1/13/2024 0 Comments Pasadena jacaranda trees![]() “As Raymond Chandler, a master of not just sunshine and noir, but also the perfect simile, put it in an early story, ‘Beautiful hands are as rare as jacaranda trees in bloom, in a city where pretty faces are as common as runs in dollar stockings.’ In fact-look up! -they’re already almost gone. “In a city of eternal sunshine, what could be more seductive than impermanence? Our eyes can adjust to all the evergreen beauty Los Angeles has to offer stay here long enough and you’ll take it all in without even blinking. “’The terrible thing about LA,’ Orson Welles once said, ‘is that you sit down, you’re 25, and when you get up you’re 62.’ How does one calibrate time when history is liquid and seemingly lived in the ageless present? Somewhere, likely in the basement of some talent agency, there must be a pile of Faustian pacts stacked a mile high. “There are no seasons here, they say, no way to separate the days. Vladimir Nabokov is said to have claimed that he could have lived in Los Angeles for the jacaranda trees alone. thing? One can only imagine what those weary midwesterners must have thought of us, we Californians, who grew things just for their beauty. “In 1944, a scholar visiting from Chicago described ‘the immense clusters of violet blue flowers’ in a scientific journal, explaining that an illustration of a Ja caranda mimosifolia flower on the facing page was ‘made from specimens collected in the environs of Los Angeles where this tree is widely grown for its beauty.’ ![]() The Santa Monica stretch of jacaranda trees from Wilshire to Colorado on 3rd is a designated city landmark, and for good reason.” Palm Drive becomes a tunnel North Whittier a lavender canopy. “Ordinary trees explode in a riotous violet haze. “Jacaranda season may be brief, but for a short burst of time all of Los Angeles seems to be in purple-blue bloom. Hands down, the best writing about LA’s Jacarandas is here in The Story Behind Los Angeles’ Beautiful, Ephemeral Jacaranda Blooms by Julia Wick. “… a Southern Californian would still know that it was wonderful to be alive merely for the jacaranda and catalpa tree blossoms.” ~ LA Times June 12, 1912 “And yards look like they never cleaned up after a surprise party.” “They make entire blocks feel like walking on rubber.” “If one falls on your head, it is said to be good luck.” “You’ll never notice them the rest of the year.” “For about three weeks in spring, they explode in hot lilac trumpets.” Mac page! How quaint!” Do read the entire thing! But wait, I thought, I wrote all this about jacarandas already, didn’t I?” ![]() It’s LA’s purple rain, I laughed (yes, this is how I entertain myself while walking around town). The jacarandas bloom and give way to June Gloom, I thought as I was walking home yesterday, spotting sprays of lavender splotched randomly like graffiti tagging the hillsides. “Right around Memorial Day, LA emits this otherworldly purple glow. In 2009, she wrote this delightful piece - Purple Haze: She’s been thinking about it for a long time. When we’re thinking about our city’s forested future, we need to think green-and we can also think purple.” Yet the trees we plant today will be thriving. In 50 years, most of the palms that you see today will be dead. “Think about the trees on your street-and not just the ones that bloom violet once per year. ![]() But wouldn’t it be incredible to plant enough of them all over the city, in great enough densities, for people to make pilgrimages here just to see them-and at the same time, to stroll along our newly reimagined streets? What if LA became known for its leafy, well-shaded sidewalks instead of its palm-lined drives? Nor should we line entire streets with one species-that’s not great for biodiversity. “I’m not saying we need to Johnny Appleseed the city with Jacaranda mimosifolia seeds. “What if LA became known for its leafy, well-shaded sidewalks instead of its palm-lined drives? But there are few trees that do all those things-and also provide such stunning, exotic, instantly Instagrammable enchantment. ![]() There are many LA trees that check all those boxes: sycamores are nice oaks are native, and planting locals should be our priority, of course. “Enter the jacaranda: drought-tolerant, fast-growing, wildlife-friendly, shade-providing, sidewalk-protecting. Alissa Walker is the urbanism editor of Curbed and I’m convinced she’s on to something here. I’ve been reading about the Jacarandas ever since I read this amazing piece of arboreal advocacy last year: Jacaranda s are LA’s future. The Jacarandas blooming still sneak up on me. The next will be my fortieth California June. ![]()
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