Gardening Comment from Mary:

I saw you on Antiques Roadshow and enjoyed it so much. Also my wisteria is blooming with a few puny blooms, nothing like yours! Someday I will catch on!

Response from Pat:
Re: your wisteria. People never seem to follow the correct instructions on how to prune it. The tragedy is that many folks cut off the wrong parts of the vine in winter and thus get no bloom. My way is to prune in summer only after bloom and prune it once a week all summer long until it stops growing. The trick is to cut all new twiners back to one or two buds. These buds then grow into spurs that bloom massively in spring.

I try so hard to explain since correct pruning is why mine blooms so much. This is why I cover the subject of pruning and training wisteria about five times, including at length on pages 188, 231 (with photo) and 294 in the current edition of my book, which is the new organic one. (“Pat Welsh’s Southern California Organic Gardening, Month by Month.”) It’s available everywhere at bookstores or by order or from Amazon.com and I have
copies also.

Thanks so much for your kind comments on the Roadshow. Here is another fun clip: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow/video/AI_201001A19.html