What’s in Bloom - Wisteria

I caught the tail end of the wisteria bloom this year and almost missed it! The reason for that is the vines bloomed earlier due to unseasonal summer-like weather and it was a busy March of travel so I had less time to happen upon the plants in bloom.

Some of the photos in this post are recent while others are from past years. Shown above is the wisteria bloom on the pergola leading to the entry of the gallery at the aptly named Wisteria Cottage, one of the buildings on the grounds of the La Jolla Historical Society. I only realized the wisteria bloom season was upon us when I visited La Jolla a couple weeks ago.

The photo below is the same location but taken from a different angle on March 30, 2017.

Closer to home in San Marino, I caught a glimpse of this wisteria “shrub” at Lacy Park a couple weeks ago.

There’s wisteria trained over the pergola near the Rose Bowl Aquatic Center in Pasadena. I went to check on the bloom there today, March 26, 2026 but it was essentially done. The photos below were taken in April of 2024.

Below is a view of the same pergola in April 2021.

Last year in March 2025 I visited Bernard Maybeck’s architectural masterpiece - the First Church of Christ, Scientist, Berkeley.

The historic church’s landscape design featured wisteria vine-draped pergolas which happened to be in bloom.

For most of the year wisteria goes unnoticed until their month of riotous purple. This blog post is a reminder to me to start paying attention in March by re-visiting favorite sites. Till next season!