Sheila, that is gorgeous! i DO want to try something similar. Perma,you say "the non-hybrid types" of wisteria. Can you elaborate? For example,I love wisteria sinensis "Prolific"; would that be a hybrid of "normal" wisteria sinensis? What are some other hybrids? I have a non-hybrid, too, dug out from the woods, where the mother plant was growing near an abandoned cabin. I just planted it out,far away from anything (LO!) and it's flowering,even though it's so small. Gosh, would I ever love to be able to grow a Prolific amongst the roses; ten feet isn't that much really. Totoro, the pot idea is brilliant. How large are the pots? I don't know if that would work for me, since I'm not sure how much maintenance would be necessary. Also, it just does not seem to me that wisteria is that thuggish in my garden. I've got one that's probably dying,probably because the soil isn't deep enough (every summer it suffers from the drought-leaves all wilt-, and in my garden plants only get watered in their first year, since I have no running water) Another refuses to grow, probably for the same reason. So this makes me think that ,in my climate, keeping one in a pot would require regular watering.

Totoro, I was looking at your photo again, and I really like how you trained your BB on the diagonal—it fills the space beautiful and creates such graceful movement on your wall!

Bart, I was referring to hybrids like ‘Blue Moon’ or ‘Amethyst Falls’ that aren’t nearly as aggressive as W. sinensis or floribunda. I’ve read that they are more prone to bloom when rootbound, and that too much rich soil and moisture favor leaves over blooms. I’ve got mine in a medium pot (18”diam) and poorish soil. It’s just a little runner I dug up from the empty lot at the end of the road, so not big enough to do anything yet. They bloom on the previous years wood, so you have to prune accordingly. I’ll have to watch it too for sneaking roots under the pot. :-)

I don’t know which type of wisteria I have. It is either Japanese (w. floribunda) or some kind of American as it does rebloom. It also has a sweet fragrance which wafts. I have the one in the rear fence in a pot that is way too small like 12” high. I don’t know what I was thinking as the pot has split and I put the pot in a very difficult to access place behind the red maple caged in by Lady of Shallot by the gate. I am a little afraid it is going to explode out of it. The one I am training as a tree is in a very large pot, like 24” high. It was the largest I could find. I also get a lot of rain here, so maybe that helps? I remember when I was espalierining the rear fence wisteria (from a 2 foot plant I got from the internet), I had to tie it down to my horizontal poles every day because the tips would grow 6“ in one day and covered the entire back fence (three branches to the left and 2 to the right) the first summer I planted it. .

Perma, BB has two main stems going in opposite directions like a V. I don’t think I planned that, just got lucky. Also next to it in the same bed to the right is Quicksilver which I am trained as a V overlapping but offset to the right. I am trying to train Colette in a V shape offset to The left of BB. The goal was to always have something blooming on that rear fence as it is very prominently in view of my home office window on the 2nd floor.

Others in the front of these 3 climbers: from Left to Right Dames d‘Chenonceau (not sure this was a good color match for this location and it is probably too shady, but I didn’t know where else to put it), Oshun, Plum Perfect, Blue Girl, Abe Darby and finally First Crush which is a tall ungainly bush so I put it behind the red maple. Also clematis Perl d’Azure. I am sure that i jammed way too many roses in this space and will probably regret it later.

My wisteria is a sinensis "Cooke's Special" aka "Cooke's Purple". It is grafted and we didn't prune yet. This year. The Lady Bank's is just starting bloom.

I bet you would love one, Bart. It reblooms too all Summer.

@Sheila- That's a great looking area! I envy the space you have, that's a big combination! And it looks beautiful.

Sheila:

What is the rootstock for your hybrid wisteria?

I don't know rifis, just know it is grafted.

it's splendid, Sheila!

I had Amethyst Falls, but didn't much like it. To me, the whole point of wisteria is the way it covers itself in flowers, and A Falls didn't do that-just some blooms amongst foliage,and I was inder the impression that all American wisteria basically are like that -simply just not as showy as the Asian varieties.. But reading what Perma wrote, now I wonder. Frankly, I think my soil tends to be poor all over,but maybe in a pot an American wisteria would flower better???

