Wisterias: A Comprehensive Guide

Rating:
Summary: Excellent information on specific varieties/cultivars
Review: As a lay home gardener I found this book to be a bit on the academic side. It seems to be written with Wisteria connoisseurs in mind. However, I did find the Wisteria history to be interesting. And, the pictures are definitely worth taking a look at. The photos showing Wisterias being used in different growing situations was very helpful.

The list of individual Wisterias was helpful to me in selecting a good cultivar for my particular site. After reading the section on care and training, though, I would have to disagree with the author that Wisteria's aren't that much work. To me they appear to be quite a gardening commitment.


Rating:
Summary: bad
Review: don't spend money on this book! Spend it on something else.

Rating:
Summary: peter valder Wisterias
Review: i thought the book was great only problem ,, im trying to find some of the wisterias in book to incorporate into my garden and cant find them anywhere ... im looking for Kunichi Beni Royal Purple and Macrobotrys // if anyone knows where to purchase these J. wisterias id appreciate a email . thanks

Rating:
Summary: Thank you for sorting out this mess of wisteria varieties
Review: Peter Valder has done a wonderful service in sorting out the confusion that surrounds wisteria varieties. He has written what appears to be the first book on the genus in a European language. It is a splendid account of both the history and the genus Wisteria the result of much painstaking research. His findings have been have been taken up by the Royal Horticultural Society. The book is beautifully written with superb photographs. I and others regard it as a minor classic. Should be on every gardener's bookshelf along with his more recent magnificent "Garden Plants Of China".

Rating:
Summary: Thank you for sorting out this mess of wisteria varieties
Review: The author is clearly an authority on the vine (or tree or shrub...), but I found the book overflowing with the history of each variety with little information or advice on how to grow. I reviewed the book again today as I went out to prune my wisteria and couldn't even find the work "prune" or "pruning" in the index! It's a beautiful history book with lovely pictures but far from a "how-to" guide, if that's what you're looking for. Perhaps I didn't look closely enough at the book's description before purchasing!

Rating:
Summary: Should be entitled "History of the Wisteria"
Review: The author is clearly an authority on the vine (or tree or shrub...), but I found the book overflowing with the history of each variety with little information or advice on how to grow. I reviewed the book again today as I went out to prune my wisteria and couldn't even find the work "prune" or "pruning" in the index! It's a beautiful history book with lovely pictures but far from a "how-to" guide, if that's what you're looking for. Perhaps I didn't look closely enough at the book's description before purchasing!