wisteria

order: fabales
family: fabaceae
genus: wisteria
species: floribunda / sinensis ??
cultivar: n/a; grown from seed


In autumn 2011 while walking through a garden that was already preparing for winter slumber, my friend collected a seedpod from a seemingly wisteria plant with bare rugged trunks twining against a pergola, and handed it to me. Back home I swiftly pressed it into the old soil in a vacant pot that was lying around in the garden. The seed was quickly forgotten.

In the following spring, my excitement about gardening grew as the ground started to thaw and the bulbs started to flower. Since I was new to gardening in the colder climate zone I was very curious about what grows in the garden. So I went around studying every little green tip that popped out from the ground and also dug out some interesting looking self-sown "weeds" to keep before the mower comes to eat away everything. While going around I discovered the forgotten pot and a sprout in it. After so many months of cold and silent death it's impossible for me to remember anything like that. But thanks to the seedpod that was still lying around it, the beautiful memory came back as a vivid walk of last autumn. After its pinnate leaves had grown to be visible I confirmed it's a wisteria. I'm yet to identify the species. At the moment, I narrowed down the possiblities to W. floribunda and W. sinensis, because these are the most commonly grown species here. I'm not very fussy about this now, as long as the plant stays healthy and beautiful.

Last year the plant grew to be just about 10 cm. I wanted to transplant it to a bigger pot with fresh soil this year but missed the season to do this completely. Nevertheless it has become fuller looking after another season of growth. The pinnate leaves grow in all direction making a nice rounded silhouette when viewed from the top. Even though it hasn't branched out, its pinnate leaf structure makes an allusion to the branches that may develop in the near future. Being able to see plants developing so quickly makes growing them from seeds very rewarding. I gave it a temporary ceramic pot for an immediate improvement in presentation. If I manage to find time to repot it properly next year, I'd definitely give it a bigger container and get rid of the old tired soil.



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