{"id":148359,"date":"2025-04-09T13:17:10","date_gmt":"2025-04-09T18:17:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/?p=148359"},"modified":"2025-04-10T10:18:36","modified_gmt":"2025-04-10T15:18:36","slug":"lafayette-county-master-gardeners-wisteria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/lafayette-county-master-gardeners-wisteria\/","title":{"rendered":"Lafayette County Master Gardeners: “Wisteria”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by Bronwynne Bailey<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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The Lafayette County Master Gardener<\/strong>s are pleased to welcome the public to their Annual Spring Lecture Series which will be held in the Dotsy A. Fitts Auditorium of the Public Library<\/strong> on 401 Bramlett Boulevard. Parking is available at the library or across the street at the Oxford Skate Park. For more information or questions follow the Master Gardeners on Instagram<\/a> or Facebook<\/a>, or visit www.lcmga.org\/<\/a> or call the MSU Extension office at 662-234-4451.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next presentation is on Thursday,<\/strong> May 1 at noon<\/strong>. The program, “How to Kill a Tree,” <\/em><\/strong>will be presented by Matt Neilson<\/strong>. Green Groves<\/strong> President and Owner, Matt Nielson,\u00a0is an ISA-certified arborist\u00a0and holds the ISA Tree Risk Assessment Qualification. Light refreshments will be served, and door prizes will be presented.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Wisteria is a climbing vine that is very hardy and extremely long-lived. Its landscape value is enhanced in the spring by the pendulous flowers it produces. (Photo by MSU Extension Service\/Gary Bachman).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Wisterias can be trained to grow in shrub form, seen here, or in tree form. (Photos by Gary Bachman)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Wisteria<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

American Wisteria is a native vine unlike the invasive Chinese (Wisteria sinensis<\/em>) and Japanese (Wisteria floribunda<\/em>) varieties. Avoid or eliminate Japanese or Chinese Wisteria, both of which are invasive plants. American Wisteria is native to a wide swath of the United States, from Pennsylvania down to Florida, and west to Texas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When selecting a wisteria for your garden, always choose native varieties like American wisteria (Wisteria frutescens<\/em>) to avoid ecological disruption and enjoy\u00a0less invasive gardening.\u00a0Wisteria can climb up tall trees and will continue to grow in the tree canopy where it can shade out smaller trees and plants below. Additionally, invasive wisteria can live for more than 50 years; wisteria\u2019s longevity only increases its ability to invade an area and choke out native plants. If you want to remove invasive wisteria species from your landscape, use evidence-based practices. The best way to eliminate wisteria from your landscape is to\u00a0cut the vines off as close the root as possible and \u201cpaint\u201d the cut stem with glyphosate (i.e. Round-up) or Garlon (i.e. Brush B Gone). This process can be repeated throughout the summer as wisteria resprouts. Wisteria can grow from seeds or roots. Be sure to properly dispose of cut vines to prevent infestation. Proper disposal of wisteria involves putting it out for curbside pickup or burning refuse. If you don\u2019t want to use herbicides you can simply cut the vine off as close to the root as possible but be aware that wisteria will continue to sprout after being cut, so you will have to cut it back every few weeks until fall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Native wisteria is a counterclockwise twining deciduous woody vine that grows to 40 feet or more. It can be trained to grow on a trellis, building, or fence. It can also be pruned into a rounded shrub structure. The native species blooms with blue-purple flowers in the early summer\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em>sometimes again in the fall. American wisteria (Wisteria frutescens<\/em>) and evergreen wisteria <\/strong>(Millettia reticulata<\/em>) <\/strong>are two lovely, non-invasive options for your home landscape. American wisteria is a larval host plant to both the silver-spotted skipper and the long-tailed skipper butterflies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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How can you tell the difference between native and foreign wisteria? Chinese and Japanese wisteria make\u00a0fuzzy<\/em>\u00a0seed pods while American Wisteria\u2019s seed pods are\u00a0smooth.<\/em> Another way to differentiate wisteria is their blooming time. Chinese and Japanese Wisteria bloom earlier than native American Wisteria. Their buds are waning this week. Native wisteria bloom in June or July. Wisteria may take two to three years to produce blooms. Bees, butterflies, and pollinators are attracted to native wisteria.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Native wisteria has a rounded and compact floral presentation. Photo: Gena Todia, Wetland Resources Environmental Consulting, Bugwood.org<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Toxicity<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Nausea, repeated vomiting, abdominal pain, and diarrhea can result from eating 1 or 2 seed pods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soil Preferences<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It is best grown in slightly acidic (pH < 6), humus-rich, soils. Be sure the soil is well drained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Planting Depth & Spacing<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

American wisteria thrives in full sun for optimal blooming (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day.)  While it can grow in partial shade (sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours), too much shade will result in reduced flowering and more leafy growth. Plant it in a spot that gets at least 6\u20138 hours of direct sunlight daily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watering<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Newly planted wisteria requires consistent moisture, with a goal of one inch of water per week. Once established, native wisteria is relatively drought-tolerant, but still needs periodic deep watering, especially during hot, dry periods when flower buds are forming in August\/September. Allowing the plant to dry out during blooming will cause bud drop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fertilizing<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

An application of fertilizer in early spring can stimulate flowering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pruning<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

While native wisteria is less aggressive than its invasive counterparts, it can still benefit from regular pruning. Any drastic pruning is best carried out in the spring, immediately after flowering.  You can also trim American Wisteria in late winter to encourage a bushier, more controlled shape. Remove any dead or diseased branches to keep the plant healthy. American Wisteria makes most of its flowers on old wood<\/strong>\u2014meaning the growth from seasons past. To promote as many flowers as possible, prune new growth and leave the older growth alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pests<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Susceptible to honey fungus, foliage-chewing insects and fungal diseases. There are several reasons that vines may fail to flower including frost damage to flower buds in winter, too much shade, plants too young (especially seed grown ones), improper pruning, or overfertilization. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Propagation<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

You can propagate through cuttings.  Softwood cuttings in late spring yield the best results for native wisteria propagation. Healthy four-to-six-inch stems and rooting hormone boost your chances of successful rooting. Insert the cuttings into the soil, ensuring that at least one node is buried to encourage growth. After planting, water the cuttings thoroughly. Cover them with a plastic bag or dome to maintain humidity. Place cuttings in indirect light. Roots typically develop within 4-6 weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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by Bronwynne Bailey The Lafayette County Master Gardeners are pleased to welcome the public to their Annual Spring<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":123476,"featured_media":148362,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27287],"tags":[24673,5863,6153,5,3],"class_list":["post-148359","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gardening","tag-bronwynne-bailey","tag-garden","tag-lafayette-county-master-gardeners","tag-mississippi","tag-the-local-voice"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/AdobeStock_wisteria-scaled.jpeg?fit=2560%2C1707&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148359","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/123476"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=148359"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148359\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":148367,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148359\/revisions\/148367"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/148362"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=148359"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=148359"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=148359"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}