By an edhat reader
If you drive by on Mission, Carrillo Street, Garden street and others, you will see that Jacaranda trees look dead: no leafs, no blooming this year.
No plan from city has been communicated yet. What happened to those trees? Is it due to a disease, cold during winter or too much water? Is there a plan to replace them?
Jacarandas always lose all their leaves before they flower. Ours have no leaves now, but tons of buds (Hard to see) . Should bloom soon.
I’ve noticed the same in Goleta. Just figured they were going to bloom later than usual due to all the rain.
Here is an article which states Jacarandas to be removed. https://www.edhat.com/news/jacaranda-trees-to-be-removed
Many of them are dying as they are nearing the end of their lifecycle (52-55 years….longer in “optimal” conditions). Optimal conditions do not include growing in small sidewalk spaces with their roots growing under heavily trafficked asphalt roads. If you get a chance to see these trees in Australia, they get quite large and live a long time (100-210 years). You cannot expect non-native trees to live forever and a day.
Jacaranda trees are not native to Australia.
“… native to tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas … can be found growing wild in Central America, the Caribbean, Spain, southern and northern Africa, China, Australia and Cyprus.” – Wikipedia
915Films: The native Australian jacarandas get much larger than the ones in the other countries on your list. They do not grow all over Australia, that’s for sure, but mainly you’ll find them in New South Wales, Victoria, and part of South Australia. I do not recall seeing them in Western Australia during any of my visits (5 visits totaling 9 months) to the Land Down Under I’ve been to each of the countries specified in the Wikipedia “snippet” you graciously provided, except for Cyprus, which is on my Bucket List.
So, yeah, most of the jacarandas in SB are not going to live much more than about 50-70 years…maybe a bit longer if it is not planted too close to a street/sidewalk. Personally, I love looking at them when they are in bloom, but would not want one in my yard.
There is no such thing as a native Australian Jacaranda.
too much water guys….too much water. the trees are fine, they are not dying. the sky isn’t falling either. ive got trees on my property that are subtropical…even THEY got too much water from what they are used to, lost all of their leaves and now new leaves have grown as well as about 3″ in height.
Jacarandas are always a harbinger of the Summer Solstice Parade, but this year they are really behind schedule.
Jacarandas grow wild here too. Its not common, but if you look around you will see them
I thought our jacaranda might be dying a couple weeks ago, but now I see many buds on it. While in San Diego last weekend, I noticed their trees seem to be a week or two ahead of ours. I suspect it is due to the unusually cool winter that we had. Normally, we get 5 or 6 frosts a year at our house. This year, we got 30 or 40. For the first time, our cherry tree is loaded with cherries. Nature is amazing.
Irregardless of whether the trees are native to Australia, North Africa, or Timbuktu…many of our Jacaranda trees are in fact fading and/or dying. Not all of these trees are in their last stages, but probably 32-37% (estimate only). The jacarandas in Australia, native…or otherwise ;), get realllllly big.. seen ’em with my own eyes. Unfortunately, many of ours are in sad sad condition.
They are dying laughing at us humans! Dropping leaves this time of year is a sign of a healthy tree which in the coming weeks bloom out purple form their brown haze. Yes wet years seems to help out with this phenomenon.
Well depending on perspective, we’re all dying, aren’t we?
“Australia” is a big place: where were you when you were so impressed by the naturalized Jacarandas?
Emma: You are correct, Australia is quite large and a-l-m-o-s-t the same size of the continental US…just a bit smaller. I was able to travel by car as a “wandering tourist” in/around/through Australia on a number of occasions: Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Hobart, Cairns, Alice Springs, Uluru (aka, Ayers Rock), Coober Pedy….and many/many points between. What a place! To answer your question, the most impressive jacaranda that I ever saw was just outside the small city of Wagga Wagga (“Place of many crows”). For those interested, it’s almost impossible to NOT see gorgeous jacarandas in nearly every major city in Australia (especially along the east coast). However, I do not recall seeing any in the far-northern city of Darwin. Lastly….if you go to Australia, just remember that the seasons are opposite of ours (so Christmas/New Year is their summer….hot, except in Tasmania…and the flies, oh my!).