Chinese wisteria, a large-format Wisteria
Wisteria sinensis
- Exposure
- Sun
- Hardiness (USDA)
- 7b (-15°C ≤ T° < -12.2°C)
- Lifecycle
- Perennial
- Foliage
- Deciduous
- Family
- Fabaceae
- Genus
- Glycine Wisteria
- Species
- Chinese Glycine Wisteria sinensis
Other name:Kraunhia sinensis
As its name suggests, the Chinese wisteria (Wisteria sinensis) is native to China. Since the 18th century, this member of the Fabaceae family has left the mountain forests to adorn our gardens. With its spreading habit, it has no trouble adorning pergolas and trellises with its fragrant flowers.
How can you identify Chinese wisteria (Wisteria sinensis)?
Chinese wisteria is a woody shrub with twining stems that is larger than american Glycine or japanese Glycine. It grows up to ten meters tall, and its trunk can reach 50 centimeters in diameter in mature plants. The vines grow up to 30 meters long and 20 centimeters in diameter.
The foliage consists of alternate leaves 40 centimeters long. Each leaf has between seven and thirteen leaflets measuring 10 centimeters by 6 centimeters. Oval and elliptical in shape, they have entire margins and a rounded base. The fuzz that covers them early on disappears as the leaf matures. Light green during the growing season, the leaf blades turn yellow and ochre in October before falling.
But it is not for the colors of its deciduous foliage that the Chinese wisteria is cultivated. In early spring, even before the leaves appear, the shrub blooms. The flowers are borne in drooping clusters 40 centimeters long. Shaped like butterflies, they are an almost white lilac-purple. A second bloom brightens the garden in the fall.
With their brown, hairy pods containing seeds, the fruits resemble beans. This is hardly surprising, given that Chinese wisteria and beans belong to the same family!
They are particularly toxic. If ingested, they cause digestive problems and tachycardia. The rest of the Wisteria sinensis plant also poses a danger to humans and animals. Only bees, bumblebees, and other pollinators enjoy the nectar-bearing flowers and the nectar they produce.
Our care tips
It's often said that wisteria has to suffer to bloom. Translation: it needs little water and no fertilizer.
Wisteria is a deciduous plant. If its leaves turn yellow in autumn, don't panic. On the other hand, if they turn yellow in spring or summer, it's a sign that the soil is too chalky. You can then add potting soil or compost to improve soil quality.
Watering
Chinese Glycine do not tolerate limescale. Use rainwater or filtered water.
Water the base of the plant when the substrate is five centimetres dry. Then drain off any stagnant water in the saucer or planter.
Spray
Your Wisteria sinensis hates wet foliage. Don't mist the plant.
Repotting
In spring, transfer your Wisteria sinensis to a larger pot, so that it can continue to grow.
Choose a pot or tub large enough to avoid repotting throughout the life of your Chinese Glycine. The container should be at least 60 centimetres deep and the same diameter.
Your pot should be pierced to allow excess water to drain away, and made of a frost-resistant material (wood, plastic or concrete).
Place a drainage layer at the bottom, such as pebbles, clay balls or pozzolan. Top up with a mixture of ordinary potting soil and garden soil. Plant your subject in the center, fill in with substrate and tamp to expel air pockets.
To keep the soil fresh, you can mulch the surface with wood shavings, clay balls or gravel.
Prune
After flowering, remove flowering stems and spent flowers. Cut flush with a clean, sharp instrument, such as pruning shears or scissors.
Use pruning shears or a clean, sharp tool to cut back the lateral branches. Keep ten centimetres (two eyes).
Prune the previous year's branches. Keep about five buds, or 20 centimetres.
Prune branches that don't go in the desired direction by cutting flush. Shorten others by a third.
Use a clean, sharp tool to prevent disease and facilitate healing.
Use a clean, sharp tool to prevent disease and facilitate healing.
Plantation
Before planting your Chinese Glycine, plan the support on which the plant will climb. Use thick wire or wooden beams so that it can hold on without damage. Don't fix the support directly against the wall. Leave a space of about twenty centimetres to allow air to circulate.
If you wish to plant your Chinese Glycine as a tree, prepare a stake on which to attach the branches that will make up the trunk.
Soak the root ball in non-calcareous water and drain. Meanwhile, dig a 40-centimetre hole in all directions. The hole should be about 50 centimetres from the plant's support.
At the bottom of the hole, place a layer of gravel to facilitate drainage, followed by a layer of soil. Plant your plant in the middle and fill in with a mixture of garden soil and potting compost. Tamp down to eliminate air bubbles.
Dig a trough and water for the first time. Hang the branches on the support to guide them.
If you want to grow your Chinese Glycine as a tree, group the main stems around your stake. Tangle them together. Then remove all the twigs from the trunk.
Cutting
Cutting is carried out during the strong growth phase, generally in spring and early summer.
To propagate cuttings, plant the seedling in a pot with a fine potting soil, such as potting soil for cuttings and seedlings, or a substrate that you have previously sieved.
Mist and cover with an empty bottle. Aerate your mini-greenhouse for a few minutes a day and spray two or three times a day.
Mist and cover with an empty bottle. Aerate your mini-greenhouse for a few minutes a day and spray two or three times a day.
Diseases / Threats
Information
- Lifecycle
- Perennial
- Foliage
- Deciduous
- Exposure
- Sun
- Substrates
- Clay soilHumus soilSandy soil
- Planting methods
- Open groundIn potsIn tubs
- Tags
- FloweryToxic
- Origin
- East Asia
- Hardiness (USDA)
- 7b (-15°C ≤ T° < -12.2°C)
- Leaf color
- Light green
- Flower colors
- WhiteViolet
- Fruit color
- Brown
Discover plants from the same family
American Glycine
Wisteria frutescens
Japanese Glycine
Wisteria floribunda
Sensitive
Mimosa pudica
Silk tree
Albizia julibrissin
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