With the beginning of November, the jacarandas in bloom start to flower in the streets and green spaces of the City of Buenos Aires, providing a dazzling beauty in the landscape. Towards the end of the month, it will be the tipa’s turn. Discover where you can find the best corridors of both species in the City.
The neighborhoods of Buenos Aires fill with color during the month of November. The jacarandas in bloom and the tipas invade the streets with shades of violet-blue and yellow, offering a natural spectacle that unfolds every year at this time, admired by both residents and visitors to the capital. In the first weeks of November, it’s the jacaranda’s turn, and towards the end of the month, the Buenos Aires tipas will begin to bloom.
“The trees are one of the richest treasures that cities have. In the case of Buenos Aires, urban public trees are part of the natural and cultural heritage. For us, taking care of and preserving them is a state policy. This year, we are also adding many new specimens to the tree planting plan that is advancing steadily and sustainably,” expressed Ignacio Baistrocchi, Minister of Public Space and Urban Hygiene.
According to the latest tree census, the City has 18,922 jacarandas: 13,872 on sidewalks and 5,050 in green spaces. The corridors with the highest concentration of specimens are Av. Cabildo, Av. Del Libertador, Pierina Dealessi, Av. Córdoba, Av. Corrientes, and Av. San Juan.
The jacaranda will be the most planted tree this year, within the Tree Planting Plan. According to the planting program, by the end of 2024, the City will add 3,704 jacarandas to its streets and parks, representing 20% of the total to be planted by the Buenos Aires government during the year.
Districts 9, 12, 4, and 10 will be the districts where the highest number of jacarandas will be incorporated this year, with 380 specimens, 372, 371, and 322, respectively. Meanwhile, in district 1, the jacarandas to be planted represent 31% of all the trees that will be incorporated in that district.
On the other hand, the Tipuana tipu, or simply the tipa, is the seventh most common tree species in the Buenos Aires urban tree population. It has 14,847 specimens, of which 9,330 populate the sidewalks, and 5,517 the green spaces in Buenos Aires. Its flowering -followed by the synchronized falling of its yellow flowers- is one of the most beautiful natural spectacles that Buenos Aires offers.
Elcano, Dorrego, Brasil, Amancio Alcorta, Melián, and Figueroa Alcorta are the avenues where the best yellow corridors can be appreciated, which begin to sprout at the end of November. However, Valentin Alsina Avenue, in the heart of Parque Tres de Febrero, has one of the best alignments of tipas in the entire City; and Pedro Goyena is the one with the highest concentration, with 132 specimens along 18 blocks.
Like the jacaranda in bloom, the tipa is a tree that was introduced to the City by Carlos Thays; it is not native to this area of the country but rather from northern Argentina. Its flowers are a strong yellow color with orange hues and bloom in groups. Its flowering lasts about three weeks, and is brief compared to the blooming period of the jacarandas in bloom, which lasts about four weeks.
There is a time of year when a phenomenon called “the weeping of the tipas” occurs, which is actually not the tree’s tears but is caused by a bug called “Chicharrita de la Espuma” (Froghopper). This bug lives in the foliage, sucks the sap, passes it through its digestive system, and forms a foam that, when excreted, falls in droplets that are not toxic at all.
**The annual tree planting plan in detail**
The planting of jacarandas in bloom, at this time, and tipas are part of the Tree Planting Plan designed by the Subsecretariat of Communal Management, under the Ministry of Public Space and Urban Hygiene of the City of Buenos Aires, which will plant 18,074 new trees in 2024. Of the total, 15,000 were planned in the Tree Master Plan and 3,074 were added to mitigate the impact of tree falls during the December 2023 storm.
In the restoration of green spaces, 30 different species of trees are used, respecting those that existed previously and according to the type of landscape originally designed.
Some of the species being planted are: golden ash, crepe myrtle, photinia, viscount, cow’s hoof, anacahuita, mission cedar, pink lapacho, flowering plum, jacaranda, sweetgum, tulip tree, plane tree, linden, yellow tabebuia or silver trumpet tree, tipa, American ash, silver maple, among others.
The plantings began in May and are carried out in all the green spaces of the City’s districts as well as in planters located on public roads.
To implement this plan, 7,500 new planters were added, 6,131 empty planters were surveyed, and 4,443 specimens were added in green spaces.
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