GARDENING : Sharing the Blooming Treasure of Sierra Madre : Wisteria: The giant vine planted in 1894 covers more than an acre and blossoms each spring.

Some homeowners have a view of the ocean or mountains, but few overlook a sea of wisteria blossoms.

Two Sierra Madre families, the Feeneys and the Solts, share such a view, looking out on more than an acre of lavender flowers in their yards each spring.

But they also share a responsibility of sorts, that of maintaining the near-century-old wisteria vine that the “Guinness Book of World Records” calls the world’s largest blossoming plant.

The vine has become something of a town treasure, each year a celebration is held (this year the Wisteria Fete was in March) and merchants, clubs and school groups operate booths in Kersting Court while a shuttle bus carries visitors up into the foothills to see the vine.

According to the record book, the vine, which is supported by a trellis made of 2-inch pipes, weighs 252 tons.

But that figure, first printed in the 1985 edition, may be too low today because the plant grows so rapidly. “Overnight you can see where it’s grown,” said Nell Solt, who has lived here with her husband, Bob, for 17 years.

The seed for this agricultural phenomenon was planted in 1894. William and Alice Brugman bought the 1-gallon plant from a Monrovia nursery for 75 cents.

By 1918, it was apparent that this wisteria wasn’t just your garden variety plant. The first public showing attracted 12,000 people, according to Sierra Madre Historical Society records.

The town became known as Wisteria City and the city seal is decorated with a drawing of the vine. Of course, there’s the Wisteria Plaza, Wisteria florist and beauty shop and, at one time, there was a Wisteria Hotel.

(The plant was named for Henry Wistar in 1818, but somehow along the way, the spelling became wisteria with an “e.”)

In its youth, the vine grew so large that it engulfed the original house and finally crushed the roof in the early 1930s. The house was torn down, the vine thrived on.

A new house was built--at a safer distance--and eventually the property was subdivided. Joseph and Maria Feeney have lived in that home since 1962.

So what do the homeowners feel about the people who swarm into their quiet residential neighborhood to see the vine?

“It really isn’t a problem,” said Maria Feeney. “A person who goes out of their way to see a beautiful flower tends to respect your property.”

While the Wisteria can be seen from the street, the homeowners ask viewers to stay off their properties except during the annual wisteria festival, when visitors can get a close-up view.

Neither the Feeneys nor the Solts say the vine takes much care. The most they do, other than an occasional dose of fertilizer or a shot of Vitamin B every decade or so, is to trim it back. “As long as the weather is warm, it grows,” Feeney said. “When it’s cold, it stops right there.”

Perhaps the reason other wisterias haven’t reached such healthy proportions is because they get too much attention, said John Provine, superintendent at the Los Angeles County Arboretum.

“Most people kill things with too much care,” he said. “They over-fertilize and overwater. A lot of plants can do very well left alone.”

Apparently, this wisteria in the 500 block of North Hermosa Avenue is one of them.

Though the clusters of blooms only last for a month or so (the peak season is now past), scattered flowers appear all summer. Toward fall, the vine grows pods--a phase the Solts weren’t prepared for when they first moved in. The pods pop open, you see, especially during the warm Santa Ana winds, and primarily at night.

“The first year we really got scared when we heard this popping sound. We thought somebody was throwing rocks at the window,” Nell Solt said. “They really explode and throw the seeds out.”

Both families say they’ve grown fond of the vine.

“We’ve asked how long it lives,” Solt said. “No one seems to know. It would be nice to know if it will be around for another year. . . .”

If the Chinese wisteria that have graced the Chinese royal palace and temples are any indication (the Sierra Madre wisteria is of the Chinese variety), it’s got a few good years left--they’ve been known to live 250 years.