What to KnowSierra Madre Wistaria FestivalMarch 289 a.m. to 5 p.m.Festival entry is free; the shuttle to view the famous wisteria vine, which is located in a pair of private backyards, is $15 adult, $7.50 seniors and kids 12 and underWisteria is blooming across Southern California as we head into the last part of March, including at The Huntington in San Marino and other public gardens; tickets and reservations are required to visit The Huntington on weekends and holidays
It’s fitting that the official start of springtime should have a dramatic, over-the-top, and, well, purple hue associated with it.
And it most definitely does, at least around Los Angeles: The middle of March, and the end of the month, too, can be awash in the incredible colors of the wisteria vine, or, if you’re in Sierra Madre, wistaria.
The spelling may vary but the beauty of this vine does not: We’re talking about the flowery wonder that drapes over bowers and fabulously festoons walls across Southern California.
The wisteria bloom is peaking around the region, and if you make for gardens like The Huntington, where Japanese wisteria vines have long graced the walkway between the Rose Garden and the Japanese garden, you’ll be able to bask in its eye-catching splendor.
Calling a wisteria vine “purple” isn’t quite correct, either; you’d really have to line up all of the purple paint sample strips from your local hardware store to accurately portray all of the different hues found in the output of a single vine.
The Sierra Madre Wistaria Festival is just a week or so out, on March 28. The party focuses on the absolutely massive vine growing across two private backyards, but there’s also an in-town festival full of arts, crafts, food trucks, and tunes.
Shuttle tickets to see the vine are available on the festival site.
The charming mountain-close town does indeed go with “wistaria” rather than “wisteria” when it comes to hailing its most famous plant, as is tradition. And the traditions in Sierra Madre go way, way back as far as the iconic backyard vine is concerned: It was planted in the late 1800s and has been featured in the Guinness Book of World Records.
“World’s Largest Blossoming Plant” is its notable title, an accolade so epic that the town pauses each spring to pay adoring homage. Even if you don’t catch a shuttle up to see this star specimen, the festival around town will rock the purple hues, wisteria-themed gifts for sale, and violet-pretty treats.