They appear to thrive under fairly harsh conditions - sorry no help on preferred pH or fertility levels, but I would guess that a rich soil will give too much soft growth. They take a long time to come to flower, but worth the wait. They also seem to be very frost tender. I have had them in Australia, and seen only one here in inland Portugal where we get a few mild (by UK standards) frost each year. Conversely, the other Aussies, Eucalypts thrive throughout Portugal, so do not take them as a guide. Old McDonald.

Old McDonald, many Jacaranda trees are grown in Australia, but this doesn't make them Australian. They come from tropical and subtropical areas of South America.

They only grow in a few select places in the Mediterranean too - not easy at all in our inclement northern latitudes and of course totally out of the question in the UK.

With a degree of care, Jacaranda mimosaefolia can be successfully flowered in a large container and rates highly as a foliage plant throughout the growing season. It is not a 'house-plant' however and will resent the low light levels and poor humidity of being grown permanently indoors. Under such conditions, it will be prone to red spider mite, aphids and mealy bug.

It seems happiest in a sandy, loam-based compost and a good mixture is 4 parts John Innes No2 to one part horticultural sand or grit. This will provide the free-draining conditions that the plant relishes. Soil-less mixes break down too easily over time and create air-less stagnant conditions within the pot. They are fine for bedding or temporary plants, but useless for most containerised perennial and woody plants.

Young Jacarandas can be repotted every spring until they are in their final, 12 - 14" diameter containers. They can of course be kept smaller by not repotting so frequently, but growth rates will slow down and flowering could be delayed. When all danger of frost has passed, Jacandas should be gradually hardened-off and moved outside to a sunny, wind-sheltered spot for the summer. There they will thrive and grow rapidly. Young plants will benefit from applications of a general purpose liquid feed every 2 - 3 weeks in summer up to the end of August. Older specimens do best if given a tomato fertiliser every 3 weeks. If you prefer bushy plants, you can pinch out the shoot tips when they are about 8 - 12" high to promote branching. Otherwise, let the shoot grow up to develop a short trunk and then pinch out at around 4 or 5 feet.

Depending upon where you live, you will need to bring your plants in during late September/ October to avoid the first frosts. Older plants can be left out longer and in fact colder nights will help by inducing partial winter dormancy. That said, don't run the risk of exposing them to a sharp frost - young plants especially are are very susceptible and can be severely damaged of killed. Jacandas are naturally semi-deciduous, losing most of their leaves when temperatures start to drop in autumn. During winter, keep the plants just frost-free in a greenhouse, porch or conservatory. Although they may not be actively growing, make sure that the compost does not dry out too much. The aim is to keep it very lightly moist. Keeping plants too warm in winter will encourage them to continue growing, which because of our very poor winter light intensity, should be discouraged. Any growth produced will be thin, weak and prone to disease.

In early spring when new growth commences (usually during Feb-March), pot on in the mixture described above and gradually resume normal watering. Plants that are not being repotted need the top inch or so of compost replaced with fresh at this time. Commence feeding in late April for those plants that have not been potted-on and early June for those that have.

Make sure that the...

Ok, wattleblossom, but if you want to be really pedantic, then you are not an Aussie either, no humans are. I reckon if something is bred in a country for several generations - as most currently alive Jacarandas probably are, then they become one of that country's plants or animals. If you disagree I accept your view. Old McDonald.

Hi! Here in St. Petersburg, Florida we have the best growing conditions for Jacaranda. These lovely trees are all over. When they are in bloom it is a sight to see!
( I am lurking here 'cause I will be making a trip to Yorkshire in Sept.) I am hopeing to see much lovely flora!
Bren2

I have 2 Jacaranda trees in my garden. They are 2 years old. They are big, look in excellent condition but have yet to produce their purple 'flowers'. How long does it take?

I picked up a bag of seeds in Australia four years ago and about 50 germinated. They were overwintered in the garage with only 5 surviving. I planted out the healthiest one last spring. The leaves have dried up at the ends but the leaf stalks and last years twigs are still green and healthy. It is in a sheltered position against the house wall and the soil is almost dry due to the topography and the present winter drought. However, we have certainly had some heavy groundfrosts, which suggests that this may be an exceptionaly hardy individual. With a lot of luck it will continue to survive, and maybe one day flower.
Does anyone know if a Jacaranda tree has ever been grown successfully outdoors in the UK?

Go to Parklands area in North Chichester, West Sussex UK at the end of April and you will see the two 30-odd foot trees that live there in full flower. Think they can be spotted somewhere around Oak and Walnut avenues

I have grown my one from a sead in doors, it is now about a foot high every now and again it will drop a whole branch worth of its leaves, please help, it is on our kitchen window seal

Dave Gilliam

There is a magnificent Jacaranda mimosifolia growing in Puckpool park, near Seaview, Isle of Wight. it is only around 50 yards from the sea, so perhaps does not get too much frost

I get a bit late to this thread but I could not help to answer to Rutland, I am from Argentina and Jacarandas thrive here in many places and not only in warm places, they are very common the cool jungles of the andean slopes , here were I live we have some frosts every winter with temps droping as low as -3 C and have 3 huge jacarandas, I know people who grow them here in provinces where temps are lower, the secret they say is to plant the tree outdoors when it is some years olds , they keep it in containers for some years and keep it under a roof in winter when they lose their leaves but when it is big enough they can withstand frost, just have to make sure it gets at least 6 hours of sun, I have hibiscus outdoors here and when they are young frosts kill them but once they reach certain size they can endure them and only get some small damage on leaves, if I were in the UK I would try Jacaranda.

I seem to remember a Jacaranda tree at Hampton Court near the Maze so I think once they are established they may survive as this tree was about 30 feet in height. I remember being very surprised as we had them in Harare in Zimbabwe where there was also an annual Jacaranda Festival.

Hello Charles, I think Jacarandas can grow in the UK, if a subtropical tree like Magnolia Grandiflora grows untroubled there then Jacarandas should do it too. I've seen Jacarandas in southern Argentina where winters are frosty. in the UK they should be treated like roses: as many sun hours as possible.

Can we put this canard to rest once and for all? I am fairly sure there are no Jacarandas surviving outdoors year round in any part of the British Isles. Not only are the winters too cold, the summers are not hot enough. In 6 decades I've never seen a single specimen growing outdoors in the ground here. Even on Tresco, the most mild garden in the country, jacarandas are not successful.. Maxaga's above claim to have seen them in Chichester is completely impossible. What s/he saw was probably Paulownia. But it most definitely was not Jacaranda. This is also probably the tree seen at Hampton Court unless that was a potted specimen brought out for the summer. The tree reportedly seen at Puckpool Park I am curious about. Having lived the other side of the Solent from Seaview with a pretty much identical climate for many years I can say for certain there were no Jacarandas even 50 metres from the beach. If they won't grow on Tresco I don't see how they could possibly grow on the Isle of Wight. I'd be interested in photographic evidence. I think that Paulownia probably accounts for all the mistaken flowering Jacaranda ids.

I seem to recall a jacaranda in the middle of a maze at one of the places outside London...it was 30 years ago so my memory is hazy but I do remember thinking this is odd..I may be wrong but it was a big tree about 10 meters high with the mauve flowers I remember from Harare in Zimbabwe where we had hundreds of the trees before Mugabe cut a lot down.