On of my favourite things about living in an older Brisbane suburb has to be the Jacaranda trees. From September through October the city is awash in the most beautiful shade of lilac. While the Jacaranda is actually a native of South Africa,  I couldn’t imagine Brisbane without it.

They don’t last at all in a vase and will wilt within ten minutes or so. The best way to enjoy the blooms is to sit underneath one of the trees!

The flowers get sprinkled all over the place, onto footpaths, roads, benches and cars. All it takes is a puff of wind to send purple confetti everywhere.

They don’t have a memorable smell. Fresh and earthy perhaps? Slightly herbaceous?

Jacarandas are usually associated with University exams, especially at UQ, because the campus is home to hundreds of  the trees. There is a beautiful painting at the Queensland Art Gallery that depicts the first Jacaranda ever planted in Australia. According to the Courier Mail all the Jacaranda trees in Brisbane are related to that first tree.

For many years, the Queensland Art Gallery painting was a source of mystery for school children when mauve blossoms amazingly spilled from it every night on to the floor.

The event was linked with the now-retired John Massey, the gallery’s canny senior education officer. He showed children around, impressing and enthusing them with the mystery of the spring blooms.

How cute is that!

Dress: Vintage

Stockings: Leona Edmiston

Shoes: Melissa

Handbag: Vintage

Headband: Diva

Cameo: Thirfted

Extra photo credit: Jacarandas by edcarsi