Jacaranda trees were introduced to South Africa in the early nineteenth century and took hold so thoroughly in Johannesburg's northern suburbs that they became inseparable from the city's identity. Each year in October and November the trees bloom simultaneously, a seasonal event that residents have marked for generations. The phenomenon is closely associated with the university examination period, and a local tradition holds that the first fallen bloom brings either good luck or a reminder to start studying, depending on who is telling the story.

In person, the street is at its most vivid in late October, when the canopy is at peak bloom and morning light catches the violet haze before the wind lifts the petals free.