Jac Peeping

For many years, my parents lived in Fairfax, Virginia, a suburb of Washington DC. Starting in early spring my mother would act as my "cherry blossom peeper," keeping me abreast up north of the progress of the bloom of the world famous Japanese Cherry trees planted around the Potomac River Tidal Basin. (This was way before the Cherry blossom bloom and festival were monitored online.)











We spoke every day anyway so she'd just give me a daily status report on when the trees were budding and when the blooms were starting to appear. Then one day she'd call me up and tell me to come on down and just like that, I would pack up the kids in the car and make the 4 1/2 hour drive down from New Jersey to DC for a couple of days to take in the splendor.

Cherry blossoms are ephemeral. That is part of what makes them so special. One good April shower in March, or even worse, a freakish snowstorm, and they are toast.











If we waited too long, we ran the risk of missing the peak bloom. Many a year we couldn't just drop everything and go. As the boys got older, sports, school vacations and social plans got in the way. Sometimes the bloom was intercepted by a cold snap or a rainstorm before we could get down and we would miss it altogether.










The Jacarandas started blooming in Joburg before we left Africa in early October for our trip and they were still in bloom here when we returned in early November. As a matter of fact, Joburg is still quite purple even now.

The Jacaranda flowers seem to be much more hardy than the fragile Cherry blossoms. Or it could just be that they bloom here before the rainy season is a serious threat. And there is no chance of a freakish snowstorm in Gauteng.

Pretoria's Church Square with the last Jac standing on the right

But Pretoria, not Joburg, is nicknamed The Jacaranda City. Vince and I wanted to see them in bloom in the city that claims the Jacaranda as its namesake.

So since they were still blooming here in Johannesburg a mere 35 miles away, we decided to take a chance and make the 40 minute drive to Pretoria today to see if there were any that were still in bloom in The Jacaranda City as well. There weren't. Most were completely spent. Leafed out. All green. We saw only a few here and there that were still partially in flower.

We made the best of it and instead scouted locations for next year, looking for interesting backdrops and streets that presented a unique perspective to photograph.

Suggestions from the Heritage Portal for next year:

• the original two jacaranda trees, Jacaranda Mimosifolio, from Rio de Janeiro. Planted in 1888 at Myrtle Lodge in Sunnyside, it is now part of Sunnyside Primary School at 146 Celliers Street. These trees are still standing and bear a bronze plaque and can be viewed during school hours.
• Government Avenue with its double row of Jacarandas on either side. It is the only street in Pretoria with a double row. They were planted like this to provide complete shade for the government officials walking to the Union Buildings from Bryntirion Estate.
• the white species of Jacaranda on Herbert Baker Street in the suburb of Groenkloof. Introduced in 1962 by a resident by the name of H. Bruinslich, they were imported from Peru.

It was so much easier when I had a resident peeper to do my advance work.