Can you believe it?

I certainly cannot!  The Wisteria Tale continues.  I stepped out on the deck that afternoon, it was such a nice day.  Low and behold, the wisteria had decided to create such a lovely display.

Do you suppose she heard me talking about chopping her down?  Crazy how she hasn’t created the display I’ve dreamed of  – UNTIL NOW.  Kind of how my hair misbehaves – until the day before I plan to chop it all off.

I really hate to say this too loud, but my plan to cut her down to size remains unchanged.

Only perhaps I’ll wait a week or so until those blooms fall.  So that was the wisteria just 3 weeks ago.

And here she is today.

You can certainly understand why she really needs to go.  But wait – what have we here – right in the middle of the railing?  I really cannot believe this.

The wisteria lives to see another summer.  Nice try, wisteria, but I see serious trimming in the future.

Stranglehold Decision

This post is in response to the Weekly Photo Challenge, Resilient.

Here she is, my wisteria vine.  She’s a bit naked at this moment, but the absence of her abundant (read overwhelming) foliage really lets me see just how persistent and actually strangling she has become.  I’m really trying to decide if I should keep her or if I really need to just throw in the towel.

In my mind’s eye, she graces the stairway railing with flowing cascades of blossoms each spring.  Lovely lavender (I’m guessing) ponytails of fragrance dancing over the edge of the railing.

She has never, not even once, lived up to the floral expectations I so loftily placed on her.  I found her about 15 years ago, and knew it would take years before this young vine would be established enough to bloom.  After about 5 years of waiting, I decided to read up on the care of the wisteria vine.

The year after I realized that she needed to be pruned in order to bloom, she did produce what seemed to be the perfect amount of bloom buds.

I was so excited and could not wait for her to bloom that year.  It was pretty early in the season, and the baby buds perished when the weather turned frosty in April that year.  I was devastated for I simply forgot all about her as I scurried to save all the early bloomers with bedsheets that evening.  She really hasn’t produced any blooms since.

The vine is pretty overwhelming in the summer, and the vines are getting pretty hefty around the new posts of our two-year-old deck.  It’s true – I had to chop her completely to the ground the year we extended the deck.  But she came back, stronger than ever.

A truly resilient vine.

I do think she needs to go, though.  The shield of privacy she provides is simply not worth the apparent stress she is placing on the railing she is using for support.  Not only that, but she really leaves a mess along the stairwell.  And she’s minimizing the actual space we have to climb up and down the steps to the pool.

I’m thinking a lightweight clematis would most likely be a bit more fitting for this location.  I’m so sorry, Miss Wisteria, but I think this story is writing its final chapter.

Wisteria Saga Continues

My wisteria vine was doing such a fine job.  I was getting to know her so well.  After years of waiting for her to bloom, I did a little reading and realized I had never pruned her.  The year after I pruned her, she bloomed.  Just a few, but they were gorgeous!  The following year, I was ready for a banister full of blooms, until a late frost took care of all the promising buds.

I got her to climb the railing of the steps that lead from our yard to our deck.  She did well as our “privacy keeper”, as our yard is ever so close to the neighbor’s.

She has tried to provide housing for a few of my fine feathered friends – but it’s all about location, location, location.  The leaves and branches appeared to provide protection, but the nest was much too close to the steps and the eggs made a convenient snack for some lucky predator.

Last summer, we decided to finally attach the pool to the main deck with a pool deck, and having a deck on the pool is great.  Traipsing through the yard to climb up the ladder, then climb down the ladder into the pool was getting a bit daunting.

And I could never figure out how to clean the pool without actually getting in, which wasn’t such a bad thing.  Until closing time.  We usually wait until mid September (ie temps in the low 70s or upper 60s) to formally close her down.  Bit chilly in there!  Now with the new deck, I’ll be able to clean without necessarily getting wet!

I’ve never been good about “before” pictures.  However, I did find a couple of shots of the garden areas around the deck that I took back in 2009.  If you look closely, you can see the wisteria climbing up the railing in these shots.

 

Young wisteria

Climbing the rails

 

The construction of the new deck meant new footers had to be poured.  And one of those footers meant the wisteria had to be trimmed – severely.  The workers must have thought I was crazy, I was more worried about the shape they were going to leave the wisteria in than I was about the outcome of the deck project!

One nice thing about the wisteria, she’s very forgiving.  Here’s a look at her today – after all she’s been through, she’s looking pretty healthy.

 

Wisteria 2014

Beginning her climb

And I promise to get some great pictures once she blooms again!