I'm in zone 5b (Toronto). in 2013 I bought a Wisteria Blue Moon, it was blooming and on a small trellis. That winter it died down to the ground. During 2014 it bloomed with 2 small racemes of flowers and grew back about a foot. I protected it during winter and this year there were 6 racemes, but it also just grew another foot, not climbing at all. What could be the issue?

On 9/7/2015 5:01 PM, T.Chai wrote:

I'm in zone 5b (Toronto). in 2013 I bought a Wisteria Blue Moon, it
was blooming and on a small trellis. That winter it died down to the
ground. During 2014 it bloomed with 2 small racemes of flowers and
grew back about a foot. I protected it during winter and this year
there were 6 racemes, but it also just grew another foot, not
climbing at all. What could be the issue?


Is it in the ground or in a container?

Does it get full sun? It really needs a sunny location.

Have you fed it? Wisteria does best with little or no nitrogen.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean, see
http://www.rossde.com/garden/climate.html
Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary

On 08/09/15 01:01, T.Chai wrote:
I'm in zone 5b (Toronto). in 2013 I bought a Wisteria Blue Moon, it
was blooming and on a small trellis. That winter it died down to the
ground. During 2014 it bloomed with 2 small racemes of flowers and
grew back about a foot. I protected it during winter and this year
there were 6 racemes, but it also just grew another foot, not
climbing at all. What could be the issue?

Named varieties of Wisteria are usually grafted. Occasionally the graft
fails after a few years. It may be that you are experiencing some early
signs of graft failure.

--

Jeff

It is in the ground, fertilized once with 10-20-10 and twice with weak 20-20-20. Full sun from noon to sunset. Usually the complaint for wisterias are that they grow like crazy but don't bloom, mine is the reverse, that's why I had to ask.

What would be the root stock they are grafted to? Since it died back to the ground, it is possible that the growth is no longer Blue Moon.

On 10/09/15 01:12, T.Chai wrote:
It is in the ground, fertilized once with 10-20-10 and twice with
weak 20-20-20. Full sun from noon to sunset. Usually the complaint
for wisterias are that they grow like crazy but don't bloom, mine is
the reverse, that's why I had to ask.

Wisterias require pruning in August and February to get the best result
for blooming.

What would be the root stock they are grafted to? Since it died back
to the ground, it is possible that the growth is no longer Blue
Moon.

They will probably be grafted onto Wisteria sinensis. You should be able
to tell if it is shooting from the rootstock rather than the scion by
seeing if the shoot is coming from under the graft point. If it is the
rootstock which is sending up shoots, I would expect those to be very
vigorous, and the shoots would elongate rather than flower. Do the
current flowers resemble those of Blue Moon or are they different? Also,
different species of Wisteria are said to twine clockwise or
anticlockwise.Can you check photos of Blue Moon and compare them to what
the current plant is doing? Of course, even if correct, they could both
twist the same way anyway!

--

Jeff

Back to report that this year there were 8 racemes on the Wisteria Blue Moon in the spring and 3 racemes coming out now (August). Also 2 long wispy growths this year, so maybe it was just taking its time to climb.