The wisteria that covers our back pergola has always struggled. Like some other gardeners have written, wisteria is a finicky beast that blooms only when it really wants to and only under the perfect circumstances, which can vary from plant to plant and variety to variety.
Our wisteria has only bloomed twice in the past 15 years, if memory serves and never prolifically at that. It throws off lots of leaves but no flower pikes. Even worse, when we built the new pergola a few years ago, we had to cut it back hard in order to tear down the old structure that was there.
Link: Constructing the new pergola – February 2006
With all of that history, though, I am optimistic for the next couple of years. We recently removed a pine tree that heavily shaded the entire pergola. Now that this has been removed I am already seeing a difference in the wisteria. It seems a bit healthier overall and I think the extra sunlight will do it well.
Here are some photos from today showing leaves both just starting and fully expanded to take in the sun.
Click photos for larger images