10 year + Jacaranda tree

[Walt]

The jacaranda tree in the below two photos is more than 10 years old. I think I planted it sometime in 1999, or at the latest, 2000. I think it was no more than a 7.5 gallon size. In any event, I recall it incurred some branch damage (up to 1" in diameter) during the infamous radiational freeze of January 5, 2001, when my open yard low dropped to 22 degrees (this was 10 feet from my house, so outlying areas of my property probably got colder).

But I digress. The point of my posting is to say that my jacaranda tree has never bloomed. Not once. Not even one little flower!

At first I thought this was due to immaturity. But now I'm not sure.

In any event, last week I bought a 3 gallon size jacaranda mimosifolia. I've seen these in bloom in nurseries when they were not too much bigger than the one I bought. Crowley's Nursery told me I have a jacaranda species that doesn't bloom. I find that kind of hard to believe because, how would the tree propogate without flowers and seed pods.

My wife loves almost anything (tree, shrub, plants) that flower. She just loves flowers. Our screened and partially covered lanai has pot after pot of flowering stuff. But to my point, my wife is very disappointed in our non flowering jacaranda tree that we've waited for so long to see it's first blooms. We keep saying, maybe next spring, etc., etc., etc. Well, we finally gave up, that's why I bought another jacaranda tree.

My wife told me I could go ahead and cut the non blooming jacaranda tree down. While I, too, am disappointed that it hasn't flowered -- I'm sure as hell not ready at this time to cut it down!

I'm posting this for other's comments, opinions, etc., in the event they've ever run across a non blooming jacaranda tree that I believe is in the vicinity of 12+ years old.

[Eric in Orlando]

Walt, I thing they are just variable and some can take a long time.

There is a good sized one at an old house I used to rent. I planted it in spring 1995, a seedling tree about 3ft tall. I live nearby and watch it every spring to see if it is flowering. It flowered for the first time last year but not heavy. This year it is blooming heavily and is solid blue violet. So give it time. We have one here at Leu Gardens almost 15 yrs old but it also has never flowered.

[ariscott]

Don't cut it down... It is looking good... But then, I love trees, even without the flowers... and mine is only 4 years old from seeds.

Regards, Ari

[MattyB]

Less water = more blooms. Jacaranda can survive, and thrive, on our rainwater alone here in CA, usually less than 10" per year. So don't irrigate it where you are, that's for sure.

[Walt]

Walt, I thing they are just variable and some can take a long time.

There is a good sized one at an old house I used to rent. I planted it in spring 1995, a seedling tree about 3ft tall. I live nearby and watch it every spring to see if it is flowering. It flowered for the first time last year but not heavy. This year it is blooming heavily and is solid blue violet. So give it time. We have one here at Leu Gardens almost 15 yrs old but it also has never flowered.

Eric: About five years ago I borrowed a book from a friend of mine who is in the wholesale nursery business over in Hardee County. This book illustrated and defined various tropical/sub tropical tree species. One of the trees illustrated was the jacaranda.

I seem to recall that the book said some species of jacaranda might take 10 years or so before starting to bloom. I've always kept this thought in mind, hoping each year that passed by would be the first year my tree would finally bloom. So, hearing about your experiences with some local jacaranada trees (only blooming after many years) gives me hope that my tree will eventually start to bloom.

Also, I read many years ago in one of my local newspapers that there was basically two species of jacaranda growing here in Highlands County. One was J. mimosifolia. I don't recall now what the other species was.

Another interesting point in that book I read was the jacaranda's perferred range here in Florida. There was a shaded drawing showing the Florida pennisula showing a swath range across the state, with a north border and a southern border. The southern border started at Punta Gorda and went across the state to approximately Vero Beach. The Northern border started around Tarpon Springs (maybe slightly farther north) and went across to about Daytona Beach. It was within this range that Jacaranda perferred, as north of that range it got too cold (trees get frozen back). South of that range there wasn't enough chilling factor and the trees didn't bloom as profusely.

I really need to borrow my friends book again.

[Walt]

Don't cut it down... It is looking good... But then, I love trees, even without the flowers... and mine is only 4 years old from seeds.

Regards, Ari

Ari: No chance I'm cutting down my jacaranda tree, blooms or no blooms. I think my tree might be an exception (i.e., being a late bloomer). Also, my tree is a slow grower IMO, as it seems to be about the same size now as it was five years ago. It really hasn't grown much at all.

[Walt]

Less water = more blooms. Jacaranda can survive, and thrive, on our rainwater alone here in CA, usually less than 10" per year. So don't irrigate it where you are, that's for sure.

