Chinese Wisteria 'Blue Sapphire'

Wisteria sinensis

How to grow Chinese Wisteria 'Blue Sapphire'

  • Full Sun

  • Medium

Wisteria need pruning twice each year.
Continue to tie in the selected framework shoots, concentrating on height before lateral cover to begin with. After flowering the plant will make whip growth. Cut this back to 5 buds (five leaves) in late summer.
Continue to tie in selected stems and when the plant is dormant cut remaining stems back to 2 buds

Feed with blood fish and bone in the spring as the plant starts into growth

Remove all suckers by pulling off the main stem from soil level to 30 cm.

Try to plant in a location that enjoys full sun and remember to water moderately. Keep in mind when planting that Blue Sapphire is thought of as very hardy, so this plant will typically do well in a variety of different extremes of cold temperature.

Growing Blue Sapphire from seed

Wisteria grow easily from seed but do not always come true to the parent plant, they may also take many years ( seven or eight) to flower.
Commercially, wisteria are grafted on to rootstock. The root stock being the seedling plants.
For the home gardner, wisteria are easily raised from semi ripe cuttings taken in late summer or hard wood cuttings taken in late autumn.
Wisteria can also be layered. The layered or cutting formed plants mature to flowering earlier and also do not have a graft unpin to look after, and are free from suckering rootstocks

Transplanting Blue Sapphire

Pot grown plants can be planted at any time of year but are more easily established in the autumn. If planted out when in leaf more care is required with watering. Take care to water all newly established plants during the first season

Dig a hole wider than the original pot but not much deeper are the graft union must remain above the ground surface, Loosen the pro bout roots, as breaking a few will stimulate the plant to grow more into the planting hole. Add blood fish and bone ti the backfill firm in and water well
Remove the cane that the plant was grown on at the nursery and tie the plant on to the support. Choose the leading stem and if a large structure is to be filled concentrate on growing height before the lateral cover. This may mean some laterals are sacrificed at this stage .

Check for suckers at the graft union and continue to tie in to the support

As Blue Sapphire is very hardy, ensure temperatures are mild enough to plant out - wait until after your last frost date to be on the safe side.

Harvesting Blue Sapphire

Blue Sapphire folklore & trivia

Often a second much less prolific second flowering in late summer

Other Names for Chinese Wisteria 'Blue Sapphire'

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