Wisteria shouldn't just be a flowering vine or a street name, it should at least be a micro-season and at best declared an international holiday.

Two to four weeks (if February can be fickle about its length, so can Wisteria) where work is set aside and the faithful leisurely pilgrimage from arbor to arbor, resting in fragrant, lilac shade.

Not a holiday of gifts given or food eaten, but one for reflecting on the mystery of beauty. Its surprising advent, its profound, mysterious effect, its brevity, its persistent recurrence.

Regardless of recognition, Wisteria is by far my favorite holiday.