Happy Spring 2017

For several years I have written when the Jacaranda trees sprout in our area, a true sign of spring. I put pictures, discuss our "Jacaranda!" game, and mention whether or not spring has come early or late this year based on the tree bloom. The trees are a surprise for me. One day they are green and the next they are suddenly sprouting purple flowers, and that suddenness makes me so happy.

This week the jacaranda trees began turning purple. It was slow. I noticed a touch of purple peeking out over several other trees, and it dawned on me, "Spring! Jacaranda!", and then I thought, "Jeez, has it been a year already?" Which is a common theme any more in my head. Immediately, I wanted a picture of these trees, but decided to wait until they were more uniform in their color, and really, how many jacaranda tree pictures do I need? I also thought about how late the trees were this year, having remembered that they were earlier in sprouting last year, and that made me think about how I seem to write about that very statement each year too.

So when I sat down this morning to write about the purple trees I researched through my blog to see what I have mentioned previously. This is why I now am so thankful for my blog. Because my memory is shit. I thought these trees popped up in color in March last year and found out that was incorrect. As was the previous year. I wrote most of my jacaranda tree entries in May. May! May isn't even a month I would have associated with these trees. It's April or March. Period. Only, it isn't. Apparently. Although I do make reference to April in my discussions on lateness or earliness which I seem to discuss in every entry.

So I turned to Google for the correct answer, and ended up on a plant website. I learned that the trees bloom in South Florida, although I'm not really considered in the south of this state, in April and May. The lavender clusters are 12 inches long and 8 inches wide, and the tree grows to be 40 feet tall. It grows quickly after planting, although it takes five to seven years for the flowers to sprout. There are two other species of these trees, one blooms yellow flowers and the other blooms red. If only I had a large property...

The article, like my own entries, talks about how people consider these trees messy (I reference my husband and his opinion), but that the fallen petals require no clean up and makes the lawn "picturesque". Every year I whine about not having one of the trees, but now I suppose I should just can it since five to seven years is too long for me to wait at this stage of my life. Not that those years won't fly by, but I really don't have any more space in my yard.

I figure it will be another week for the trees to completely fill in. You know, in May. I'll post a picture when that happens. As for now. Happy Florida Spring!