “Growing Wisteria” by Carolyn Pauw Barden, W.S.U. King County Master Gardener: Wisterias with lots of leaves but few blooms are a common complaint--and why have it if it won't perform? The problem can be that the plant was raised from seed--no flowers there for many, many years--so always get a vegetatively propagated plant. Either own-root cuttings or grafted plants will work. A second reason for scant bloom is too little sun. Like most Northwest gardeners, I have a lot of shade so I must prune back competing trees to open up that part of the garden and let the sunshine in. Wisteria wants sun and more sun. Don’t over-fertilize. Too much nitrogen (or even too much balanced fertilizer) can give you lots of leaves with no flowers. For more care information read Carolyn’s informative article: http://gardening.wsu.edu/column/02-02-03.htm

     I hope one of these reasons makes sense and is helpful.  If you have any additional questions, please let me know and I'll do my best to help.  -Andrea

    Master Gardener Andrea answered in Trees & Shrubs about 1 year ago | Report
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  • P3110351_small
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    Do you have enough bees? When I had wisteria, it only flowered when we had plenty of spring-time bees.
    (not an expert answer for sure, just my experience)

    beth yockey jones answered in Trees & Shrubs about 1 year ago | Report
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