The title actually was a question that came on the Master Gardener hotline some time ago. It appears that the person calling had bought a Jacaranda “shrub” and was concerned because it kept trying to put out a large “stem” which required constant cutting back; also, it was never blooming as promised by the person who sold it. What could she do?
After listening to the message, I had to call her back to say that her “shrub” was actually a Jacaranda mimosifolia, a TREE that I feel should be the tree that defines Los Angeles instead of palm trees. A smallish tree to 25-40 feet tall and 15-30 feet wide. It can be “shrubby” but tall. With its lavender-blue flowers in the spring (although J. “alba” has white blooms), this tree can seem as though a mist of color is floating through the air!
I suggested to her to let one stem or more grow and become a tree if it wanted to grow that way, otherwise she would be fighting its natural growth cycle forever. She agreed!
Sometimes a small tree wants to be a tree and other times a tallish shrub. Only time will tell.
Questions about your plants? Call us at 707-784-1322 or email us at mgsolano@ucanr.edu and we will get back to you.
"Jacaranda Tree HDR, Johannesburg" by Paul Saad is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.