Vines - Part 1
If you're going to buy one, select it at your local nursery while it is in bloom - that way you will know it is going to bloom and is old enough to bloom. Seed grown plants can take years to bloom, if ever, and may have inferior flowers.
Wisteria frutescens (American Wisteria), introduced in 1724 and found from Virginia south to Florida and Texas, blooms on the current season's growth in summer. The flowers are also lightly fragrant, but in shorter racemes than W. floribunda. It's hardy to zone 5, but not as easily found in nurseries; it would more likely be a passalong plant if you live in its naturalized region.
Wisteria sinensis (Chinese Wisteria), is a relative new comer, having been introduced around 1916. It's similar to W. floribunda except the flower is not as fragrant (although there are very fragrant cultivars) and all the flowers in one raceme open together. There are several cultivars of this species to be had, also. It also twines counter clock-wise, where W. floribunda twines clockwise. I wonder what happens in the southern hemisphere, where I have heard vines twine the opposite way that they do in the northern hemisphere? Anybody know?
Propagation of wisteria is by seed or cuttings. Seeds germinate easily, without treatment, although if they are dry, soaking them for twenty-four hours in warm water will speed things up. You need to keep an eye out for self-sown seedlings, by the way, as well as watching for errant runners. Cuttings taken in July will root well with no treatment, but using a rooting hormone will enhance results.
Growing In Shade
Lonicera sempervirens 'Dropmore Scarlet' is one of my favorite vines. It will grow in sun, but is doing very well with only dappled sun once the trees leaf out. This Trumpet honeysuckle is not fragrant, but the flowers and foliage make up for it. It's almost evergreen for me, losing all leaves only during really hard winters. In DC, it's not only evergreen (so I hear), but flowers well into December. My vine's peak of glory is in May, along with the late Azaleas (that white at the bottom of the photo is 'Helen Curtis'), but flowers appear all summer, up to killing frost.
The flowers differ from the species in having yellow tips and a slightly duller red. Humming birds love these flowers, so if you want
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