Jacaranda blooms mark onset of summer

Ooty: Recent spell of good rains and bloom of Jacaranda flowers are helping the Nilgiris to regain its greenery and colors, post-winter, as the hill station is gearing up for the summer season from next weekend.

A drive through the Ooty-NH along the Coonoor slopes and also between Coonoor-Kundah road, is sure to mesmerize travelers by the awesome beauty of the Jacaranda flowers in clusters as the Jacaranda trees along the roadsides and amidst the tea gardens in the slopes enhance the beauty of the hills with its fresh blooms of purple-blue flowers. The bloom of Jacaranda, of course, also heralds the onset of summer tourist season that will commence next weekend, coinciding with the Easter holidays this year.

While the northern part of the hills, including the Mudumalai tiger reserve (MTR), which bore the brunt of drought and frostbite is yet to recover, in other parts of the hills, the greenery is back now as the recent spell of rains did the magic to the slopes and thus helping the flowering trees to start bloom in time.

As the Jacaranda bloom has brought elegance and charm to the hills, Dr S. Rajan, Field Botanist at the central Ayush wing here,  said that the jacaranda in Nilgiris, an ornamental flowering tree which is a native of South America, belong to the ‘Jacaranda mimosifolia’ species .

He said that the elegant purple-blue bell-shaped flowers with unique fragrance make Jacaranda so special during the summer.  

In Nilgiris, it is grown in the tea gardens and along the roadsides as avenue trees, which during the bloom time attracts the bees besides serving a shade tree with colours.  The flowers are long-lasting in nature and the blooms will be there for the next two months, he added.