Jacaranda trees line Myrtle Street in Santa Ana, CA, on Tuesday, May 19, 2020. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
A woman walks under the Jacaranda trees along Mountain View Place in Fullerton, CA, on Tuesday, May 20, 2020. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Jacaranda trees line Linwood Avenue in Santa Ana, CA, on Tuesday, May 19, 2020. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The tops of Jacaranda trees poke in to the sky along Myrtle Street in Santa Ana, CA, on Tuesday, May 19, 2020. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Jacaranda leaves litter front lawns and sidewalks along Linwood Avenue in Santa Ana, CA, on Tuesday, May 19, 2020. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Jacaranda trees line Linwood Avenue in Santa Ana, CA, on Tuesday, May 19, 2020. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Jacaranda trees line Myrtle Street in Santa Ana, CA, on Tuesday, May 19, 2020. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The Jacaranda trees along Mountain View Place in Fullerton, CA, on Tuesday, May 20, 2020. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Jacaranda trees along Mountain View Place and Maertin Lane in Fullerton, CA, on Tuesday, May 20, 2020. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Jacaranda trees along Mountain View Place in Fullerton, CA, on Tuesday, May 20, 2020. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Jacaranda leaves litter front lawns and sidewalks along Linwood Avenue in Santa Ana, CA, on Tuesday, May 19, 2020. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Jacaranda trees line Myrtle Street in Santa Ana, CA, on Tuesday, May 19, 2020. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
There’s a love-hate relationship with the jacaranda trees in Orange County that happens every spring.
Although they actually bloom twice a year, usually in late May or early June, and again in the fall, the pre-summer flowering is much bigger, and messier, than the fall.
If you drive around the county, mostly in the north, you’ll see a beautiful reminder of the changing season: the purple flowering jacaranda tree. And, if you live under the tree, you probably spend a fair amount of time cleaning your car and trying to stop the purple petals from getting inside your house.
There are 49 species of jacaranda trees, but the one that’s most common in Southern California is the jacaranda mimosifolia, also known as the “blue jacaranda.”
The jacaranda is a native to tropical and subtropical regions of Central America, South America, Cuba, Hispaniola and the Bahamas.
Our species of jacaranda originated in South America and was first planted in Southern California about a century ago. Most were planted in Orange County with the building of post-World War II homes.
