The jacarandas are blooming in my neighborhood. They’re not natives here, but enough are planted in coastal Southern California that they sometimes seem to be natives, filling the landscape with lavender blossoms every May and June. Even with none planted in our yard, every direction I look I can see a jacaranda blooming. (Click on images to view larger.)
This period of late spring and early summer is one of my favorite times, when we have gray overcast or fog in the mornings, and sometimes all day. These weather conditions are nicknamed May Gray and June Gloom, or more correctly called coastal eddies. The clouds linger for at least part of the day, with a cool ocean breeze, sometimes followed by clear blue skies all afternoon. I relish every minute of this until summer’s heat sets in. I want to stay outdoors for hours at a stretch, or do the heavier housework that is best done with all the windows open, until summer’s heat makes me want to sit near an air conditioner and do nothing.
1.
They’re just beautiful. We don’t have any jacarandas here in SE Pennsylvania.
Cas
enjoy your pleasant weather.
Comment by cassie-b — June 13, 2007 @ 12:19 pm
2.
They’re just beautiful! Wow… blooming blue trees!
Comment by blogdog — June 13, 2007 @ 3:52 pm
3.
I sense a lavendar theme…
Comment by Creechman — June 14, 2007 @ 2:39 am
4.
lavender. (how awful to misspell a word on THIS blog)
Comment by Creechman — June 14, 2007 @ 2:39 am
5.
In Florida it’s always a joy to see the jacarandas in bloom… marvelous purple clouds rising above the rooftops. After the hurricanes of the last few years, though, some owners grew nervous about letting such tall trees spread their limbs too close to their homes and cut them down. Now there is only a stump showing in the ground where one of my favorite trees once stood. But each time I pass it, I remember the glory of its purple flowers rising to the sky.
Comment by Bruce — June 14, 2007 @ 9:40 am
6.
Oh, this is the first time I’ve been homesick for California! I LOVE the
jacarandas, and had never seen them until I lived in L.A. Right in the middle of the city, puddles of purple everywhere. I just love them.
Comment by Beverly Jackson — June 15, 2007 @ 4:21 am
7.
OOOooooooh! so beautiful! Thanks for posting. And I hate to mention it, but it’s getting h-o-t-t-e-r.
Comment by Sarah — June 15, 2007 @ 1:20 pm
8.
We had a jacaranda in our Fallbrook yard. So exotic, as though lifted from a page in National Geographic. Its low sweeping limbs were graced with feathery leaves, which were dressed in pink tutus. It was the definitive harbinger of approaching summer.
Comment by Reenie — June 19, 2007 @ 5:10 am
9.
Those jacarandas are lovely! How I wish I could grow them here in Oregon. I enjoy all the lovely things that ARE blooming here at this time of year, though.
Comment by violetismycolor — June 21, 2007 @ 10:11 am