I agree that some of the American varieties can have shorter fatter blooms compared to the Asian varieties.

I do think that there is some about being in a pot which stresses the wisteria and stimulates it to flower sooner, but proper pruning is still key. Assuming that the two wisteria I have are the same variety bought at the same time from same vendor, the one in the smaller pot flowered 2 years before the one in the larger pot even though the one in the larger pot was bigger to start with.

My several Amethyst Falls bloom profusely every year. This one in the photo is trained into a tree form. The American cultivar does have tighter and darker bloom clusters compared to the Asian ones and they genetically bloom at earlier age (say average year three) while the Asian ones first bloom can occur at year ten. I value the fact it behaves very well at the location I placed it, which is much needed as it is not sending out suckers everywhere or taking over the site or pushing the koi pond out of the ground. I agree the American ones have a very different look from the Asian ones as their bloom clusters are differently shaped. It’s all personal preference. I know the Asian cultivars are more vigorous in terms of growth and can live for 900+ years.

This photo was taken 3 years ago. The “tree” has remained about the same size except that the trucks are thicker. It’s full of buds right now

WOW

zzzone7b, why haven't we seen more photos of your garden?!

While we are talking about wisteria......

Could you grow one on a brick mailbox? My wife sent me a photo she wants me to try and recreate, but I'm skeptical it would ever work- especially for me.

Haha thank you Jc, my rose garden is just a year old, I’m too embarrassed to show the 178 roses I collected - need to reach 1000 first! No just kidding!!! The truth is I have been constantly adding and changing the roses I haven’t got to a satisfactory point to take a photo :-) My gardening has been focusing on mostly evergreens since we moved into this home 9 years ago - conifers, camellias, hollies, Jap maples, Azaleas/Rhododendrons and bamboos are my favorites until the rose garden idea was discovered. I now am working on completing the freestanding rose garden and plugging in various roses into existing landscaping to coordinate with the evergreens; thus the constant adding and changing around.

Jc, in theory it can work. Does your wife want the vine wrapping or hanging above the mailbox? The challenge is as long as this vine is not dead, it keeps on growing larger. Two severe pruning a year will be ideal if you want to keep it a reasonable size. It has the ability to rip your mailbox out of the ground if neglected.

@zzzone - I also was thinking the same thing as JC, where has your garden been hiding? That tree form Wisteria is really neat. How much property do you have? Just based on the number of plants you have.

Totoro, how much does the wisteria rebloom for you? If they put on another flush sometime next month or early June, they will sync with most roses. Mine reblooms here and there in summer but only peak once in May. I read it somewhere that if you selectively prune the wisteria in June it’ll give you another flush. At least that’s what people commonly do in gardens in Great Britain.

Blonde, thank you for your compliment. The idea of training that wisteria came from a local nursery’s display garden 6 years ago. They have several of those in monster size, looked like giant purple umbrella from distance. They provided decent shade for the visitors at the time. Unfortunately the nursery together with another independent garden center in my area closed down last year. They just did not have the competitive edge (price & guarantee policies etc) towards the major chain stores.

Our home site is approx. 1.1 acre pie shape. The majority of the garden is on the south part of the house, and the rose garden is on the west side, getting some morning sun but mostly mid-day sun till 3pm as a row of 23 Arborvitaes are blocking the late afternoon sun on the west side of it. I should probably open a new thread and share my garden pics once the roses are in bloom. I apologize if I hijacked this thread or went off topic by accident. It’s never my intention to do so :D

Dont apologize zzone7b. Your garden is lovely. Cant wait to see more photos.

My rear fence wisteria does bloom again (cant say about the one in the pot yet) , but not much. Wow, I don't know if I have the skill to time the 2nd flush. I do keep pruning through the summer otherwise it shades out the roses.

I’ll ask her- the only thing I know about wisteria is that Asian varieties are more vigorous and/or invasive.

Heres what she sent me, I’ll have to ask her specifics.

