The Jacarandas Are Coming!

Posted 5/19/12 – Each year, many of the streets of Sierra Madre get an infusion of purple that makes people stop and look, and we are not talking about Wistaria.  The jacarandas bloom each year in May(ish), and there are many more of them along the streets of Sierra Madre than there are of the other, more famous, purple resident of Sierra Madre.  According to Wikipedia, “Jacaranda is a genus of 49 species of flowering plants in the family Bignoniaceae, native to tropical and subtropical regions of Central America, Mexico, South America (especially Argentina, Brazil, Peru and Uruguay), and the Caribbean. It is also found in Asia, especially in Nepal. It is found throughout the Americas and Caribbean, and has been introduced to Australia, New Zealand, India, Fiji and parts of Africa. The genus name is also used as the common name.”  According to Wikipedia, jacaranda trees can reach nearly 100 feet in height.

The picture at left shows a jacaranda on Alegria, just east of Auburn.  Streets known for their jacaranda include Hermosa, alongside Congregational Church, including a particularly nice one right on the corner at Sierra Madre Blvd. (one of the reasons we’re posting this is that at the Farmers’ Market last week we noticed that the jacarandas were starting to sport some purple blooms), Montecito west of Auburn, Montecito west of Sunnyside (though I do remember a column written some years ago by writer Fran Syverson in which she wished that Edison would let the trees bloom before trimming them at the wires, which she said seemed to be done right before they bloomed.  Don’t know if that’s still the practice or not).

Where is your favorite spot to look at jacarandas in Sierra Madre?  Send us a picture at info@SierraMadreNews.Netand we’ll post a gallery.