Purple Rain....Jacarandas In Adelaide
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A DRY spring has helped bring on the best jacaranda flowering season in 10 years, gardening expert Malcolm Campbell says.
The city has been going through a purple patch in recent weeks, with jacarandas laying a “magnificent carpet” of mauve flowers across the city.
Messenger’s gardening columnist said jacarandas in Adelaide normally flowered for 10 days to two weeks, around the time of Year 12 exams.
But drier-than-usual spring conditions meant the season, which began in early November, as usual, would go longer this year, lasing about a month or even more.
“It’s unusual for it still be going at this time,” Campbell said.
“Usually the season’s over within a couple of weeks.
“I reckon it’s because we had a relatively dry spring then followed by pretty mild weather and it’s led to an exceptional flowering.
“It’s certainly made the jacaranda flowering the best I can recall in at least a decade”.
He said many people had been commenting on the unusually lengthy season.
“Everywhere, you can’t help but see it; even people not interested in trees have noticed.”
“Jacarandas always catch everybody’s attention at this time of the year,” he said.
“Sometimes it looks more spectacular because the flowers come out before the leaves.
“If you’re in the Hills, what you’re seeing may be different to what you’re seeing down on parts of the Plains.
“They certainly look beaut at the moment and they’re a talking point.”
Jacarandas, which are native to tropical and sub-tropical areas in Central and South America, were planted in large numbers in Adelaide in the 1920s and 1930s, Campbell said, and are most heavily concentrated in suburbs such as Millswood, Goodwood, Unley, Hyde Park, Norwood and Walkerville.
