Bauhinia x 'blakeana' - Hong Kong Orchid Tree

I saw this tree at the temple on Tully Rd. & always wonder what it name? Now I know, thank you.

There's many species of Bauhinia trees. The most common in the SF Bay Area is B. variegata or purpurea.

is it not very early for them to bloom?

Michiseki:

Typically, the Hong Kong Orchid tree starts bloomining in late Sept. (sometimes mid-Sept) and it's peak bloom is late December thru early February.

It blooms later over here, late October early November.

It has a very long bloom season here in San Diego. I've seen quite a few blooming, already. They bloom from Sept - April.

In 2010 we had the coolest summer in about 100 years and the Hong Kong Orchid trees bloomed in summer. It was the strangest thing! They bloomed again during their normal season, also. I had never seen this before.