Tuesday, May 19, 2009

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

5 comments:

  1. They are beautiful. Do they have a wonderful smell.

    Elizabeth can I get your home mailing address? If you post it on my blog (if that is alright) I will reject the post but get the address.

    Thanks Renee xoxo

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  2. Wendell Berry...mmm...Thanks for the reminder to sit in stillness and let go of the craziness.

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  3. I wondered what those trees were called! They are a gift - who would have thought to make a tree bloom with flowers like that, but God? It's one of those things I could just sit and stare at for hours.
    And that poem...oh my goodness, that poem. It's cancer, it's death, it's my shadow, it's so many things...I'm sure it speaks to thousands of people in different ways. What a lovely work of art, perfect for the photos of the trees.
    Thank you for bringing more beauty into my day.

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  4. Growing up in South America we were surrounded by jacarandás, the delicious fragrance was always a herald of true summer. It was magic to go swimming and looked up and see the willows and the jacarandás with its ferny leaves dancing in the wind, on the banks of the river. Sweet memory, thank you for reminding me of its beauty.

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