Tree of the Week: Where to find jacarandas
Good morning. It's a gloomy one on the Westside, but it's early yet. "Tree of the Week" this week is jacaranda, in a landslide. Jacaranda was our tree of the week a year ago -- I called it a "showy, troublesome, classic" (troublesome because of the mess made by the falling flowers and potential root problems).
This year, Pauline O'Connor of LATimes.com's The Guide has a great short list of the best places to see jacarandas in L.A. right now. Pauline's top three (of five):
1. UCLA, Westwood/West L.A.
Locate some lavender in the Franklin D. Murphy Sculpture Garden on UCLA's north campus.
2. Traxx restaurant, downtown L.A.
The towering old trees in the back patio of this Union Station restaurant are aglow with romantic lanterns.
3. Victoria Avenue, Crenshaw District
This wide street just west of Crenshaw Boulevard is jammed with jacarandas for five straight blocks. Start at Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and head north as far as Rodeo Road.
Thanks, Pauline, excellent stuff. Pieter Severynen's original, old-school "Tree of the Week" will return next Saturday.
Photo: Los Angeles Times
Nasty, messy, ugly....
Break out the chainsaws.
They aren't native or native adapted get rid of them.
Posted by: sunsetbeachguy | May 10, 2008 at 08:11 AM
Good morning, Peter. You must still be half asleep..."Jacardas"? "Lanters"?
Posted by: Teacher's Kid | May 10, 2008 at 08:32 AM
They're beautiful. Messy, but beautiful. Several streets in Pasadena and South Pasadena are just now going into full bloom. Watch out for tourist standing in the middle of the street to take pictures. Out-of-towners love the "purple trees" as this post recalls: http://sonmislocuras.com/2007/05/29/they-have-
purple-trees-in-california/
Posted by: Veronica | May 10, 2008 at 08:47 AM
Native trees stink.
Posted by: Christopher | May 10, 2008 at 10:16 AM
Paloma St. off Altadena Drive in Pasadena - my neighborhood is lined with Jacarandas : )
Posted by: Fontaine | May 10, 2008 at 04:37 PM
Quite a few streets in Sylmar have these also. They are beautiful, but sticky. When I was a kid you could ride over the fallen purple blossoms and they would 'POP' under your bike tires.
Posted by: monkeyboy | May 10, 2008 at 06:24 PM
These trees are beautiful in So Cal...in Florida, they
are really mangy looking-maybe they don't like
the humidity down in Florida.....
Posted by: Pita | May 10, 2008 at 06:58 PM
word to the wise: don't park your car under these.
Posted by: Milla | May 10, 2008 at 09:32 PM
The street I used to live on in Reseda had a lot of these trees. They might be obscured now, by all the RE Fore Sale signs.
Posted by: bigerikwithak | May 11, 2008 at 02:02 PM
These trees make May the purple month.
Posted by: MyLessThanPrimeBeef | May 12, 2008 at 11:35 AM
About 2/3rds of my balcony is engulfed in a beautiful jacaranda tree. I blow them off my balcony with a hair dryer several times a day, otherwise they're a sticky/staining mess. But, I have the most incredible view sitting on my sofa. Ahh, the Yen the Yang...
Posted by: alx | May 19, 2008 at 10:37 PM
About 2/3rds of my balcony is engulfed in a beautiful jacaranda tree. I blow them off my balcony with a hair dryer several times a day, otherwise they're a sticky/staining mess. But, I have the most incredible view sitting on my sofa. Ahh, the Yen the Yang...
Posted by: alx | May 19, 2008 at 10:41 PM
They do look beautiful when planted right. The purple looks so cool in May. I also love the lush green of the leaves when not in flower. Its interesting how some are so full of green, are some are more airy and open. I guess the watering/lighting conditions will determined that. Not too fond of the fragrance, kind of smells like urine covered up in cheap perfume. Sorry, couldnt find a better way to describe it. I also notice the mess it can cause and the branches can break pretty easy in wind. I've seen it myself. Careful pruning when young should help that out though.
Posted by: SKP123 | June 06, 2008 at 09:02 AM