Each spring, jacarandas bring a fleeting wash of color to Upcountry Maui.
Driving through the sloping pastureland and quiet stretches of Upcountry Maui in spring, color hangs in the air: flecks of purple drift over the road and wash the grass and fence lines in a watercolor haze.
From April to June, jacarandas bloom along Haleakalā’s lower slopes. The trees stretch wide and their flowers hang in loose clusters. When the breeze knocks blossoms loose, they drift and gather beneath the trees, a second canopy across the ground.
The tree’s story stretches beyond Maui. The blue jacaranda, Jacaranda mimosifolia, is native to South America and planted in warm climates, prized for fernlike leaves and spring flushes of blue-violet blooms. In Hawaiʻi, the trees have grown for more than a century, but on Maui they seem suited to Upcountry’s cool air.
The bloom draws visitors to linger along roads they might otherwise pass through. On Kula Highway, pockets of purple stand out against the greenery as cars pull over to take photos. Near pastures, driveways and parks, the trees appear in flashes – one over a fence line, another beside a shoulder, then a hillside touched with lavender before the road turns.
The spectacle is brief. Fallen petals wither where they land. The color fades, and the land carries on. There is no permanence to it, and no need for it. Jacarandas arrive as they leave – lightly, seasonally – scattering purple scraps along the roadside before Upcountry settles back into green.
