£3 wisteria plant blooms for first time - after gardener's 51 year wait

A man who bought a £3 wisteria plant when he was 30 says it has finally bloomed - 51 years later. Tom Daly, 81, bought the purple climbing plant for £3.00 in 1975 and decided to plant it so it could grow up the wall of his house. According to the Royal Horticultural Society, most wisterias begin flowering within three to four years of planting. But Tom waited significantly longer and after 15 years of the flowering failing to bloom, Tom moved house and took the plant with him. He moved to another house in his town of Leighton Buzzard in 1990 and rewired the plant along his wooden fence. Hoping it would bloom the next year, Tom had to wait another 36 years before it finally bloomed in 2026. He regularly watered the plant in dry weather and used a "touch" of fertiliser in the Spring but to no avail. Tom, a former builder, said: "I knew they could be awkward to bloom. "Last year we had a few buds and this year it bloomed like crazy. "Every year I was waiting! "What a surprise to see it bloom - it might be worth putting in the Guinness book of records! "I always did water it carefully in dry weather, plus a touch of fertiliser in the spring, for many, many years, but all to no avail. "Then about three years ago, finally about to give up with it, I cared for it less and less, until I just noticed some little blooms last year, and now this year: Hey Presto!" Tom, who originally spoke to Sell Us Your Story, recently planted a newer wisteria with the old one. He said: "The pale one is the old one and the darker purple is the new one we've put it next to it. "When you're 81, it seems crazy that you can go back so long waiting for it to bloom. "All those years later - it's more than a lifetime really." (Footage by SWNS via Getty Images)