Yes, I've read that about many species of tropical/sub tropical flowering trees, that they bloom better with less water, especially during the winter months. Here, our winters are mostly dry.

Below is a local jacaranda (photo taken in 2003) about one week or so before full bloom. Unfortunately, this tree took a beating during the hurricanes of 2005, but survived:

[fastfeat]

Walt, I thing they are just variable and some can take a long time.

There is a good sized one at an old house I used to rent. I planted it in spring 1995, a seedling tree about 3ft tall. I live nearby and watch it every spring to see if it is flowering. It flowered for the first time last year but not heavy. This year it is blooming heavily and is solid blue violet. So give it time. We have one here at Leu Gardens almost 15 yrs old but it also has never flowered.

Eric: About five years ago I borrowed a book from a friend of mine who is in the wholesale nursery business over in Hardee County. This book illustrated and defined various tropical/sub tropical tree species. One of the trees illustrated was the jacaranda.

I seem to recall that the book said some species of jacaranda might take 10 years or so before starting to bloom. I've always kept this thought in mind, hoping each year that passed by would be the first year my tree would finally bloom. So, hearing about your experiences with some local jacaranada trees (only blooming after many years) gives me hope that my tree will eventually start to bloom.

Also, I read many years ago in one of my local newspapers that there was basically two species of jacaranda growing here in Highlands County. One was J. mimosifolia. I don't recall now what the other species was.

Another interesting point in that book I read was the jacaranda's perferred range here in Florida. There was a shaded drawing showing the Florida pennisula showing a swath range across the state, with a north border and a southern border. The southern border started at Punta Gorda and went across the state to approximately Vero Beach. The Northern border started around Tarpon Springs (maybe slightly farther north) and went across to about Daytona Beach. It was within this range that Jacaranda perferred, as north of that range it got too cold (trees get frozen back). South of that range there wasn't enough chilling factor and the trees didn't bloom as profusely.

I really need to borrow my friends book again.

Walt--

I would suspect that being inland in Highlands Co should give you enough chill. I've seen nicely flowering trees in Port St Lucie, but not much south of there on the east coast. They are very good in the Tampa area and Orlando, of course. As one moves farther south, not only do winter temps get milder (not good for bud set), but also soils become more alkaline. Not sure how much this may influence bud set, but I suspect there may be some correlation. Seems that J. mimosifolia only blooms well in locations where camphor and Magnolia grandiflora thrive; curiously, both of these species disappear south of St Lucie County.

Jacaranda cuspidifolia is a darker blue species with very similar leaves to J. mimosifolia. It is gaining popularity, esp. in SoFla, where it blooms much better with milder winter conditions (and alkaline soils). Nice specimens are at Fairchild. Other species-- the Caribbean J. caerulea and J. jasminoides-- are also popular farther south, but probably lack cold hardiness you'll need inland.

Edited May 7, 2010 by fastfeat

[Walt]

Walt, I thing they are just variable and some can take a long time.

There is a good sized one at an old house I used to rent. I planted it in spring 1995, a seedling tree about 3ft tall. I live nearby and watch it every spring to see if it is flowering. It flowered for the first time last year but not heavy. This year it is blooming heavily and is solid blue violet. So give it time. We have one here at Leu Gardens almost 15 yrs old but it also has never flowered.

Eric: About five years ago I borrowed a book from a friend of mine who is in the wholesale nursery business over in Hardee County. This book illustrated and defined various tropical/sub tropical tree species. One of the trees illustrated was the jacaranda.

I seem to recall that the book said some species of jacaranda might take 10 years or so before starting to bloom. I've always kept this thought in mind, hoping each year that passed by would be the first year my tree would finally bloom. So, hearing about your experiences with some local jacaranada trees (only blooming after many years) gives me hope that my tree will eventually start to bloom.

Also, I read many years ago in one of my local newspapers that there was basically two species of jacaranda growing here in Highlands County. One was J. mimosifolia. I don't recall now what the other species was.

Another interesting point in that book I read was the jacaranda's perferred range here in Florida. There was a shaded drawing showing the Florida pennisula showing a swath range across the state, with a north border and a southern border. The southern border started at Punta Gorda and went across the state to approximately Vero Beach. The Northern border started around Tarpon Springs (maybe slightly farther north) and went across to about Daytona Beach. It was within this range that Jacaranda perferred, as north of that range it got too cold (trees get frozen back). South of that range there wasn't enough chilling factor and the trees didn't bloom as profusely.