That looks lovely. The asian varieties are bigger plant with longer bloom clusters. The American varieties are later bloomers. Mine just started to bloom this week while the Asian varieties in other gardens are covered with blooms.

So Claire de lune opened surprisingly early, beating out even Samaritan Jo which usually blooms first among the clematis. Buff Beauty's buds look about to open so we will see if I can get the two of them to bloom together.

Here is an example of what I think was bad planning on my part. Why I thought purple and orange looked good together I will never know. It actually looks better in the picture.

Somrtimes you just dont know how the colors look until you see them together. I sometimes keep plants in pots until they flower so I can move them easily.

Buff Beauty is blooming with Plum Perfect and Claire de Lune clematis

Oh and Alchymist always blooms with Buff Beauty too.

Sooooo pretty!

Alchemist is a Rose I always wanted to get. Does it rebloom at all for you?

I’m a huge fan of your work lol

Wow! They’re all so beautiful! Alchemist is especially so. I’ve shied away from it, because I think it would get too big, and I thought it was a once bloomed. Yours is awfully tempting, Totoro. As on official “orange hater”, I don’t mind the honeysuckle and purple combo. I know how you feel, though. Once I’ve decided I don’t like something, that’s ALL I can see! Lisa

I agree that looks fantastic as is. The rose is so healthy, it's a "palate cleanser". Like subk3 said, the eye travels along the other three colors. (Here's to hoping Buff Beauty continues to bloom later than expected!)

That looks fantastic. Claire de Lune is really beautiful, ethereal, subtle...

More Buff Beauty and Plum Perfect.

I haven't been able to get Alchymist to repeat. Hoping this fall will be the year. It only bloomed for the first time after waiting 3 years.

Alchymist (left) blending with BB

One thing that did work out with my color planning was the more faded color of the Pink Hawaiian Coral peony does match well with Alchymist

.

You have a spectacular garden! Just beautiful!! :-)

The color of First crush is not working for me in this rear bed. I only put it there behind the Japanese maple because it was too tall and awkard looking to place anywhere more prominent.

I mainly cut her blooms for fragrance in the home.

How tall did First Crush get to? Mine are own root 3 years old and stayed quite short in a full sun spot.

My first crush is 5 tall at least maybe more. But I do not prune it down because I want it to grow above that red Japanese maple.

Here is what is blooming in the lower half of that rear bed now: Plum Perfect, Buff Beauty, Colette (bottom left), Clare de lune clematis, iris versicolor 'between the lines'.

Alchymist more faded color is transitioning to the pink of Awakening (left) and faded yellow of peony blooms and Jude

Totoro, I love your garden!

Thanks everyone for the compliments. I owe a lot of the design and selection of roses and companions to everyone who shares on this forum.

Awakening has exceeded my expectations. She handles this shady spot so well. Here she is climbing onto the house. And there is more of her that extends to the right.

So here is a useful succession, as Plum Perfect blooms drop (bottom foreground) , Quicksilver takes its place. Blue Girl Blooms are in the right foreground.

Sandra Bernhardt peony opening as Moonstone peony fades to white.

All the pictures are amazing, this last one is Perfection Totoro. The attention to detail in the different textures and composition is wonderful. I love your garden.

Wow, gorgeous gardens all! Mine is a total weedy dump in comparison, lol. Oh weel, it's mine and I'm happy with it.

I quit thinking about a "dream" garden long ago. I don't have a big expanse of property to landscape. I only have my small suburban back yard to work with. I don't have the money to hire help and I've gotten too old to do it myself. I concentrate on maintenance now and not design. But I still love my roses and perennials anyway!

I really need to reposition my perennials in my wood fence Tea Garden. Some got eaten by gophers, others got grown over by the roses. Some grew too huge close to the roses. Yours looks lovely totoro.

I haven lots of weeds too. Taking photos of blooms
takes priority over weeding.

Here is blue girl opening. You guys were right, fragrance is divine.

I never appreciated how long Buff Beauty blooms. She was the first to bloom and still has new blooms opening. Outlasting Alchymist.