Our Wisteria
Today I am not blogging about food. We live in the country and nobody ever gets to see our 50 foot long, 8 foot high and 6 foot wide arbor so I thought I would use my blog to share it with all of you. My husband built the arbor for me back in 1997 and I worked endlessly pruning and training the wisteria to get it to this point. The pictures below are the front and back entrance to the arbor, pink at one end and purple at the other end. I alternated a pink vine then a purple vine at every 4 x 4 post.
As beautiful as this is, it is a lot of work training and caring for these beautiful vines. I even trained pink and purple vines to become a tree in another area on our property. They turned out great but a vine is a vine no matter how big it gets. The trunks of the trees were 8-10 inches in diameter and even being that thick they needed support to stay upright. Every time the storms and wind came it blew our Wisteria Trees over. We bought huge posts and pounded them into the ground to hold our Wisteria Trees upright. We used chains and wrapped them around the poles to hold the trees in place. It became an endless battle as we have nothing but open fields around us and the wind just gets very strong out here! They were about 10 feet tall when I decided it was not worth the endless battle of trying to keep them upright, so we cut them down. The arbor has never been a problem because I trained the vines to wrap around the 4 x 4 posts as they grew to the top of the arbor. Once they climbed to the top, I left them alone. This is the first year both colors have bloomed at the same time.
Check out the size of the flowers compared to my hand! The flowers are only 1/3 of the way open in these pictures.
If you want to grow these gorgeous vines, give them time to bloom. Mine didn’t start blooming until about the 7th or 8th year. Have a lot off ambition and energy as the pruning never stops, but it does get easier. Then sit back and enjoy your masterpiece!
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So pretty!
Thank You! It was the best year since I planted them many, many years ago.
My mom loves it! She likes flowers.
They are gorgeous with a great smell!
Absolutely gorgeous Diane – the neighbor’s was not as large as yours and his props were made of redwood and you only saw the wooden parts when there were no leaves/blooms. They would drip over the sides of the fence – so beautiful. Now only the fence is there. Mr. Schrock would be so upset after all the work he put into it. Thank you for sharing this with me Diane.
WOW! Your Wisteria look amazing. Your efforts have really paid off. GREAT JOB!
Thank you it is over 25 years of work.
Stunning. Reminds me of childhood arbors at our home and my mom’s parents, too.
Thank you, once you see it in bloom you don’t forget those large, sweet smelling beautiful blooms. What a wonderful memory for you!
Stunning! We just planted one this year- now I can’t wait to see it bloom!
Be patient mine took many years but I was training it and kept pruning the leaves until they reached the top. So I’m sure that slowed it down. Good luck with yours, they are so beautiful. Thank you Jacquie!
I love wisteria, but I’ve never planted it. What a stunning arbor. I’d love to see more photos of your garden Diane, especially that glorious asparagus you’re always cooking in season. As I’m about to plant my first asparagus bed, I’d love to see photos of yours, both in season, and what it looks like in the in-between times.
Thank you so much Chris. My arbor is my pride and joy along with my small fish ponds. I’m hoping to redo the ponds this summer and will post pictures of that too. Right now my asparagus is going to seed and about 4-5 feet tall and falling over. When it dies off I will cut it off at ground level. I will try to remember to take pictures in the spring.
Beautiful!
Wisteria was the bane of my grandmothers existence.. I don’t know why she hated it so much. But it’s gorgeous when it blooms!
She probably hated it because it is so much work. She probably hated it because even if you cut it down it keeps coming back…even in the middle of the grass…lol My husband had the bright idea to plant hummingbird vines in the corners of our garden….another invasive vine and a decision he soon regretted! Both are gorgeous if you have the time to take constant care of them.
That sounds about right!
They take my breath away, Diane!
Thank you Tanja!
STUNNING! I am jealous – planted my first one about 12 years ago – it was in the wrong spot so I moved it about 4 years ago. It is doing better in its new home, but it sure is a slow-grower. Maybe it just does not like our normally hot/dry Colorado weather? Where are you living now because they sure seem to love your area?
Thank you! I’m in Ohio and mine doesn’t stop growing. I am constantly pruning the new shoots.
Gorgeous!
Thank you Janet! It is a lot of work but so rewarding.
I love it! It’s really beautiful!
Thank you! I’m glad you liked it Tanya.
SUPER NICE!!!!!!
Thank you Kathy!
So gorgeous! 7 or 8 years is a long time to wait for blooms. Patience is a virtue!!!!
It was SO worth the wait though. Thank you!!!!
Love love love!!!! THanks for alerting me to this post!
Thanks and you’re welcome! You can’t see my arbor from the road so I love being able to share the pictures on my blog.
Very kind of you.
If it could be seen from the road, it might cause an accident!
Awe you are so kind!
How Beautiful!
Thank you! 💕