DSC_0522 b.jpg — Majestic Jacaranda: Love Them or Hate Them

By Simie Seaman

Flamboyant might be an understatement in describing a jacaranda tree in full bloom. What exactly makes their blossoms so bewitching? Part of the magic must be their hue. Explosions of brightly colored purple flowers cover the tree's canopy making it eye-candy for all to behold and the sight is truly heart stopping. With every encounter with these gorgeous trees I stop and pause and THANK MOTHER NATURE for such beauty.

You love them or hate them; very few people have neutral feelings about jacaranda trees. With jacaranda trees you have to take the good with the bad. The good, of course, is the wondrous sight of those magnificent purple flowers. The bad is when the flowers drop to the ground leaving puddles of purple rain, messy lawns and slippery sidewalks in their wake.

Jacaranda trees have a bit of legend. If a Jacaranda bloom falls on your head, it’s considered good luck. The blossoms of the Jacaranda also are associated with rebirth and the magic of spring

Jacarandas are not native to California. So, how exactly did they get here? No one really knows exactly. Some say it’s possible they first arrived in California during the GOLD RUSH Days. Jacarandas became quite popular in Los Angeles during the 1920s and 30s and their popularity swelled during the middle of the century with wealthy landowners wanting flowering trees all over the city. As of 2010 there were one hundred and forty-eight thousand, five hundred and thirty jacaranda trees in Los Angeles. L.A.’s oldest jacarandas are 80 to 100 years old, and there are estimated to be some 20,000 of them along public streets in the city.

In California jacaranda trees bloom twice a year, once in spring, usually in late May or early June and again in the fall. The spring blossoms seem to be darker purple than the fall blooms. Every spring the blooming jacaranda can be found all over the Southland. The ravishing purple blossoms are hard to miss, whether lining a neighborhood street, parks or commercial property. Jacaranda trees make any neighborhood or park picturesque, quaint, and magical.

In full bloom are the jacarandas, one of the most exotic-looking trees in the city, with their unparalleled purplish-blue clustered flowers. Some say that they as equal as beautiful and breath taking as the Washington D.C. Cherry blossoms.

I’m fortunate to live in Banning Wrigley Historic District just down the street from the Historic Banning Museum and park where the Jacarandas are in full bloom. Frank McDonough a botanist at the LA County Arboretum believed that it’s possible that Phineas Banning had the Jacaranda trees shipped in from the Amazon in the late 1860s.

As I walk through the park I’m dazzled by the purple haze blotting the sky, the purple snow beneath my feet. The lushness of the purple always takes me by surprise, stopping me in my tracks to take photos, wishing that I can capture that feeling of the heart-stopping purple haze.

Chances are you probably live closer to a jacaranda bloom than you think. And if you’re not able to just step outside your door and see these purple delights on your morning walk, then here’s a few of the many popular neighborhoods to explore the purple canopies of sweet-smelling blooms:

Los Altos neighborhood north of CSULB, Petaluma Avenue Long Beach, Paloma Street in Pasadena; Del Mar Boulevard in Pasadena; Stansbury Avenue in Sherman Oaks; Gothic Avenue in North Hills; North Whittier Drive in Beverly Hills; Index Street in Granada Hills; Los Robles Avenue in San Marino; older residential streets in Hollywood; Santa Monica from Wilshire to Colorado on 3rd is a designated city landmark, and for good reason.