The End Of Wisteria

Recent "improvements" to Rockbridge Road have necessitated the cutting down of THE Wisteria Tree. I stress "the" because wisteria can be cultivated to grow freestanding or it grows on things, as in the picture to the right. In this instance, it had grown on a seventy foot tall pine tree and completely taken it over. It was, in my experience, the only wisteria tree of this tremendous size.

The wisteria vines at the base of the tree were easily a foot in diameter and almost complelety encircled it. And in the spring it looked like the picture at the right except seventy feet tall and about thirty wide. It really was amazing and I would find myself going out of my way to see it during the two weeks that it was in full bloom.

But Rockbridge Road needed to be widened. So the tree came down. The wisteria would eventually have killed the pine tree and consequently possibly killed itself. But I think it had a few more good years had it been left alone.

Now people will be able to drive by even faster and not notice what they didn't notice before.