In Praise Of........Jacarandas

We are a fair way from the beginning of summer, at the moment it is only the wattle that is in bloom colouring the landscape a distinct Australian green and gold. But there is no better time to think of the coming of summer and the brief blooming of jacarandas.

Jacarandas are fairly common in the cities I have lived in here. With their green leaves and mauve, papery blossoms they add a touch of coolness to the summer. For a brief while, the blossoms, the seed pods and leaves float and drift through the landscape and collect on pavements, the flowers staining them a faded purple. For the rest of the year, the feathery pinnate green leaves, similar but brighter than that of the tamarind remain except for a brief spell in winter.

In Brisbane, you cannot escape jacarandas and they are almost emblematic of the city. In November, if you were to be at the Mt. Coot-Tha Botanical Gardens, the city spread below looks like it has been carpet bombed with the distinct mauve/violet tones of jacaranda. They are particularly prevalent at the University of Queensland and there are a host of exam superstitions associated with it given the time of flowering. In Sydney, there were a fair few at Killara where I briefly lived and they mingled with other violet blossoms like the agapanthus that flowered at the same time. The picture above is a watercolour version of a photograph taken in the suburb.

In India they bloom everywhere, particularly in the drier parts like Delhi. In my memory, they are not the large spreading trees here but more delicate and less leafy in nature and to my child's mind they looked like the bluebells of Blyton books. In fact jacarandas still remind me of the intense heat of Delhi afternoons. The kind of heat where people sleep through the afternoon and circles of damp form on the pillow (if one were to employ Marquez speak). But the blooms are too delicate for the Indian temperament, they are often drowned out by the brighter colours of amaltas, gulmohurs, copperpods and palash that flower approximately at the same time.

The blooming of jacarandas does not appear to warrant a ceremony like cherry blossom viewing even though its flowering is as romantic and ephemeral. This time around I plan to take along some lavender tea (to maintain the violet theme) and have my own little reading ceremony under a suitable tree.