The Jacaranda City

You are in the right place if you are in search for spectacular accommodation in Pretoria. The Jacaranda City is the name by which Pretoria is familiarly known, because of the spectacular show of Jacaranda during October and November. Enter Pretoria at the start of the summer season, and you are welcomed by the breathtaking purple display of thousands of Jacaranda blossoms.

Yet, how many of us know the story behind this attraction in Pretoria? In spite of popular belief, the Jacaranda is not native to Pretoria and South Africa, but to South America, and in particular to Brazil and Argentina. The Jacaranda is also found in Australia, Mexico and Zimbabwe.

In 1830, Baron von Ludwig, a Cape Town tobacconist, imported Jacaranda trees from Brazil to Cape Town. In 1888, a visiting horticulturalist from Cape Town by name of Tempelmann, imported two Jacaranda trees from Brazil and planted them in front of market-master Japie Celliers’ house, Myrtle Lodge, in Sunnyside. This house and garden now forms part of Sunnyside School at 146 Celliers Street.

In 1903, James Clarke, the then state horticulturalist, was assigned to cultivate trees for the State Nursery in Groenkloof. He ordered seed from Australia, and found that a packet of Jacaranda seed was accidentally included in the batch. Clarke then cultivated the seed and in 1906 donated a few of the trees to the municipality of Pretoria. These Jacaranda were planted in Bosman street and their display was so spectacular that it was decided to start with a big scale planting of Jacaranda. In due course, the Jacaranda became so popular and extensively planted that Pretoria became known as the Jacaranda City.

Different sources estimate the number of Jacaranda trees in Pretoria between 40 000 and 70 000 trees. An official guide to Pretoria stated in 1952 that 250 miles of streets in and around Pretoria were lined with Jacaranda.

A well-known tourist attraction is the less than 100 white Jacaranda that line Herbert Baker Street in the suburb Groenkloof. In 1952, a white Jacaranda was found in a jungle of Peru. Cuttings were taken to California and one was implanted on a purple Jacaranda. The first white blossoms appeared in 1957. In 1961, the then South African director of parks, received one of these trees from Los Angeles, which he gave to the then mayor of Pretoria, Mr IR Bester.

The University of Pretoria holds a legend that if you are a student studying for your final year exams and a blossom falls on your head, you will pass with flying colours. In general, there is also a legend that the shade of the Jacaranda tree symbolises the maintenance of good order in the community.

Other facts:

The blossoms of Jacaranda bloom for eight weeks in spring.

Jacaranda trees work well as street trees.

Jacaranda trees are drought tolerant and like full sun and moderate water.

Jacaranda trees will grow in poor soil.

The scientific name for Jacaranda is Mimosifolia

Despite its beauty, this tree has been categorised as an invader plant in the Jacaranda City.