In May, the jacaranda trees burst into bloom in Southern California, allowing me to present a purple haze of photos for this PhotoPost. My Webshots Gallery has two new folders. Purple Pulchritude One (Long Beach) and Purple Pulchritude Two (Pasadena). The first folder has 38 photos taken around Long Beach last Friday afternoon, and the second folder has 85 photos taken on Sunday morning, May 18th, on Del Mar Avenue in Pasadena.

My weekend plans were to go to the Renaissance Faire for a photo and video expedition, and also to take some photos of the many jacarandas in bloom. Although I did get to the Renaissance Faire, as planned, it was just too hot to take photos, and I ended up leaving the Faire early. Before I went to the Faire, however, I had taken dozens of floral tree photos. Above is one of my favorite jacarandas planted in the center median on Willow Street right down the street from where I work. It is framed by some other trees along the street.

Standing under my "favorite" tree with  a view to the west to another jacaranda on the next median. The trees bear leaves in the late part of the year, and then the leaves disappear, allowing for a burst of purple pulchritude when the flowers bloom. Long Beach has lots of these trees around town, and many are planted in the center medians along Willow Street.

These three photos are all of the same tree. I also photographed this tree in 2005 for my "Bloomin' Blue Trees" photopost. This is the same tree as the first one on that earlier photopost. In the meantime, I now have a better camera, and the tree is a couple of years older, and even more magnificent.

A few of the many jacarandas planted in Long Beach in a residential area off of Stearns Street. The blooms only last for about a month, and then the leaves begin to grow again. While the blooms are on the trees, they are incredibly brilliant and beautiful, but they fall quite quickly, and they exude a sticky substance, so the streets where they are planted can get quite messy. The cars on which the blooms fall can get sticky as well, so it is not advised to park under them. (Especially with an open car.)

Here is a contrast between the purple jacaranda blooms, on a tree planted on the median, and a red bottle brush (callistemon lanceolatus) planted on the curb. There are many flowers and flowering shrubs and trees in bloom right now around the southland.

Here is one of the first photos I took on Sunday morning in Pasadena. It's about 8:30 a.m. People are just awakening, but the day was already pretty warm when I took this shot. This is on Del Mar Avenue, which is lined on both sides by jacaranda trees.

A bit of the mess on the ground underneath the trees spreading into the street.

A church framed by a jacaranda tree on Del Mar Avenue.

Some of the many blooming trees on Del Mar Street. It's a nice place to visit, but the blooms were all over the place, including scattered on cars, lawns, and front walkways.

Contrast between a bouganvillea bush and jacarandas across the street.

Del Mar Avenue in Pasadena about 9:00 a.m. on a Sunday.

A maginficent tree shading the street in Pasadena.

More beauty in Pasadena.

This car and the surrounding street is covered in blooms from a pretty full tree.

A reverse view of the church, framed with flowers red and lavendar.

This was snapped on a side street off Del Mar Ave.

Tow big jacarandas, one on each side of a street in Pasadena.

A jacaranda planted on a corner in front of an antique realty office. Yesterday I updated the design of this blog to reflect the "purple blooms" of my "jacaranda project", including adding a new profile pic. (The street sign on the profile is "Landa" street but it could also be part of the word "jacaranda" for those with eagle eyes.) I also updated the front page to my personal website AllThingsMike over the past couple of days, showcasing some of my more recent "projects". Spring is really a time when my creative juices start to flow.