On 9/8/05 17:38, in article , "Kay"
wrote:

In article , Sacha
writes
On 9/8/05 12:18, in article , "Kay"
wrote:

Ours is flowering happily on a pergola in Yorkshire, in a shaded garden.
Latest frost can be up to first week of June, but the wisteria doesn't
flower till after that. Maybe it can cope better with consistent late
frosts, rather than late frosts which happen some years and not others?

I've had no experience of growing Wisteria any further north than
Devonshire, Kay. ;-) Going by what you say, it appears that the flower
buds don't get 'knocked back' by late frosts if they're not severe
('because' they're not severe?)

Good question! How severe are our May/June frosts compared with your
March/April ones?

Dunno. What minus do yours get to?

I think flowering period comes into it too - our summer is later than
yours, and what I was getting at is that if late frosts are a consistent
feature, then the plant will come into growth and flower later, whereas
if you have an earlier, warmer spring and the occasional frost, then the
plant will time itself according to the warmer norm and get knocked back
by the occasional late frost.

Similarly, the wild flower season in Scotland is later and more
compressed, and flowers high up in the yorkshire dales come into flower
later than in the valleys.

I know that most Wisterias are frost hardy
but do recall that an old one I had on the house wall in Jersey performed
very poorly after one particularly hard (for Jersey) few days of frost. I
suppose it's possible that Jersey plants 'go soft' because of a false sense
of security!

That's the reverse of what I was describing above.

Yes.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)