[bizi]

Simply beautiful!!!!
I wonder if they can be grown here in the south?
Thanks for posting the picture!
bizi

[Lara]

Dear bizi,
I would have thought your climate was pretty similar to mine, although I'm not sure how cold it gets there in winter. They seem to love hot and humid and have quite vigorous water searching roots.

Where I live we have most rainfall in summer, as I imagine you do, with dry winters. Doesn't get cold here though and I'm not sure that they would handle cold very well at all. Hard to say not knowing how cold your winter is, but they might do ok in a fairly sheltered spot. They shouldn't be grown too close to houses though! That I do know.

I just looked at a map showing the tropic of cancer, equator and tropic of capricorn. I think I live closer to the Equator than you do by looking at that. Pretoria would be just south of the Tropic of Capricorn, so I think the climate where Chemar used to live would have been pretty similar to mine here.

If I come across anything about growing them in your area in garden forums I'll let you know.

World map showing equator and Tropics of Cancer (to the north) and Capricorn (to the south)

[Curious]

lara, is there a plant growing zone map that would show where they grow best?

probably not plant them anywhere near a pool either huh?

but boy would they be beautiful in my front yard...

[Lara]

You read my mind.
Looking for one here now.

I did just find other information that negates most of what I said about hot and humid! LOL Still looking.

They apparently will flower in Australia as far south as Melbourne, which is way south of me, but it says they do better after a dry winter (they get more rain in their winter there usually).

http://www.hellohello.com.au/Jacaranda.html

I hope this thread is OK here. It's sort of "developed".
I should have called it ? about the TOW (Trees of the World) lol

[Curious]

hehehe....we do tend to wander around on topics inside a thread.

[Lara]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacaranda_mimosifolia

The Blue Jacaranda has been cultivated in almost every part of the world where there is no risk of frost; established trees can however tolerate brief spells of temperatures down to around −7°C (20°F). In the United States, it can be grown in many southern states, if necessary in containers. It is only regarded as naturalised in Miami-Dade County, Florida and Hawaii. It is regarded as an invasive species in South Africa and Queensland, Australia, the latter of which ha had problems with the Blue Jacaranda preventing growth of native species.

It's a "weed" here, apparently.
I came across a lot of mention of growing them in pots in southern US, but I would imagine they'd need lots of water.

It's 1st of November here today and we've gone to Level 4 water restrictions overnight.

This means that we cannot use a hose at all and it means even a reduction in hours that we can water with buckets.
Buckets can be used for watering gardens, washing cars and other outdoor uses on alternate days 4am to 8am and 4pm to 8pm with no watering with buckets allowed at all on Mondays.
Pretty drastic and worrying state of affairs indeed.

[Curious]

we had water restrictions here in texas too. i bet you have lots of tips for water conservation. i'm big on that..and recycling too.

i am going to ask out a local nursery how the blue jacaranda will do here. even in a big pot. ihave many crepe myrtles..i think they would compliment eachother.

[Lara]

Be sure to ask them if they'll flower in a pot. They'd grow, but it's the flowering that's the spectacle.
Crepe Myrtles or Lagoestrema (sp?) are great grown as hedges or bushes too. Just need constant clipping and you can keep them manageable and the more clipping the more flowers. I love those plants and there are lots of different colours these days. Big on recycling here too, but unfortunately not everyone else is.

[Chemar]

Pretoria, Jacaranda City, has long hot summers, with some but not much rain (ie not too humid) and cold, frosty (no snow tho) winters

I believe Jacarandas are indigenous to South America/Brazil?? and grow there on higher elevations??

We grew them successfully in Cape Town (mediterranean climate of cool wet winters and dry warm summers) but they didnt bloom nearly as well there as up on the Northern highlands