Jacarandas in the Southern US?

[AnTonY]

Can the jacaranda tree be pulled off in areas of the Southern US, in cities like Houston, New Orleans, and Jacksonville? What about Biloxi, Mobile, Pensacola, Destin, Savannah, Charleston, Myrtle Beach, etc? Galveston, Dauphin Island, and the Sea Islands? 

[AnTonY]

I asked this question partly because of this interesting passage on the Wikipedia article:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacaranda_mimosifolia#Habitat

Quote

The blue jacaranda has been cultivated in almost every part of the world where there is no risk of frost; established trees can however tolerate brief spells of temperatures down to around −7 °C (19 °F). In the USA, 48 km (30 mi) east of Los Angeles where winter temperatures can dip to −12 °C (10 °F) for short several-hour periods, the mature tree survives with little or no visible damage.

Edited February 22, 2017 by AnTonY

[Eric in Orlando]

Jacarandas were severely damaged around Orlando in the 3 big freezes in the 1980s. The '83 and '85 freezes caused major damage or killed them back to main trunks or even the ground. Orlando had low 20sF to near 20F in those freezes. Then the '89 freeze struck and froze them back again or killed them. During the '89 freeze there were 2 nights at 19-20F. I was in high school when the '83 and '85 freezes hit. There was a huge Jacaranda at my girfriends house and it froze back to the main branches after the '83 freeze and the '89 freeze killed it . Mature Jacarandas are good to about 25F before they start showing branch dieback. 

Jacaranda mimosifolia is native to Bolivia, Argentina, Paraguay and into northern Uruguay. Seed from the most southerly populations in Uruguay might have a little more hardiness.

[Really full garden]

Jacarandas are in full bloom in Guatemala now. They do best in higher altitudes. In lowland areas the blooming is very hit and miss. They seem to never defoliate completely and flowers are often mixed with seed pods from the previous year. This is a tree I would never plant in my garden. They are very messy with constant masses of leaves,twigs ,branches and seed pods falling.

I do enjoy seeing them from afar, in the neighbors gardens.

[Xenon]

There are jacarandas in Galveston, I believe even the city plants them in parks/public areas. Lots of them down south in Brownsville too. 

[AnTonY]

11 hours ago, Eric in Orlando said:

Jacarandas were severely damaged around Orlando in the 3 big freezes in the 1980s. The '83 and '85 freezes caused major damage or killed them back to main trunks or even the ground. Orlando had low 20sF to near 20F in those freezes. Then the '89 freeze struck and froze them back again or killed them. During the '89 freeze there were 2 nights at 19-20F. I was in high school when the '83 and '85 freezes hit. There was a huge Jacaranda at my girfriends house and it froze back to the main branches after the '83 freeze and the '89 freeze killed it . Mature Jacarandas are good to about 25F before they start showing branch dieback. 

Jacaranda mimosifolia is native to Bolivia, Argentina, Paraguay and into northern Uruguay. Seed from the most southerly populations in Uruguay might have a little more hardiness.

How were those freezes, in terms of duration? Because apparently, jacarandas can handle brief spells of 10F east of Los Angeles, if the article is to be believed.

[Jdiaz31089]

30 miles east of LA? That would put you in Riverside and San Bernardino counties (or the San Gabriel mountains if you head northeast.) Perhaps the mountainous areas there could experience that sort of temperature but I don't think those temperatures have been seen in the low lying, populated areas. Big Baldy peak is roughly 50 miles northeast of LA and I could certainly see temperatures getting that low there, but it's also at over 8,000 feet in elevation and there are certainly no jacarandas there. 

Every jacaranda I've grown gets foliar damage with the slightest frost, and any limbs thinner than your index finger typically die back with temperatures in the low 30s. I think that a hard freeze into the low 20 could severely injure or kill even mature trees.  

Edited February 23, 2017 by Jdiaz31089

[AnTonY]

1 hour ago, Jdiaz31089 said:

30 miles east of LA? That would put you in Riverside and San Bernardino counties (or the San Gabriel mountains if you head northeast.) Perhaps the mountainous areas there could experience that sort of temperature but I don't think those temperatures have been seen in the low lying, populated areas. Big Baldy peak is roughly 50 miles northeast of LA and I could certainly see temperatures getting that low there, but it's also at over 8,000 feet in elevation and there are certainly no jacarandas there. 

