SAN DIEGO — If you’ve been out and about in San Diego lately, then you’ve noticed the brilliant jacaranda trees that are blooming right now.
“Absolutely breath-taking,” said Madison Clark.
“They look beautiful. I like the colors,” said Sandy LeMasters.
“They’re very bright, you know, very outstanding you know, they stand out,” said Greg Smith. “It gives me something to look at.”
On Clairemont Drive, you can see a whole row of jacarandas lining the street. Rachel Powell says she’s lucky to live here.
“They smell really good and just walking down this strip is really nice at this time of year because you can just see the full effect of the flowers and everything,” said Powell. “It’s really nice to see, add some color to the landscape.”
There are about 12,000 jacarandas around San Diego and the City plants several hundred each year.
“It’s a really great shade tree, I think. It’s one of our more durable trees,” said Brian Widener, City Forrester for San Diego.
The Figg family gave an endowment of several hundred thousand dollars to the City in 2002 in order to continue planting jacarandas every year.
“They tend to bloom this time of year, late May and early June although there is a second blooming season I would say late Fall, but not as spectacular as this time of year,” said Widener.
One iconic jacaranda tree stands proudly in front of the historic Long-Waterman House in Bankers Hill, and people love it.
“You can see the leaves falling since it’s like summertime,” said P.J. Ford. “It’s got really, really vibrant colors.”
At the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library in La Jolla, a jacaranda tree has brought extra color to their courtyard for over 30 years.
“Just one color, blue, it is really great,” said Erika Torri, Executive Director at the Athenaeum. “You don’t even see the leaves, just color.”
Jacarandas are native to South American countries like Brazil and Argentina and they’ve been in San Diego at least as far back as the 1890’s. As they continue to add color to the landscape around town, San Diegans definitely appreciate having them around.
“They’re beautiful and just driving around all of San Diego, we see them like everywhere and it’s great,” said Madison Clark.
“I think it’s just a blessing,” said Smith. “It’s nature, you feel me. Nature’s beautiful, you know, we all live in it.”
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