HOLYOKE — It only happens once a year. The month of May brings your chance to see the more than 100-year-old wisteria vines put on a show in Holyoke.
When these plants blossom at the Wistariahurst Museum, located at 238 Cabot St., cascades of fragrant, purple flowers create walls of blooms as high as 35 feet on the mansion’s exterior.
Local fame, home invasions and a gardener’s wish wind through the wisteria’s history, dating back to the days of the horse and buggy.
The original owner of Wistariahurst Museum, William SKinner, was a prominent Holyoke businessman who made a fortune manufacturing silks and satins renowned for their high quality. William Skinner & Sons became the largest producer of satin linings in the world. William’s wife Sarah was, among other things, the horticultural brain behind the wisteria growing at the house today.
“In the Victorian Era, wisteria vines grew in popularity in both the United States and Europe. They also symbolized love and romance so there are many reasons Sarah might have originally been drawn to them,” Wistariahurst Museum Director Megan Seiler said.
The Wistariahurst Museum in Holyoke is pictured in this archive photo from the late 1980s.Submitted
Old photos show the home’s barren grounds which Sarah transformed into a place described as both a “handsome park” and a “Holyoke showplace.” The landscape included fruit trees, lawns and an elegant garden. Chinese and Japanese species of wisteria were planted around the house in the 1880s and as they grew and completely engulfed parts of the mansion, their size and beauty brought acclaim. The Holyoke newspaper announced the blooms every year. It’s unclear when exactly the house was named after the flowering vines but in 1901, “Wistariahurst” appeared on Sarah’s private stationary.
Sarah wasn’t the only one fond of the wisteria. According to Penni Martorell, Wistariahurst Museum Curator and Holyoke city historian, Skinner family lore has it that one of the Wistariahurst gardeners, Tony Bosky, requested that when he died, he be buried with wisteria seeds in his pocket.
One might imagine that gardeners through the generations encountered challenges caring for the giant wisteria at some points. Chinese and Japanese wisteria are fairly drought tolerant but perhaps an insect infestation or damaging storms wreaked havoc. If that happened, no records reflect it. “They do more damage than they experience,” Martorell said.
“I have a love/hate relationship with the vines,” Seiler said. “They are stunning and a unique part of the house and its history, but they are invasive and damage the house.” Over the decades, the wisteria climbed vigorously over the roof, pulled down clapboards and grew into rooms in the house.
“I have seen spinners of the vine pressed up against the window in the afternoon and then within 24 hours, it had wound its way between the upper and lower sash of the window and into the house,” Martorell said. And those windows were securely closed, she added.
The Wistariahurst Museum in Holyoke is pictured in this archival photo dated between 1920 and 1950.Submited
The staff keeps the adventurous vines in check in several ways — the first method of control is to prune back the vines every year. Although volunteer master gardeners care for Wistariahurst’s gardens, an arborist manages the wisteria due to the plant’s size. Nothing like the delicate green vines of morning glories or clematis, mature wistaria vines like the ones at Wistariahurst are more like small, curvy brown tree trunks.
Another control tactic is custom trellises. After the discovery of significant rot and damage caused by the vines on the Pine Street porch, a sturdy new trellis which holds the vines away from the wall was installed. The design prevents the wisteria from climbing directly on the house yet preserves the striking visual effect people love.
“My favorite thing about the vines is how bees are so drawn to them, Seiler said. “You have the incredibly fragrant blooms and all of these buzzing bees; the vines have a little symphony going on that you can smell and hear.”
To find out when exactly in May to see (and smell and hear) the wisteria in bloom, keep an eye on the Wisty Watch on Wistariahurst’s Instagram and Facebook pages and in their newsletter, which you can sign up for on the museum’s website. The Wistariahurst grounds are open daily from dawn until dusk.
For an opportunity to both see the wistaria vines and find the perfect gift for mom, Wistariahurst Museum will host both a Mother’s Day market and plant sale on Saturday, May 3. The market will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., while the plant sale will be held from 10 a.m. to noon.
