Late bloomer

We'd given up hope. The woman who planted the wisteria told me that it hadn't bloomed for her, and it might not bloom for us. For the last ten years, we just let it grow, enjoyed the foliage and left it at that. Until Sunday afternoon, that is. My daughter came running in the house. "Mama! Mama! The wisteria bloomed!" Racing out the door, she showed me the lone blossom on the back side of the bush; she had been raking in the vegetable garden and happened to look up the hill to see the cascade of violet colored blossoms.

I did a bit of a search for wisteria information, confused by the sudden blooming. Why ten years later? Why summer? Well, it is a spring flowering bush, so I have no idea why it chose August to bloom, but it is not uncommon for wisteria that was started from seed to take 10-15 years to start blooming. I had, of course, been comparing my wisteria bush with those that were vigorous bloomers, not knowing it might take a long, long time for mine to begin to flower.

Many times in my life I have gotten the message: be patient with late bloomers. Whether frustrated with myself or impatient with others, I often wish things were further along than they are. My wisteria is joining the choir of voices: be patient with late bloomers. You never know when someone or something might surprise you with an explosion of glorious, fragrant blossoms.