Question
I live in the San Diego area and have 3 jacaranda trees that I planted about 4 years ago. They barely bloom and now (February,72 degrees outside)the leaves seem to be falling off. The trees are about 15 feet tall. I thought jacarandas were evergreen. Thoughts?

Thanks

Answer
Its considered a "Semi-deciduous" tree - so leaves coming off in the fall is normal.  Just about EVERYTHING falls off of this tree, eventually.  Thats how you pay for the beautiful blooms: with lots of pods, leaves, and spent flowers all over the yard & driveway.

I also planted a few of these trees when I lived in California.  Their habit is naturally open and "wispy"-looking, so a thin head is to be expected.   They are getting ready  to bloom here in the Spring, are they not?  As I recall, they will bloom all the way into September, some years.

If they are not performing as well as you'd like, try fertilizing them once in a while with a general-purpose fertilizer. They prefer sandy soil, away from ocean breezes, and they like to be watered frequently.

If you have neighbors with this tree and their's look better, its probably a soils/water problem.  If the neighbor's tree also seem to struggle with poor bloom/lack of leaves like yours, then its a climate issue.

Hope it helps.