Wisteria Hysteria

It’s official: the country is in the grip of full-blown wisteria madness. That’s if my Instagram feed is anything to go by! We Instagrammers just can’t get enough of this photogenic flower. Dubbed ‘Wisteria Hysteria’, this craze is revealed in the fact that my photos of wisteria get tonnes more likes than all my other photos. It looks particularly wonderful against yellowy Bath or Cotswold stone, and I’ve been fortunate to see some especially beautiful examples over the last couple of weeks.

Last week I spent a day to myself in Bath, mainly for shopping but also just to recharge my batteries and walk round the city taking photos. I’m in the middle of writing a post with loads more photos, but here’s a sneak preview to satisfy any ‘#wisteriahysteria’ followers!

Yesterday we spent the day exploring the Cotswolds, ending up in Broadway, where there was wisteria aplenty. This was the most magnificent we could find. This is probably one of my all-time favourite photos that I’ve ever taken.

This one is just full of wonderful stuff: wisteria, of course, but the fabulous bow window, the Cotswold stone, and of course those lovely hot air balloons. I have the red and white one at home, but they look so evocative when they’re displayed together like this. It reminds me of my childhood excitement of seeing hot air balloons, especially mass ascents from balloon festivals.

We are feeling especially lucky with our new house now, because it turned out that what looked like a weird unidentifable tree is in fact wisteria! It revealed itself in its full glory when it started to flower a week or so ago, and now I just can’t stop looking at it and smelling it.

With all the sunny days we’ve been having recently, I’ve been having as many breakfasts, lunches and evening drinks in the garden as possible to make the most of the wisteria while its beautiful blooms last. I don’t know how long it will flower for, but I’m certainly going to be making the most of it while it does!