Shiro Noda Wisteria

[Beng]

Thought i'd share a iphone pic of my wisteria the variety is Shiro Noda which just started blooming this past week. Even if wisteria only looks amazing for one month out of the year the show is definitely worth it!

It was grown by a friend in the Arlington area who grew it in the ground for bonsai for many years. Gave it it's first bonsai styling and bonsai pot this year. Part of the trunk is dead which I really like, i'm hoping it rots nicely all the way to the root line, nature can carve better then me.

Previously it was in a nursery can. Although it looks like i've potted it high, I actually just buried the nebari since I changed the planting angle and want to make sure it establishes itself for a year before exposing it. The trunk is about 8 inches thick and the Nebari is over 14 inches wide. It takes 2 people to lift.

In the pale Moonlight
The wisteria's scent
Comes from far away

Buson

Winter

View attachment 35602

Spring

View attachment 35603

Ben

 

[Martin Sweeney]

Ben,

I am jealous! I have 4 wisteria, no blooms this year once again. 2 are just the regular old purple invasive vine that grows all over the place in my neighborhood and 2 are supposed to be white with a blue eye, although I cannot prove it. I like to tell myself that too much shade in my yard is the reason.

Regards,
Martin

 

[Beng]

Ben,

I am jealous! I have 4 wisteria, no blooms this year once again. 2 are just the regular old purple invasive vine that grows all over the place in my neighborhood and 2 are supposed to be white with a blue eye, although I cannot prove it. I like to tell myself that too much shade in my yard is the reason.

Regards,
Martin

I've only owned it for a short time, but even the same year as a repot it went nuts with flowers. It's placed in full sun, gets direct sun from around 8-12:30 or so and then again from 2-7. I do have a younger wisteria in the shade and it hasn't flowered yet. I thought the one that hadn't flowered was because it was young but you're probably right it's due to being in the shade.

 

[JudyB]

That's beautiful.... Must look amazing at night with moonshine on it.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Beautiful Beng, love the white flowering varieties.

FWIW, Martin, I've had better luck getting wisteria to bloom when tightly confined in a pot, with terrible soil (like play sand and pine bark), pot-bound, drowning the roots all summer the year before. Like ume and azalea, they set flower buds this fall for next spring. I had one in a pot that bloomed every year. I stuck it in the ground a few years ago, and it hasn't bloomed since!

 

[Joshua]

Beautiful tree.

 

[Martin Sweeney]

Brian,

I had the mother supposedly white with blue wisteria in the same pot for about three years with nothing. I tried water in the summer, hard pruning in late winter, not pruning much at all, fertilizing heavy with phosphorous, not fertilizing much at all, etc, etc. The only thing I can think of is not enough sun. I appreciate all the suggestions. I will need to re-evaluate and see if I can figure out something that works.

Regards,
Martin

 

[Beng]

Brian,

I had the mother supposedly white with blue wisteria in the same pot for about three years with nothing. I tried water in the summer, hard pruning in late winter, not pruning much at all, fertilizing heavy with phosphorous, not fertilizing much at all, etc, etc. The only thing I can think of is not enough sun. I appreciate all the suggestions. I will need to re-evaluate and see if I can figure out something that works.

Regards,
Martin

This tree is in a very free draining mix 1.5 parts Akadama, 1 part lava, 1 part pumice, a bit of activated charcoal. The pot it was in before it had grown to all the edges on. I'm feeding it a balanced fertilizer right now 5-5-5 but plan to boost the P levels with Bat Quano now that it's flowering for the rest of the season and reduce the nitrogen. I pruned the roots hard but no where near a bare root. I removed all the old garden dirt, or as much as I could. It was a workout to repot, even with the garden dirt off all the roots it must way 80 pounds. I guess the test will be if it flowers next year, or if it needs to fill the new pot with roots before it flowers again.

I was told to let the shoots extend till mid june till they get darker in color. Then cut them back to 2 leaves across the entire tree. Don't trim back beyond those 2 leaves for the rest of the season but trim whenever you like as long as you leave those 2 leaves. And to make sure it is placed in a spot that gets sun for the majority of the day. To me it doesn't seem like the flower buds are formed the year before because wisteria buds are small to start out like a normal bud. They expand drastically before the leaves and flowers come out though. Perhaps it just needs old wood to flower on?

 

[Nybonsai12]

Driving today with my wife we passed a house that had one of these in the yard and I commented on how gorgeous they were and how they can look amazing as bonsai. Showed her your pic and it proved my statement correct. Thanks for sharing and good luck with your move.

 

[coh]

It's beautiful, thanks for posting. I don't have any wisteria bonsai so I don't have any tips to offer. Maybe someday! But not this large, I need to be able to handle it myself. My back isn't getting any younger...

Chris

 

[fore]

I have a Wisteria I got from Bill V. last yr. It's just starting to bloom, very late here due to ext. cold weather. When I got it, here's the recommendations from Bill:

Wisteria can take drastic root pruning well, but I would not disturb it until the trunk is shaped. If the soil drains, leave it alone. And, in summer, place the pot in a shallow container of water, they get thirsty.

Let the wisteria grow untrimmed until the trunk is the right diameter for your intended bonsai size. Then you can drastically prune it for shape and pot in an overly large bonsai container.