BLOSSOMS OF DELIGHT

I, too, count as one of the delights of living in Southern California the perennial May appearance of jacaranda blossoms (“Blue Streak,” by Jamie Wolf, So SoCal, June 9). And I always note how late in the year I can detect their blooms. I’ve found flowers lingering in November, and one time I recall seeing them as late (or early?) as January.

Viva jacaranda mimosa folia!

Pam Schulz

Culver City

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Sure, the jacaranda’s lavender color embodies exquisiteness and intensity. That’s why a famous song was written in Spanish for Elizabeth Taylor at the height of her love affair with Richard Burton. The song alludes to the reasons why she is loved so much: the sweetness of her lips, her dark hair as it was on the night she helped him forget his pain, and the light of her eyes--like a jacaranda in bloom.

Long may the jacarandas bloom, rivaled only by Liz Taylor’s eyes and beauty.

Manuela R. Cobian

Ontario