I really need to borrow my friends book again.

Walt--

I would suspect that being inland in Highlands Co should give you enough chill. I've seen nicely flowering trees in Port St Lucie, but not much south of there on the east coast. They are very good in the Tampa area and Orlando, of course. As one moves farther south, not only do winter temps get milder (not good for bud set), but also soils become more alkaline. Not sure how much this may influence bud set, but I suspect there may be some correlation. Seems that J. mimosifolia only blooms well in locations where camphor and Magnolia grandiflora thrive; curiously, both of these species disappear south of St Lucie County.

Jacaranda cuspidifolia is a darker blue species with very similar leaves to J. mimosifolia. It is gaining popularity, esp. in SoFla, where it blooms much better with milder winter conditions (and alkaline soils). Nice specimens are at Fairchild. Other species-- the Caribbean J. caerulea and J. jasminoides-- are also popular farther south, but probably lack cold hardiness you'll need inland.

FF: According to the University of Florida, jacaranda only like slightly alkaline soils, and likes acidic soils. That's probably true as the soil in Highlands County is very acidic. I once tested my own soil and the pH reading was 3.64! I've seen pH soil tests after tests with readings well below 5.0. The only time I see higher readings is when the soil sample came from an area that had been amended with lime.

My parents live on the south side of a 3500 acre lake, hence their nighttime lows during the winter aren't representative of most inland locations at my latitude, at least on radiational cooling nights. They are solidly in zone 10, and two back to back winters three and four years ago then never dropped lower than 41 and 43 degrees respectively -- while I dropped into the high 20s!

They have a nice Delonix regia I gave them years ago that I grew from seed. My mom wants a jacaranda. So, if I ever run across a Jacaranda cuspidifolia or one of the other species you mention, I wouldn't hesitate to get one.

Jacaranda cultural information:

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/st317

[Jerry@TreeZoo]

Because of the cold winter we had this year, Jacarandas are blooming their heads off here in SoFla. It is the best bloom display I have seen on them in many years.

[Walt]

Because of the cold winter we had this year, Jacarandas are blooming their heads off here in SoFla. It is the best bloom display I have seen on them in many years.

Jerry: I guess the jacaranda bloom is the "silver lining" for such a rotten, prolonged cold winter we had! BTW, the jacaranda trees here in the colder inland are in full bloom, as good as I recall seeing them.

[Peter]

Here is a J. mimosifolia blooming in West Hollywood:

And here are a couple of cuspidifolias blooming in the same neighborhood:

[ariscott]

The only thing that I regret about living in the tropics is that I couldn't get Jacaranda to bloom like that!! They bloom beautifully in Brisbane all the way up to Townsville and then, nothing. BTW, I am talking about J. mimosifolia. And I am being a blue flower enthusiasts.. I don't think it is fair at all!!

Regards, Ari

[Walt]

Here is a J. mimosifolia blooming in West Hollywood:

And here are a couple of cuspidifolias blooming in the same neighborhood:

No doubt about it, they are some impressive looking jacarandas.

And for an off-topic comment. I swear that looks almost like a sweet 1962 Ford Fairlane on the bottom left in the last photo.

[paulgila]

jacaranda is one of the few trees that is commonly called by its botanical name!

[MattyB]

[paulgila]

actually i just happened to be reading a tree encyclopedia last night & came across that bit of info & thought it was interesting.i collect useless trivia like mattyb collects tea doilies.

[MattyB]

That's dollies.

[paulgila]

hmmm i was gonna leave that one alone.

[fastfeat]

CA-style J. mimosifolia, shot today in Pinellas Co off Sunset Point Rd.

Sometimes a little cold can be a good thing...

[fastfeat]

A couple more pics, taken awhile back at Fullerton Arboretum.

J. cuspidifolia (Left) versus J. mimosifolia (Right):

J. cuspidifolia close-up

Edited May 7, 2010 by fastfeat

[Eric in Orlando]

I was at EPCOT Sataurday. At the entrance in front of Spaceship Earth, Jacaranda mimosifolia is planted but only one was flowering heavily

[chris.oz]

Look at the shape of the Epcot jacaranda.

IMO you should absolutely avoid cutting branches off Jacaranda.

They respond by sending up vertical "suckers" from the end of the branches.

[Brian Bruning]

I'm looking for rare Jacarandas. In particular the white throated species, J. jasminoides, J. (mimosafolia x jasminoides (blooms purple) but I'm open to others.

[Peter]

I've got jasminoides-PM me.

[_Keith]

I wish I could grow one of those sooooo badly.