Wisteria – The ‘Bridgerton Effect’

Demand for Wisteria have grown dramatically since its appearance on the TV show Bridgerton, and it’s not hard to see why. Climbing up and adorning buildings they just look magical when they are in flower, and they have been popular climbing plants for a long time.

Luckily, we now have a new selection of Wisteria at our garden centre comprising three varieties: Wisteria floribunda ‘Shiro Noda’, ‘Honbeni’ and Wisteria sinensis ‘Prolific’. If you want the classic light purple flowers then ‘Prolific’ will be the best variety. ‘Honbeni’ produces extravagant pink blooms while Shiro Noda will provide you with elegant white cascades.

All Wisteria benefit from growing in as much sun as possible, and in moist well drained soil. They will also grow in partial shade. You will need to provide support for them to climb up, such as wires or a trellis against a wall, pergolas or archways. It is possible to grow wisterias in containers but the bigger the pot, the better, and it is best pruned to keep from growing too big.

To keep your Wisteria against a wall or in a pot, you can prune up to twice a year – once in summer around July or August, and again in winter around January or February. The aim of summer pruning is to restrict the amount of vegetative growth (leaves) to encourage more flowering spurs to develop for next year. You do this by cutting back the long whippy shoots that appears after flowering, back to five or six leaves. The aim of winter pruning is simply to tidy the plant and prepare it for next year’s flowering. You do this by cutting back the same shoots to just two or three buds.

Pop in a see the different types of Wisteria we have available so you can create your own Bridgerton Effect!