After seeing all the stuff growing in trees around the Triangle, I
thought it might be nice to let a plant or two climb the 6x6 swing frame
we inherited from the previous owners, as it's not all that attractive.
But it's in the partial shade of a dogwood and a sweet gum, and I've
heard wisteria needs full sun. What are my chances?

MAC

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Mac, DO NOT plant wisteria. It does not care
about sun, shade, water, drought, or that you want it to stay on
a "swing frame." All it wants to grow all day every day until it
covers every tree and shrub in your yard. If you still think you
may want it, ask 3 people who have it growing in their yard if
they would plant it again. Hope that'll cure you.
Jeny

"MAC" wrote in message
...
| After seeing all the stuff growing in trees around the
Triangle, I
| thought it might be nice to let a plant or two climb the 6x6
swing frame
| we inherited from the previous owners, as it's not all that
attractive.
| But it's in the partial shade of a dogwood and a sweet gum, and
I've
| heard wisteria needs full sun. What are my chances?
|
| MAC
|

Ummm, I ADORE wisteria, but in case I ever want to sell this house, since so
many people DO hate the invasiveness of wisteria, my compromise is to grow
it in big pots (I have a big blue on one side of the carport and a smaller
white on the other side). Then if I ever move, I can take it with me, I am
very attached to mine.

Why not get two huge attractive pots and plant wisteria in them, one on each
side of the swing frame? Just never EVER let the vines touch the ground if
you don't want it to spread! (You might want to use saucers ubder the pots
to keep the roots from spreading too.)

It blooms best in full sun, but bright shade makes it happy too. It may not
bloom the first year after transplanting, so be patient. It makes nice
shade in summer. A swing frame sounds like a lovely place for it.

And BTW, I know several places where people have a single wisteria that they
have trained as a standard or tree (they simply mow around it so runners
don't get started) and there is a big old 2-story white house on Salem St in
Apex at the edge of downtown that has one of those arched old-fashioned
wooden trellis thingies with old wisteria vines on it. Truly lovely.

I used to drive around spotting the wild-growing wisteria with the best
color, as there is a lot of variation in color.

There is about an acre of wisteria on Gardner Rd off Martha's Chapel Rd (off
751) that has unusual, smaller bunches of flowers in a nice deep blue, that
would be well suited for something the size of a swing frame. Nobody lives
there, so nobody would care if you went there and dug up some well rooted
pieces. (But wear tick spray, those woods are FULL of ticks!!!)

-- laurie brooke adams (Mother Mastiff) mastiffs at mindspring dot-com
***If a DOG could choose whether to just be beautiful, or to be sound
and healthy TOO, what do YOU think the dog would choose?***
(C) 2003 My words are my own. If you want to use them, ASK ME FIRST.

Exchequer Leghorns, Welsummers, several lines of Marans, some with feather
legs
Chicks only, accepting reservations now for 2003
"Raleighgirl" wrote in message
om...
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Mac, DO NOT plant wisteria. It does not care
about sun, shade, water, drought, or that you want it to stay on
a "swing frame." All it wants to grow all day every day until it
covers every tree and shrub in your yard. If you still think you
may want it, ask 3 people who have it growing in their yard if
they would plant it again. Hope that'll cure you.
Jeny

"MAC" wrote in message
...
| After seeing all the stuff growing in trees around the
Triangle, I
| thought it might be nice to let a plant or two climb the 6x6
swing frame
| we inherited from the previous owners, as it's not all that
attractive.
| But it's in the partial shade of a dogwood and a sweet gum, and
I've
| heard wisteria needs full sun. What are my chances?
|
| MAC
|

I applaud your effort ( shame on those who don't appreciate this plant).
Though it can be invasive, it makes a spectacular show.
Here's a url for mine. http://www.irrpro.com/page8.html It's in full sun.
There was a volunteer purple plum that was growing near the wisteria and it
eventually forced me to move the plum to another location.

--
Baine

"MAC" wrote in message
...
After seeing all the stuff growing in trees around the Triangle, I
thought it might be nice to let a plant or two climb the 6x6 swing frame
we inherited from the previous owners, as it's not all that attractive.
But it's in the partial shade of a dogwood and a sweet gum, and I've
heard wisteria needs full sun. What are my chances?

MAC

Baine Carruthers wrote:

I applaud your effort ( shame on those who don't appreciate this plant).
Though it can be invasive, it makes a spectacular show.
Here's a url for mine. http://www.irrpro.com/page8.html It's in full sun.
There was a volunteer purple plum that was growing near the wisteria and it
eventually forced me to move the plum to another location.

So the secret it to plant it out in the open where you can use a
combination of mechanical and chemical attacks to keep it under
control. BTW, was that the remains of your house that's holding it up?
:-)

Thanks for all your replies. The pot idea sounds good, since it'll be
right next to a garden bed and I sure don't want it spreading in there.
Anyone know where I can get one of the blue varieties?

MAC

"MAC" wrote in message
...
After seeing all the stuff growing in trees around the Triangle, I
thought it might be nice to let a plant or two climb the 6x6 swing frame
we inherited from the previous owners, as it's not all that attractive.
But it's in the partial shade of a dogwood and a sweet gum, and I've
heard wisteria needs full sun. What are my chances?

MAC


http://www.rippingale.com/~meacham/wisfaq.html

is a FAQ about growing wisteria as a garden plant. Here in NC, most
gardeners tend to think of wisteria as an invasive, foreign weed, much like
kudzu. The kind you see growing on roadsides tends to take over a tree, use
it for support, then when the tree dies, the wisteria is now strong enough
to stand on its own. My understanding is that there are less invasive
cultivars that can be purchased for gardens. It is beautiful but dangerous
and requires a lot of pruning and maintenance to make sure it doesn't get
out of control.