This is the time of the year when Bengaluru wears pink. The city is witnessing its version of cherry blossom with Tabebuia Rosea trees blooming and spreading its pink wisdom all over.
Setting the bar high as a major garden city, Bengaluru residents are celebrating the spring from visiting parks and streets to posting on social media.
The city’s major streets and layouts are now covered with burst panicles of delicate pink trumpet-shaped flowers with yellow throats.
Tabebuia Rosea Trees
What’s a Tabebuia Rosea tree?
It is a neotropical tree that grows up to 30m (98ft) and can reach a diameter at a breast height of up to 100cm (3ft). Belonging to the Jacaranda family the pink trumpet tree is flowering across Bangalore city in great abundance at the moment, making aesthetes find solace. In just five years, this fast-growing tree can reach 25 to 30 metres high.
Tabebuia Rosea trees have been found growing from sea level to 1,200m (3,937ft), in temperatures ranging from 20°C to 30°C on average, with annual rainfall above 500mm, and on soils with very variable pH.
Preparations of the bark of the tree are consumed to eliminate intestinal parasites, malaria and uterine cancer. A decoction of the bark is recommended for anaemia and constipation. A decoction of the flowers, leaves and roots has been used to reduce fevers and pain, cause sweating, to treat tonsil inflammation and various other disorders.
Spring
According to the Hindu calendar, spring in India runs from around mid-February to mid-April and is known as Vasant (or Basant).In its Bengaluru version, the first half of spring is the most comfortable time in terms of weather conditions despite the annual peak of temperature.
Bengaluru’s charm as a garden city reaches its zenith during march and April, which are warm and relatively dry months.
Is Tabebuia Rosea native to Bengaluru?
A big no! Like many of us it has come and settled in the city, but many years ago.
The pink trumpet trees, or the Tabebuia avellanedae, are originally introduced by Britishers to their colonies to make it a stylised botanical aesthetic and planted these trees in the parts of Bangalore to remind them of their spring back home to quell their homesickness.
Since they valued flashy, ornamental exotic species like this one over the native ones, even after they left the beauty continues to enslave us by its charm.
Japan’s cherry blossom
Tweeps across the country are finding a resemblance between this splendid blossom with the cherry blossom in Japan.
In Japan, the blooming of the cherry blossom during spring is an event worthy enough to dedicate an entire festival. ‘Hanami’refers to the Japanese custom of mindfully observing and appreciating the flowers and their transient beauty.
Over the last decade, the Tabibuea in an array of colours has been imported from continental America and the trees seem to be flourishing across avenues, planted in the newer layouts in the city.
