Tabebuia are in flower July 2012

Last week (17 July 2012) I noticed the big tree in my condo car park was flowering. I have never seen this before. And I saw many of the same trees flowering in Ipoh along the main road around Simpang Pulai.

Pink against blue

The trees are Tabebuia, or trumpet trees. They are native to America. They only flower in the dry season. And Malaysia is going through a dry period even though the SW monsoon has started.

Tabebuia is widely used as ornamental tree in the tropics due to its impressive and colourful flowering. Because a lot of the leaves have dropped off in the dry season, the flowers are even more conspicuous.

The flowers come in various colours ranging from bright pink, light lavender to white. They are tubular in shape, like a trumpet. Different species are known as Pink Trumpet Tree and White Trumpet Tree.

White and lavender (above) and white (below)

The flowers only lasted about a week. As they were falling in the wind it looked like it was snowing! A carpet of flowers

© Liz Price
No reproduction without permission