{"id":259,"date":"2011-02-08T23:44:34","date_gmt":"2011-02-09T07:44:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sierramadrenews.net\/?page_id=259"},"modified":"2020-03-09T11:45:31","modified_gmt":"2020-03-09T18:45:31","slug":"sierra-madre-wistaria-festival","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/www.sierramadrenews.net\/?page_id=259","title":{"rendered":"Wistaria Festival"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sierra Madre Wistaria Festival<\/h1>\n

and Car Show, March 22, 2020<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
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\n<\/a>\"\"<\/a>Webmaster’s note: I actually shot this photo in my backyard. It is not part of the famous vine. <\/strong> Statistics (Estimates)<\/strong><\/p>\n
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  • 1.5 million luxuriant lavender blossoms<\/strong><\/li>\n
  • 250 tons<\/strong><\/li>\n
  • More than one acre in size<\/strong><\/li>\n
  • 500 foot branches<\/strong><\/li>\n
  • 40 blossoms per sq. foot<\/strong><\/li>\n
  • Growth rate (per various experts) from 24″ in 24 hours to 26″ in 48 hours<\/strong><\/li>\n
  • Named by the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest blossoming plant in the world<\/strong><\/li>\n
  • Named one of the seven horticultural wonders of the world, along with the redwood forest in Sequoia National Park, Brazil’s tropical jungle in the Amazon Valley, Mexico’s Xochimilco floating gardens, India’s gardens of the Taj Mahal, Japan’s Yokohama rock gardens, and the gardens of Buckingham Palace.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n
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Wistaria is commonly spelled either wistaria or wisteria, but since it was named in 1818 for Caspar Wistar of the University of Pennsylvania to honor his contributions to science, it probably is properly Wistaria.<\/strong> <\/strong><\/div>\n
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Sierra Madre’s vine was planted by William and Alice Brugman. According to a letter from the Brugman’s daughter, Emily Brugman Childs, it was originally purchased from the old Wilson Nursery in Monrovia in a gallon can for $ .75 in 1894.\u00a0\u00a0The vine is of the Chinese lavender variety. It is a member of the pea family, even though its seeds resemble beans (shiny, flat and black). The seeds are said to have been brought to Europe by Marco Polo in the 13th century as prized treasures from the Orient.<\/strong> <\/strong><\/div>\n
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H.T. Fennel bought the house in 1913, and built extra arbors to support it so it could cover the house. Photographs from the 1930s show that it did just that; eventually the roof collapsed and the house was torn down in 1931. The arbors were retained, and a new house was built 200 feet away.<\/strong> <\/strong><\/div>\n
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In 1918, 12,000 people attended the first public Wistaria Festival.<\/strong> In the 1930s, a 6-week Wistaria event took place, with more than 100,000 people making the trip to see the vine. Extra “Red Cars” were put on the Pacific Electric route to Sierra Madre to handle the crowds.<\/strong> In the 1940s and again in the 1960s, at considerable expense, the vine required horticultural restoration, dry ice packs, three foot hypodermic needles with Vitamin B, hormone shots and more.<\/strong> <\/strong><\/div>\n
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Through the years the vine has had many nicknames, among them Glorified Bean, Jack’s Beanstalk, Queen of the San Gabriels, Lavender Lady, Sierra Madre’s Treasure, and the Monster.\u00a0 The Sierra Madre City Council proclaimed 1994 as the Centennial Year of the Wistaria.<\/strong> <\/strong><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
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