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32 THE RURAL VOICE
Gardening
A test of wills
by Rhea Hamilton -Seeger
Wisteria has to be one of the most
dramatic flowering vines that we can
grow here in Ontario. The first time I
had a real look at wisteria was at
Niagara Falls when we were first
married. They were in full bloom
with thick luscious falls of mauve and
purple blossoms. We promptly came
home and planted our own wisteria on
the south side of the old barn. We
built two walls perpendicular to the
barn to act as a wind break and we
found that on the first sunny days in
March we could sit in our wind shelter
and pretend it was May or June.
Wisteria is a large woody vine with
a tnmk that will wind around itself to
look quite puzzling. It should be
planted on a sunny exposure and
because of its weight should be very
firmly supported. It will take over the
side of the building and if you are not
careful it will tear off the eavestrough-
ing. It takes up to seven years for a
wisteria to bloom but many well cared
for vines never bloom. Owners are
delighted with their growth and ferti-
lize them regularly. Ours was planted
in the chicken run so it took years to
deplete the nitrogen in the soil which
encourages leaf growth at the expense
of flowers.
The wisteria of our dreams was to
grow over the top of the windbreak
and up the side of the barn. Well,
years later, the wisteria has now
reached the peak of the barn and gone
over the top looking for other shapes
to conquer. It shares the top of the
shelter with a demanding but colourful
virginia creeper.
My husband and I get along very
well when it comes to gardening. He
cuts lawn and I don't complain too
much about how short it is and he en-
joys the flowers and veggies without
saying too much about weeds. But we
do come to loggerheads when it
comes to pruning. I can't watch when
he prunes the grapes and I definitely
stay away when he does the fruit trees.
But he was right about the wisteria.
He firmly believes that in order for a
plant to produce it needs to have extra
growth pruned away. I agree too, it is