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Wisteria
sinensi blue or Chinese wisteria blue, is a twining,
woody vine found in moist woodland and on stream banks in
China, Korea, Japan, and central and southern USA.
It is a fast grower with stems to 25 feet or longer if
grown in the wild.
Wisterias do not conform to normal bonsai styling; they
are styled to show off their highly scented racemes of
flowers up to 30 cm long. Flowers appear in late
Spring or Summer. This deciduous vine is awesome in
springtime as it leafs out and flowers with large, drooping
racemes, grapelike clusters of purple-blue, fragrant
flowers. The flowers are followed by attractive velvety
pods 6 inches in length, containing the seeds.
The long dark
green leaves are suitable for bonsai styling as they are
made up of 7 to 13 smaller leaflets that are around 5 cm
long.
This plant is often grown with multiple trunks but it can
be trained to a single trunk as a bonsai. Chinese
Wisteria is usually very long lived and trunks can become
quite large with age. With constant pruning, Wisteria can
be trained to a small tree or bonsai-like specimen plant.
This repeated pruning also encourages dense, compact
foliage and flowering.
Hardiness zones 5-9, (-5°C/25°F, -26°C/-15°F) in
Winter. Due to the high moisture content of the roots, it
should be given some protection when temperatures drop
below -5°C. It is not fussy about soil type or moisture,
although its preference is a reasonably moist, well
drained, rich to average mix. Full sun or partial shade.
Wisteria require large quantities of water in comparison
to most other bonsai species and need heavy watering to
keep them continually moist. In periods of hot weather
during the Summer, they will happily tolerate their pots
being stood in a shallow tray of water to keep up
moisture levels. However, water trays, if used, should be
allowed to dry out daily. Water heavily before and during
flowering.
In general, Wisteria need more fertilizer than most
bonsai. However, in order to ensure good flowering,
feeding should be minimized during and immediately
following flowering. Fertilize heavily in Spring before
flowering and in late Summer and Autumn, until the leaves
drop.
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