Jacaranda Tree

It's jacaranda blooming time here in southern California. This is the kind of tree that just about appears overnight, its purplish blooms erupting against green leaves and blue sky.

There's one across the street from us that is just CRAZY beautiful.

Plant Details

Common Name: Jacaranda

Botanical Name: Jacaranda Mimosifolia. The species name mimosifoloia refers to the foliage, which resembles that of the mimosa or wattle tree.

Jacaranda grow around 10-15m (30-45ft) tall and have lacy green foliage which turns yellow in autumn before falling. The trumpet-shaped flowers appear before the leaves return, then drop to form a blue carpet undeneath the tree. The colour of the flowers varies from soft blue through to mauve-blue and almost purple.

Go Among Trees and Sit Still

I go among trees and sit still.
All my stirring becomes quiet
Around me like circles on water.
My tasks lie in their places
Where I left them, asleep like cattle…

Then what I am afraid of comes.
I live for a while in its sight.
What I fear in it leaves it,
And the fear of it leaves me.
It sings, and I hear its song.

By Wendell Berry from Sabbaths, 1987, North Point Press