Are the lovely jacaranda trees of Tampa Bay, with their explosions of vibrant purple blossoms that signal the arrival of spring, bursting into bloom like fireworks on a rainy Fourth of July?
According to Mike Jefferis, who is the administrator of leisure services for the city of St. Petersburg, which includes parks and recreation, a jacaranda that he admires are located in his neighborhood and this year appears to be “a little sparse.”
Brian Knox, a senior forester examiner with the city of Tampa’s planning department, stated that “usually we’re expecting a bloom around this time,” which refers to the time of year. “We are unable to provide it.”
The ebb and flow of life in the Tampa Bay area is reflected in the jacaranda trees that dot the local landscape. Many of these trees were planted in the 1960s.
Long before there was a Weather Channel, it is reported that local anglers would look to the blooming of a jacaranda to determine when it was the right time to go fishing for kingfish. Once, the Tampa Bay Times polled its audience to find out which Jacaranda was their favorite, and they responded.
According to Jefferis, a native of St. Petersburg, his jacaranda tree belonged to his grandmother and was “the best climbing tree ever” when he was a child. “They’re absolutely gorgeous,” he remarked about the trees.
“Those are some truly magnificent trees. “They help define the boundaries between our different neighborhoods,” he remarked. “Everyone in the world is extremely proud of them.”
The jacaranda trees, which can be found all the way from the middle of the state to the southernmost tip of the Keys, are not indigenous to the United States.
When they are in full bloom, as Jefferis put it, “you’ll see a whole block as you’re driving down the road,” he said. “It’s like smoke.”
Is it possible that the prolonged drought that has led to browning grass and the death of plants in some parts of Tampa Bay this year is to blame for the less intense show that has been observed in those areas?
In point of fact, as stated by Tia Silvasy, a residential horticulture agent with the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Extension in Hillsborough County, jacarandas are exceptionally resistant to drought and need “well-drained, sandy, dry soil.”
“They’re a very, very tough tree,” remarked Knox of the trees. They are able to adapt quite well to any circumstance.
Silvasy makes the argument that trees might have different characteristics in different years. Oak trees can have bumper crops of acorns in some years, while mango trees can produce an abundance of fruit in other years. She stated that the scenario with the jacarandas this year “could just be a part of the natural cycle of the tree.”
Fans of the Jacaranda, take heart.
Jefferis observed that these trees bloom twice a year, however, the “heaviest bloom” occurs in the autumn months.
“My prediction is that we will have a very wet summer as usual,” he continued, “and we will have a canopy on fire for the fall.”
