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The following was submitted by the Centennial Committee. It comes just in time to commemorate the annual Wistaria Festival, which takes place tomorrow, Sunday, March 25, 2007 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Wistaria Hystaria Comes But Once a Year

By Phyllis Chapman, Sierra Madre Historian

Wistaria Hysteria will grip Sierra Madre once again on Sunday, March 25, when the annual festival pays homage to the town’s 123-year-old horticultural wonder. Who would have guessed when the vine was planted from a 75-cent, gallon can that today it would be listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s largest flowering plant.

Guinness experts state that at the height of bloom, the vine has 1.5 million blossoms with 40 blossoms per square foot, weighs 250 tons and has branches extending 500 feet. Today the vine covers more than an acre.

This wistaria saga had its beginning in 1983 when Amos Trussell built a home for his daughter Winona and son-in-law Edward Jones on Piedmont, which today is the corner of
Carter and Hermosa avenues. Because of a change in plans, the home was sold in 1894 to William and Alice Brugman.

While Mr. Brugman, a mining engineer, was working in Mexico, Mrs. Brugman drove in her horse and buggy to the Pioneer Nursery in Monrovia and purchased the vine. She planted it in front of the porch to enhance her new home and is said to have remarked: “They say wistaria grows fast,” certainly a proven understatement.

In 1913, Henry and Estelle Fennel bought the property. Henry Fennel gave the vine devoted care. He built arbors around the house that gave support to the heavy branches so that end tendrils did not hang down and die from sheer weight. This certainly contributed to its phenomenal growth. Also, the terraced location, famous itself as “Lookout Point” before homes were built on Carter blocking the view, affords the drainage condition wistaria favors. There is probably a good underground water supply as well.

When the vine was in bloom, the Fennels would invite friends to visit and enjoy the beautiful blossoms. In 1918, they welcomed the American Red Cross for a successful fundraiser with 12,000 people in attendance. This then spearheaded for years to come annual wistaria festivals sponsored by various local groups that attracted thousands of people.

Booths under the vine sold such things as crafts, food and wistaria-fragrance perfume, hand lotion and bath salts. Among the famous who came were violinist Fritz Kreisler, who took seeds back to plant in his native Austria. Other celebrity guests were actress Mary Pickford and artist Norman Rockwell. Actress Janet Leigh was crowned “Wistaria Queen.”

The Packard Car Co. used the vine as a backdrop to advertise its cars. The Pacific Electric Street Car Co. added extra cars on the line to handle the crowds, and one year the Sierra Madre Volunteer Fire Dept. parked 30,000 cars on a lower parking lot.

The vine grew into the walls of the original house and caused the roof to collapse. Mr. Fennel abandoned the house and built a new home 200 feet to the north and trained the vine to grow up to that home. The old home was torn down in 1931, but a portion of the original foundation was saved to continue to give support to the growing vine.

In 1936, the widow Fennel sold the property to Carrie Ida Lawless. She was a dynamic woman and successful business woman whose late husband, William, was mayor of Sierra Madre in 1928-29. She bought the property on her birthday, Dec. 5. According to one account she said she wanted to make a birthday present to herself of the world’s largest bouquet.

She spent a fortune beautifying the grounds and caring for the vine. She also held art exhibits, poetry readings, and musicals year ‘round, much to the objection of the neighbors. When they took their complaints to the City Council, nothing was done, however. Mrs. Lawless argued the vine property existed long before these neighbors bought their homes.

Mrs. Lawless died in 1942, leaving the property to her nephew and heir, Bruce McGill. He sold it in 1944 to Richard and Marian Thayer. By then the vine was greatly overgrown and Mr. Thayer was going to chop it up and get rid of it. Protests were raised along with money, and the vine was saved.

Richard Thayer died in 1961, and the lot was split in the estate settlement. Marian soon married Ronald Cook, a builder who developed the west side of the property with new homes. He built the present Solt home (on the site of the Brugman home) for himself and Marian. The upper house was sold to Joseph and Maria Feeney, who raised eight children there. The sale to the Solts took place in 1972, when the Cooks moved to Dana Point.

By the 1970s and ‘80s, vine activity almost ended. It resumed again for just one day for local people to visit at the height of bloom. Between 500 and 600 people attended. In 1989, Huell Howser came to film the vine for his “Videolog” that aired on public television’s KCET. The next year, thanks to the media coverage, a throng of 6,000 descended on the town to see the vine, with lines stretching for two blocks. Although totally unprepared for such a turnout, sponsors soon organized. The event is now combined with a Chamber of Commerce downtown street fair. Reservations are required for vine viewing, and shuttle buses transport people from downtown to the site of the vine. The event has drawn 10,000 people.

Over the years, the vine has shown distress and seemed to be dying. Experts have been called in for advice and treatment. Today it survives and thrives with growth and care kept on a computer log by Bob Solt.

As for the correct spelling – “wisteria” or “wistaria” – the plant is named in honor of Caspar Wistar (1761-1818). He was an American physician whose accomplishments included writing the first book on anatomy. When the genus went into the books, it was misspelled as “wisteria.” So the traditional spelling in Sierra Madre – “wistaria” – is correct after all.

The town also expresses appreciation that the vine property owners generously allow the public to come each year and to enjoy its lavender loveliness.