Every jacaranda I've grown gets foliar damage with the slightest frost, and any limbs thinner than your index finger typically die back with temperatures in the low 30s. I think that a hard freeze into the low 20 could severely injure or kill even mature trees.  

Interesting. The article mentions jacarandas growing in Nevada, and yet, much of that state sees low 30s/20s in winter.

[Jdiaz31089]

1 hour ago, AnTonY said:

Interesting. The article mentions jacarandas growing in Nevada, and yet, much of that state sees low 30s/20s in winter.

I always take Wikipedia articles with a bit of salt because they're open-sourced (meaning anyone can edit them). 

[Bill H2DB]

  Jacaranda's can be seen here and there in the Daytona Beach area , but quite sparingly .

They can be frozen flat to the ground , and then grow back as multi-truckers , if they were of decent size . . These recent warm Winters have allowed 

a few to reach good size once again .

[Eric in Orlando]

12 hours ago, AnTonY said:

How were those freezes, in terms of duration? Because apparently, jacarandas can handle brief spells of 10F east of Los Angeles, if the article is to be believed.

 

Maybe they are hardier in drier climates but 10F would totally kill them in Florida, even 20F. If its on Wikipedia then be very skeptical.

 

[necturus]

Most of the large ones around town died back to the ground after this last freeze that saw low 20s. My parent's plants that are a few years old in the ground with decent sized trunks  are putting out new growth from the base. This is down in Sugar Land where it hit around 20 both nights. In contrast, they have a Ceiba speciosa that lost about 15 feet of trunk but still has about 6 feet remaining with lots of new buds appearing. I am very skeptical on that 10 degree number, I think it's probably bogus. Jacaranda probably have a better shot near the bay or on Galveston but aren't really realistic for Houston proper without protection or with the acceptance of not infrequent die back to the ground.

I have a couple of dwarf specimens I'm going to try in the ground with protection.

[palmsnbananas]

10 degrees is total bogus

I'm from houston however am currently about 70 miles inland of Los Angeles and even here Jacaranda's are few and far between and it NEVER gets into the 20's even. Also there are only a few scraggly looking jacaranda's here and there and they flower occasionally but not are not impressive, no big ones. That line in the article is complete nonsense. 

[richtrav]

Interesting they can be killed in Orlando, there are some in San Antonio that have been beat back by many frosts but manage to persist. In NW Argentina they are native only with some altitude, you don't see them in the hot lowland Chaco like you would with Chorisia. But even in colder areas in NW Argentina they are susceptible to frost damage, such as around the Salta airport or Rosario de la Frontera, which recorded temps in the teens in 2010. This is a tree growing on the road into Rosario taken two years ago, the effects of 2010 still very apparent. I'm trying the Bahaman J. caerulea here but it surely can't be hardier; trees in containers did not like January's dip to 30 at all but the one in the ground stayed green. 

[necturus]

Fascinating. I was almost to the point of not trying these guys in my new yard (outside of the bonsai blue cultivar), but perhaps I'll go ahead and give it a shot. I also have a J. cuspidifolia in a pot that I'll try out.

[DoomsDave]

On 2/22/2017, 8:52:43, AnTonY said:

Interesting. The article mentions jacarandas growing in Nevada, and yet, much of that state sees low 30s/20s in winter.

I suppose there might be places in Nevada with exceptionally mild climates, but I don't know where. Vegas would be a Jack Graveyard.

They could be tough to grow outside the milder areas of Riverside.

They might survive the odd 20 year freeze, but every winter into the 20s F? I can't imagine.

[Ben in Norcal]

These guys are totally fine with seeing 30 degrees every winter, multiple times a year.  Can't say more than that though.

[necturus]

Out of curiosity, where are the plants in San Antonio?

[richtrav]

This one used to bloom before 2010:

https://www.google.com/maps/@29.4047632,-98.5128805,3a,75y,205.66h,99.34t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sAjHS40uUPNnv1BhMSWydBA!2e0!5s20160401T000000!7i13312!8i6656

There were also a couple on Burr Rd, I haven't driven by them in a few years. And at Oblate of course. 

