Nice post! Good luck with your tree, it's going to be a challenge in your zone. We push the limits here, have a "paradise tree" and a "sausage tree."

Ya, I'm not going to tent it this Winter, so I hope it has become established enough to survive with just some thick leaf mulch & wrapping of the trunk. I have heard it said though that the trees that endure the worst Winters are the ones that put forth the most impressive display of blooms.

If this tree survives, I have a long driveway & I plan to start lining it with Jacaranda in the Spring.

I read somewhere that the jacs rooted from cuttings will bloom faster then seed grown trees. I have a seed grown that's 5 and hasn't bloom yet. I had one that was even older that never bloomed but lost it in the hurricane.

Loved reading your post and viewing the diary. How tall was the seedling when you first placed it in the ground welcomesite?

We had a jacaranda tree in Phx,AZ (pretty much a 9b where we lived) and it did okay even with a few light freezes. It was pretty huge.

I have 3 sausage trees here in zone 9a FL. I usually put them in the gh for the winter and sometimes they drop their leaves but leaf back out in the spring.
I left one out last winter in the ground as an experiment and when it dipped a under freezing, it froze to the ground but it eventually came back up this spring and has 2 trunks now lol. I had thought it was a goner.
I am gonna dig it up again this winter. I covered it the one time we dipped to 32F this winter and it will be 34 tonight so I will just cover it again. If it looks like it will get under 32F I will have to dig it up and move it into the gh.

The same thing happened to my Jacaranda Tree, it resprouted from the trunk. I have seen mature ones blooming in Tavares which I believe is 9-a, so I think the more established trees are hardier.