A Squared Down Under: Jacaranda Trees Mayhem

Jacaranda trees are becoming synonymous with Sydney. Social media and Pinterest have help promote the beautiful blooms of the trees, but it has also caused mayhem. The trees bloom in October and November, but more often in November. They bloomed early this year due to warmer weather earlier on.

Jacaranda tree tunnel in Kirribilli which is about 7 minute walk from our house

The jacaranda tree is mistaken for being a native plant of Australia, but it is actually indigenous of Brazil. The species that is most commonly planted in Sydney is, Jacaranda mimosifolia. An early source states that Allan Cunningham was the man who planted these here in NSW. He actually later served briefly as colonial botonist here.

One story of how there became so many trees around was to the efforts of a hospital matron who sent each newborn home with a jacaranda seedling that was planted. A less romantic explanation lies in the fact the trees were a popular civic planting in the beautification programs of the early 20th century and interwar years, right up to the 1950s and 1960s.

Jacarandas are extremely difficult to reproduce from the seedlings sprint up around a parent trees. Reasoning is that like other member of the Begonia family, jacarandas are difficult to grow from cuttings, but they grow readily from freshly fallen seed. Because of this, they are considered a pest in native bushland.

Currently, Australia's eastern coastline becomes a lilac color as the flowering of the jacaranda moves south. It begins in Queensland in late spring and ends in Victoria in early summer. Apparently this is measurable and spring travels at about 3.2 kilometers an hour.

So the mayhem is coming due to the tunnel location in Kirribilli. People want to get in the middle of the street and take photos. The problem though is that they block traffic, sit down, or semi-refuse to move or pay attention. The road the trees are along is a major road through this area of Sydney. They are now thinking of potentially shutting down the road, making it into a one-way street or have a festival to block off the road during bloom season. A lot of this would be solved if people just used common sense, but that seems to not exist which is sad. I would be frustrated if I lived in that area and couldn't get to and from my house without having to deal with this.