Some San Diego Trees

Jacaranda mimosifolia
It is time for the Jacaranda to bloom in San Diego, and with our unusually sunny weather (for June) they are simply awesome this year. This one is about a block from our house.

They actually do have some leaves, but when blooming the leaves sort of disappear. These blooms don't wither and die, either, they fall off the tree pretty much intact and make an incredible mess for a couple of weeks.

Cinnamomum camphora
We had a Camphor tree in our front yard for many years, and still have a nice one across the street after ours got root rot, looked more and more sickly for a couple of years, and finally died.

Camphors technically are deciduous, but are effectively evergreen because they shed their leaves (still green) and put on new ones at the same time in early spring. Their blooming happens at leaf change, is hardly noticible, and is followed by a seed drop that can get pretty messy for several weeks.

Spathodea campanulata
Our yard will soon be graced with an African Tulip Tree to replace the Camphor. They are very common in Hawaii, so we can look out the front window and... Never mind.

Our specimen will be chosen for a little more fullness than shown here, and the tree becomes quite large; can grow to 75' tall. It is evergreen, has some of its reddish orange flowers all year and blooms most heavily in late winter.

The crew is currently prepping for new sod, and the tree (in 24" box size) will be planted after the sod has set firmly; typically about two-three weeks.