Native wisteria vines are a beautiful blue
What's a native vine that can cover a trellis or fence with June flowers the purply-blue color of a country sky just before dawn? Wisteria, that's what.
Specifically, it's American wisteria (), which is native to the Southeastern states, including far southern Illinois. 'It's hardy to USDA Zone 5 and 6, which includes Chicago and its suburbs,' said Spencer Campbell, Plant Clinic manager at The Morton Arboretum in Lisle. It climbs a large steel trellis in the Arboretum's Grand Garden.
Gardeners may be more familiar with other species that are now considered invasive in the United States, Chinese wisteria () and Japanese wisteria (). These Asian species spread very easily to natural areas, where their vigorous growth smothers native plants.
'We should not plant those vines,' Campbell said. 'But American wisteria is just as lovely, and it's a native plant that provides nectar and pollen to native insects.'
American wisteria and the closely related Kentucky wisteria () are woody vines, with a main stem like a tree trunk, and are deciduous, meaning they lose their leaves in winter. They have glossy dark green leaves and produce large, drooping clusters of pealike, lightly fragrant flowers in late May or early June.
The flowers of both native species are blue to purple, but white-flowering cultivated varieties have been introduced.
Although American wisteria and Kentucky wisteria are less aggressive than the Asian species, they are still vigorous and can eventually grow 25 to 30 feet long if not controlled by pruning. The woody stems and branches will be heavy, so the vines need a very sturdy support.
Wisteria climbs by sending out tendrils — slender curling stems — that curl around a support, the way a clematis vine does. 'The tendrils need to find something small enough that they can reach around it, so your trellis or fence should have wires or mesh or bars that are not too wide,' Campbell said. 'Wisteria can't climb a blank wall.'
These plants need full sun for best flowering, so plant them in a spot that gets six to eight hours of sunlight a day. They prefer a moist, well-drained, slightly acidic soil, with mulch over their roots.
Wisteria will need pruning every year, both to control its size and to encourage flowering. Just after the plant finishes blooming, prune excess growth back to 6 inches. These stems will continue growing and flower buds will form on them. In winter, cut them again so that each stem has two to three flower buds left.
Planting American or Kentucky wisteria will be an investment of time and effort. 'You'll have to erect the right kind of support and you'll have to wait a few years before the vines are mature enough to flower,' Campbell said.
If you have the patience to wait, you can be surrounded by the green shade of a splendid vine with blooms of wisteria blue.
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