My fav. place to shop...not quite stocked...been very cold.

Looks like a big nursery Lori ,did you buy lots of plants?

Lori:

It looks like a very large nursery.

It's so unusual for me to see all the trees in the background with no
leaves still. WOW!

They were just getting set up, Janette...so I took a few pics and hurried back inside as it was bitterly cold out there... Our temps have finally decided to edge upward...so pretty soon it will be bussling!

Yes D1, everything looks bare and shivvery...I was making note this a.m. as I walked Mandy...the leaves on the maples have just broken bud! tiny little things unfurling...it's a bit early believe it or not. perhaps 2 wks earlier than normal...a friend who makes maple syrup said that the run this year was excellent! strong and steady...maybe that's why the leaves are early.

Lori:

Yum Yum Maple syrup! LOL!

It isn't that incredible to see trees with no leaves here in Spring, however, it's from tropical flowering trees...they rest a little while in Spring or go deciduous before blooming. Examples: Hong Kong Orchid trees, Plumeria, Jacaranda trees, Tipuana trees and many others.

I like Jacaranda's they are leguminous aren't they? they have beans rather than seed...like the Locust? should really google before I open my mouth, aye? These days I'm second guessing all the time...memory isn't what it once was...(it was a steel trap at one time...now its pretty rusty!) LOL.

Lori:

Jacaranda is in the Bignoniaceae family. They have a round/flat seed pod with light feathery seeds and float away in the wind. Tipuana tipu trees are in the Fabaceae (or Leguminosae) family.

I have a 50 foot/15 meter tall Jacaranda in my front yard...and the seedlings pop up in quite a few areas in Spring. They are the tree of the city, unofficially that is.LOL! They are very, very widely grown.(millions) Not exaggerating. The city will be a mass of purple/blue in the next few weeks...as they are starting to bloom.

That sounds so beautiful! I am nuts about blue flowering plants...wow...millions of them? Now that's one blue flowering tree I wish I could grow!!

Lori:

Yes, Jacaranda is pretty much over used here. I do love this tree. This tree is sold everywhere and if you can't afford one the City of San Diego will give you one for free. That's how popular this tree is.

When tourist come to visit San Diego when the trees are blooming they are so amazed with the blue/purple trees...I hear this all the time. The city really does look purple/blue when they bloom. I'll post some photos soon.

It would be difficult to give an estimated number of how many of these trees grow in California...my educated guess would be many hundreds of millions of trees at least. In the San Francisco Bay Area they are very widely used as landscape/street trees also.

Jacaranda trees can be grown indoors, however, would probably never bloom. They bloom in pot here...although they would have to be grown outdoors.

If I bought a Jacaranda and potted it up...put it outdoors for the warm months and kept in indoors over the winter...do you think it would survive/bloom? Gosh I'd love a HUGE greenhouse...I used to go and sit in the tropical greenhouse, it revived the weary soul.

Lori:

It would probably do well. The blooming part may be iffy. You never know until you try it though. Like I always say...I don't like making definitive statement...because I'm always proven wrong. : > )

Ah... no worries...I appreciate your willingness to be of help. I've also been gardening long enough that I appreciate the true nature of "definitive statements". Nature has her own agenda and sometimes her rules aren't obvious until you try to push them a little! It might well be a case of I "may" grow it if I "can" find it! lol.
I was planning a trip back to Ritchies this weekend...and wouldn't you know it??? The weather report calls for rain ALL weekend!! boooo! Oh well, it's only moisture!

Lori:

I wish you the best of luck finding a Jacaranda tree. I could send you seeds...my tree has many seed pods and with the millions of trees here seed are not difficult to find. Let me know if you want seeds.

Enoy your trip and the beautiful rainy weather!

I have promised myself Saturday afternoon...maybe Sunday a.m for my trip to Ottawa.