[AnTonY]

I guess that answers it then; if a jacaranda can grow in even San Antonio, then it definitely can grow in the coastal South, all the way up to Myrtle Beach.

[richtrav]

Anthony, I dunno, they can maybe take 24-26F for short periods in drier areas but low 20s are going to cause damage. Urban San Antonio had a very warm spell from 2002 to 2010, even 2014 and this year are going to cause some wood damage on the jacarandas up there. I don't think I've seen one bloom in SA since 2009. If you really want a blooming one Monrovia sells a dwarf hybrid that could be grown in a container or protected in freezing weather. I believe it's grafted onto standard mimosifolia so it would be critical to make sure the wood above the graft doesn't freeze. If you want to risk it with a subtropical flowering tree some forms of pink tabebuia can take a little more frost. 

[necturus]

I have seen one tree sized jacaranda in Houston. It's in an extremely protected location. I don't know if it blooms. The rest are more akin to shrubs as they have clearly died to the ground and resprouted with multiple trunks. I have seen a couple in the Heights with scant blooms at most. I'm sure these could grow to tree size and bloom closer to the coast, but I think you're being overly optomistic, Anthony.

[AnTonY]

On 2/27/2017, 2:44:16, necturus said:

I have seen one tree sized jacaranda in Houston. It's in an extremely protected location. I don't know if it blooms. The rest are more akin to shrubs as they have clearly died to the ground and resprouted with multiple trunks. I have seen a couple in the Heights with scant blooms at most. I'm sure these could grow to tree size and bloom closer to the coast, but I think you're being overly optomistic, Anthony.

Not necessarily. A poster just showed a jacaranda growing in San Antonio with success. If even an inland city like that can grow jacarandas, then surely coastal places like Houston, New Orleans, and Myrtle Beach will have an easier time growing them.

[_Keith]

I tried and failed on multiple attempts.  Just as they would start getting some size a bad winter would come along and burn it to the ground.  I knew it would never be the beautiful specimens I'd seen in other parts of the country and figured at best, I'd have a sorry looking second rate specimen that might flower, maybe.   There were simply too many other worthy plants that would do much better, so I moved on.

[AnTonY]

1 hour ago, _Keith said:

I tried and failed on multiple attempts.  Just as they would start getting some size a bad winter would come along and burn it to the ground.  I knew it would never be the beautiful specimens I'd seen in other parts of the country and figured at best, I'd have a sorry looking second rate specimen that might flower, maybe.   There were simply too many other worthy plants that would do much better, so I moved on.

Where did you try growing them at?

[_Keith]

South Louisiana, Zone 9a, about 100 miles due west of New Orleans.  Similar to Houston, sometimes a few degrees cooler, sometimes a few degrees warmer.

[palmsnbananas]

Yeah I don't buy the whole Jacaranda in San Antonio business since they barely survive in Houston, I guess its possible but man they must be on life support. 

[Xenon]

The jacaranda in San Antonio looks quite sad (even in 2016)...it's just a trunk with some twigs. Looks like the 2010/2011 freezes froze it back to just the main trunk. 

[JMBreland]

There are a couple Jacaranda in Jacksonville that grew to a decent size, approx 15-20’, and had bloomed. They will never look as good as those growing in warmer climates, though, since they occasionally get “pruned” by freezes. 

[Hillizard]

I've been growing Jacarandas (J. mimosifolia, J. cuspidifolia and the dwarf cultivar 'Bonsai Blue') in my south-facing backyard here in Sacramento (USDA Zone 9b, Sunset Zone 14) for several years now. None of them bloom heavily though. As of today this winter (1/2/18), they all still have their leaves, though they've turned yellow on my grafted J. cuspidifolia. The 'Bonsai Blue' appears, at least in my situation, to be handling our nighttime lows (in the 30s F) the best, so that might be recommended if you're into 'zonal denial.' 

[JubaeaMan138]

I just cut down 2 huge jacarandas in my back yard they were so big I couldn't put my arms around them and I am in riverside . Beautiful trees but hate the mess they make with the flowers