₦airaland Forum

The jacarandas are out, and honestly, it’s one of the highlights for anyone who drives the cities’ canopied streets. They add a touch of magic here that can’t be found anywhere else in SA, or at least not in the numbers that we have them in Gauteng province.

But do you know the story behind these blooming jacarandas? They’re actually not indigenous to South Africa.

They came from Brazil more than 100 years ago, Durban got the first ones in the early 1800s, and Pretoria followed in the 1880s. Two of the oldest trees still stand in Sunnyside (Pretoria) today.

When the Union Buildings (President's office, see last picture) were being built in the early 1900s, the city was also modernising its infrastructure. Old trees had to be removed to make way for new sewerage systems. Instead of leaving streets bare, the Pretoria Council handed out jacaranda saplings for free to residents. People planted them in their gardens and along pavements, and before long, entire streets bursted with purple.

That’s how Pretoria earned its nickname, Jacaranda City (picture 3)

Today there are about 65,000 mature jacaranda trees across the city. They all flower at once on bare branches, which is why the bloom always seems to come out of nowhere like a surprise. And while we might think of them as Pretoria’s pride, Johannesburg actually has even more (picture 2)

There are even rare white-flowering jacarandas near Jan Cilliers Park and Wonderboom if you know where to look.

The University of Pretoria (UP) alone is home to over 200 trees, some of which were transplanted during the Bus Rapid Transit project and are still thriving.

Jason Sampson, who heads the botanical gardens at UP, says jacarandas are some of the toughest.

Pests aren’t really partial to them, and so they’ve stood the test of time as an invasive species. They’re actually one of the few invasive species given an exclusion clause, meaning they can still be planted in urban areas. That’s why they’ve remained such an iconic part of Pretoria.

People in Pretoria and Johannesburg as the Jacaranda trees bloom.

Pretoria is known for its Jacaranda trees..so beautiful in Spring

Nothing is as beautiful as nature . I love this💯










xxxxxx

damn beuatiful,

Wow See as SA infrastructure make sense

Xenophobic beauty.

If not for Their Xenophobic attacks South Africa is a beautiful place to live.

Smitaro100:
Xenophobic beauty.

And what do we call Nigeria sef? Tribalistic beauty?

SpaceX:
If not for Their Xenophobic attacks South Africa is a beautiful place to live.

Oh here we go..

Smitaro100:
Xenophobic beauty.

Forget o
Na Afrikaans plan their infrastructure o
No be black South Africans lol

yinkeys:
Forget o
Na Afrikaans plan their infrastructure o
No be black South Africans lol

Where were the black South Africans when their infrastructure was being "built"? Secondly, infrastructure is still being built in South Africa to this day, and it has never stopped...so who's responsible for it?
Jealously, bitterness, and white worship will be the end of you, Nigerians

IronGalaxy:
Where were the black South Africans when their infrastructure was being "built"? Secondly, infrastructure is still being built in South Africa to this day, and it has never stopped...who's responsible for it?
Jealously, bitterness, and white worship will be the end of you, Nigerians

Lol you really think Nigerians are envious of South Africans
Smh lol
delusion at its peak
Nigerians don’t even think of SA’ns
They don’t even cross our radar lol
You guys are the ones that brought this here

yinkeys:
Lol you really think Nigerians are envious of South Africans
Smh lol
delusion at its peak
Nigerians don’t even think of SA’ns
They don’t even cross our radar lol
You guys are the ones that brought this here

I don't only think so, I know so.. Watch this thread degenerating to exactly what I'm saying..

Xenophobic trees everywhere..
Streets where African brothers were mauled to deaths by packs of South African xenophobic hounds..

Tufiakwa..

Xenophobic people trying hard to be noticed on Nigeria platform/radar🥱

It might seem as though












Don't spam the forum by advertising in the wrong places or posting the same content many times.
19. Don't use alternate accounts to access Nairaland after being banned. If you do, make sure we don't find out.

I will choose visiting lion den over visiting south africa.

Xenophobic trap
. Nnmmmmmmkmljjjjjkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk

Wonders of nature...

But S.A is far better and developed than Nigeria relatively, and always getting better.
Why are we not getting better?

Sad to admit south Africa is better than Nigeria. a fact that vexes me. And the worst part is that the gap might even be worse in 20 years time.

Nigeria, we were not ready for independence yet we rushed to chase the white people away

kayyyy44:
Sad to admit south Africa is better than Nigeria. a fact that vexes me. And the worst part is that the gap might even be worse in 20 years time.

Nigeria, we were not ready for independence yet we rushed to chase the white people away

I knew this take was coming.. guys, white people aren't gods.. stop this worship mentality abeg

IronGalaxy:
Pretoria is known for its Jacaranda trees..so beautiful in Spring

Hello IronGalaxy, Babbelas zulu matombo siyabonga?

It will take Nigeria about 50 years to catch up with today's South Africa

This will definitely be in my garden if conditions permit

I believe these trees were planted by Whites during their colonial days in SA.

South Africa is what it is today courtesy of white men. Now, everyAfrican wants the beauty of SA, especially Nigerians. This is why we need to praise the white men sometimes. Not every of their deeds was bad in Africa. We were not capable of transforming ourselves due to our animalistic behavior.

You can visibly see how we plunder ourselves and take resources back to the white man country to help them develop further. Those that called for rapid and early independence of African nations are the greatest enemies of the black race. If our independence was right, why do we crave to be recolonized today?

These are my psychological reasoning.