Then suddenly, in May, we start to see purple blossom. Lots of it, particularly along Fanoroumani Street, where we walk to and from the town.
I have nothing against purple as a colour. But for some reason, I find it - or at least, this shade of purple - slightly disturbing on trees. It's really quite nice-looking blossom:
But there are so many of these trees in Larnaka! For most of the year, they're fairly ordinary looking, then one day they're all covered in purple.
I don't even know what they are. Maybe the problem is that the colour really does NOT go with the bright blue of the Cyprus sky in May.
8 comments:
Great Pics
I love the look of the purple blossom ! Would love to be able to see it for myself - not been to Cyprus since last September. Your blog keeps me in touch but makes me long to be there !!
Regards
Eve
Excellent post and nice colors.
Have a nice day
They look a bit like jacarandas, at least the flower colours do, though the shapes of the trees look a bit different.
Thanks, Steve - yes, I think they must be jacarandas. I've googled and the flower shape seems to be the same too. Perhaps ours are a bit sparser than yours due to the drought.
Sue,
I looked at your pictures more closely, and I think the only difference is that your trees seem to be younger. They are well established in Pretoria, and are a trademark of the city, though they are exotic, and originate in South America.
They are always the last trees to lose their leaves in winter, and among the last to bloom in spring.
Hello,
I was googling purple trees becasue I paint them in my artwork and came across your blog. Those are gorgeous blossoms.
Robin
I am a designer and strongly disagree. The colour is not the issue, but the tree itself. What troubles me is whether this tree is an endemic to Cyprus and the Mediterranean region or if it's another invasive that destroys the natural character of the island. I think as Cypriots we should try and show our support to our native plants, that many of them are also rare and indangered. And stop planting plants that are from different regions.
Whether or not it was originally grown in Cyprus, they're all over the island now. And according to Wikipedia (which I know is flawed...) jacaranda trees grow natively in many Mediterranean countries, including Cyprus and Malta.
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