Jacaranda Love

When I say I love this time of year, it’s not subject to a specific month and in rare cases, not even a season. The reason for my joy is the blooming of the Jacaranda trees here in Southern California.

The time they bloom is often determines by the weather that year. I’ve seen them bloom as early as March and as late as June. The full bloom lasts for a whole month and it is a sight to behold. While they are native to South America, California likes to import trees that breathe happiness. Palm trees aren’t native here either yet you can’t be anywhere outside here and not see one. Call us vein if you will but I think it’s about joy more than anything else.

While the variety is called Blue Jacaranda, the buds are definitely more lavender/ purple. The leaves drop from the tree first and the flower buds start to blossom. At full bloom, the whole tree is lavender without even any leaves to break up the color. The flowers also fall through the process, leaving the whole ground covered in lavender blooms that are exceptionally beautiful.

We Not everybody likes the Jacarandas. Most who own them have a love hate relationship with them. The flowers secrete a sap like liquid that covers any cars parked underneath. The flowers give off a smell that leans more toward sour than sweet making the month unbearable for some. But to me, it’s all worth it.

Once I worked on the 11th floor of a high rise in a city with very few tall buildings. We towered over everyone giving us a Birds Eye view. I’ll never forget my job interview there. They sat me in the conference room and I was instantly drawn to the dots and lines of lavender trees I saw all over. I knew that even on the toughest days, those trees would make me smile.

My absolute favorite is when Jacarandas line an entire street on both sides. There are websites dedicated to the location of Jacaranda streets in LA. Driving down one of these streets is akin to Christmas lights. It’s just so magical.

In southern CA we don’t have seasons really. The leaves on our trees stay green all year. The temperature variation from summer to winter is about 30° (some come here specifically for that reason). Snow is mostly a dream here. But the Jacarandas remain a constant I’m not sure I could live without.