When I lived in the USA one of the things I missed the most was Australia’s native plants – one in particular was the Jacaranda tree. They are in full bloom right now, and it seems that wherever one looks there are the familiar purple flowers. I took some photos and will upload one if I can work out how to do that using the WordPress app for the iPhone.
The Experience Evolves 
OmbudsBen:
Hi there. Yes, beautiful trees.
Correct, I lived in WV (Morgantown).
I didn’t realise you had the trees over in SF — I guess the climate must be similar.
The NSW town of Grafton has a festival every year to celebrate their beauty. See:
http://www.jacarandafestival.org.au/
I did go to the National Arboretum in DC and was able to see many familiar plants — always good when you are far from home.
Rador:
Yeah, those fireworks were even more spectacular than last year. I live in Brisbane, which also had a pretty good show, but I think it would be hard to beat Sydney’s extravaganza.
The weather there sounds good to me — it’s been way too hot here this summer so far, and January is always worse. Thank the gods for air conditioning. 🙂
Dawn and Sirdar:
Thanks again for posting comments — it’s always a pleasure receiving comments, especially from you two, both prolific bloggers. Great to see you back online again Sirdar.
To all of you:
Thanks for visiting and leaving a comment — reminded me that I was pretty light on for posts in 2008, so that is one thing I intend changing.
Have a great 2009!
Cheers
Kim
I saw some photos of the fireworks over Sydney Harbor today. You Aussies sure know how to do fireworks.
Its been hovering around the 70’s in Florida. I wore shorts on Christmas day.
Happy New Year to ya!
AU, gorgeous pictures of the trees. I think you were in West Virginia when you visited the states, right?
FWIW, we do have them in California, and their blooms are lovely. We enjoy them here in the SF Bay area every spring–I think into May.
Also, the arboreteum in Golden Gate Park has several sections devoted to plants of Australia and New Zealand, corresponding to some of the different regions.
Awesome looking trees!! We don’t have them around here. Too darn cold in the winter for them I’m sure.
Ah, so that’s what a Jacaranda tree looks like. I’ve only heard of them in this song by Al Jarreau.
http://www.last.fm/music/Al+Jarreau/_/Jacaranda+Bougainvillea
I have seen photos of those before and they are gorgeous. That would be a tree I would want out my window if I was there. We have the pink trees here that I love in spring. I loved the frangipani flowers when I was in Australia and love the scent so when my penpal came here 7 years ago, she brought me frangipani scented items.