The Brief

You know them, you might love looking at them, and you definitely hate to park under them. Jacaranda season is upon us, and the iconic tree gets a lot of attention every year (see here if you need help tracking them down). But if you only pay attention to that bloom, you’re barely scratching the surface of the flowers you can see every year – there's no shortage of tree species planted around town.

If you're going to park under a jacaranda, it helps if your car matches the flowers.

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Kevin Tidmarsh/LAist

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Greater Los Angeles has an incredibly varied assortment of tree species, owing in part to its microclimates and the many varieties of trees that can adapt to live here, especially drought-tolerant ones. And while they may not all have the name recognition of the famous tree imported from South America, they’re just as eye-grabbing when you see them.

Keep your eyes peeled this summer for these blooms, and if there’s a particular tree you’ve got to see flower yourself, you might want to consult a guide like this one for the city of L.A.. And if you’d rather see a bunch of trees at once, it could be worth a trip to somewhere like the L.A. County Arboretum or Descanso Gardens.

To put some shine on these lesser-known tree species, we went ahead and polled some specialists from TreePeople and the L.A. County Arboretum for their favorite blooms.

One protip from our experts: The range of time when you can see these trees in bloom can vary substantially from year to year, especially as climate change intensifies. This year’s blooming season, like last year’s, is later than usual owing to a wet winter, and trees of the same species might not bloom at exactly the same time. So if you don’t see any flowers, don’t fret – you can look somewhere else, and the same tree could be a lot more flowery in just a week or two.

Crepe myrtles

• Lagerstroemia

A crepe myrtle tree in the L.A. County Arboretum.

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Courtesy Frank McDonough/L.A. County Arboretum

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Crepe myrtles do well in lots of L.A.'s microclimates, including by the beach. A specimen in Redondo Beach is pictured here.

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Kevin Tidmarsh/LAist

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• When it normally flowers: Summer (may flower multiple times per year)
• Native to: Oceania, South and Southeast Asia
• About the tree: It shouldn’t be too hard to spot, since its hardiness makes it one of the most commonly planted trees in L.A., though TreePeople’s senior arborist Bryan Vejar said it’s fallen out of favor somewhat in recent years in part due to its widespread planting. And summer isn't the only time Frank McDonough, botanical information consultant of the L.A. County Arboretum, said that they're one of the best trees for fall foliage when cooler temperatures roll around.

Southern magnolia

• Magnolia grandiflora

Magnolia grandiflora getting ready to bloom.

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Courtesy U.S. National Arboretum

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• When it normally flowers: Spring through fall
• Native to: Southeastern United States
• About the tree: If you want to see some really big flowers, Vejar says this is one of the ones to look out for: They can get almost as big as a dinner plate. Magnolias are also a living fossil, being one of the first plants to evolve flowers tens of millions of years ago.
  

Tipuana

• Tipuana tipu

Tipuana tipu trees, like jacarandas, were originally brought to L.A. from South America.

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Flickr user Cyril Nelson

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• When it normally flowers: Early to late summer
• Native to: South America
• About the tree: This tree is a member of the legume family, but you might think it’s more closely related to maple trees if you saw their helicopter-like seeds, according to Vejar.
  

Gold medallion tree

• Cassia leptophylla

Cassia leptophylla, the Gold Medallion tree.

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Courtesy Frank McDonough/L.A. County Arboretum

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• When it normally flowers: Summer
• Native to: Southern Brazil
• About the tree: These are related to tipuanas, also being members of the legume family, and they produce long, skinny seed pods – though McDonough warned to be careful with these around kids, as they’re somewhat toxic.
  

Chinese flame tree

• Koelreuteria bipinnata

This tree goes by many names - Chinese flame tree, Chinese lantern tree, the Bougainvillea golden-rain tree - but whatever you call it, it's beautiful, right?

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Flickr user Surely Shirly

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• When it normally flowers: Summer to fall
• Native to: East Asia
• About the tree: These trees can be somewhat invasive in humid regions or close to the coast, but otherwise Vejar says they’ve adapted well to the Los Angeles urban environment. They’re also known as Chinese lantern trees due to their papery, lantern-shaped seed pods.
  

Strawberry tree

• Arbutus unedo

The strawberry tree can produce small white flowers year-round. It's just as remarkable for its fruit - which is much harder to eat than actual strawberries.

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Flickr user laredawg

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• When it normally flowers: Year-round
• Native to: Mediterranean Europe
• About the tree: This tree, an evergreen, has a deep red, exfoliating bark that’s almost as remarkable as its bell-shaped flowers. If you spot one, Vejar said you may also see some hummingbirds nearby. And the fruit is edible – though if you try it, be warned that it may be quite gritty and tough to chew.

Elderberry

• Sambucus racemosa)

Don't forget: Pollination is why plants evolved to produce flowers.

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Courtesy National Park Service

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• When it normally flowers: Summer
• Native to: Most of North America
• About the tree: While this widespread species is perhaps best known for its use in Native American medicine, it also produces beautiful flowers in white, cream and yellow. It’s currently in its blooming season, said Vejar.

Queensland bottle tree

• Brachychiton rupestris)

The Queensland bottle tree is one of a few Australian trees featured on this list.

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Courtesy Frank McDonough/L.A. County Arboretum

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• When it normally flowers: Spring to summer
• Native to: Queensland, Australia
• About the tree: These trees grow rather quickly and, being from a very dry part of Australia, have a mechanism where they can store water inside, similar to a cactus. According to McDonough, this is one of the most stable trees you can plant owing to its low center of gravity.

Desert willow

• Chilopsis

Desert willows are usually covered in pink flowers when they're in bloom, but they can also come in white.

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Courtesy Charlie McDonald/U.S. Forest Service

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• When it normally flowers: Late spring to summer
• Native to: Mexico and southwestern U.S.
• About the tree: These are related to jacarandas, and are one of the few species native to the area that is appropriate for an urban environment. Vejar said now is a good time to seek out this flower, as they’re just starting to bloom.
  

Catalina ironwood

• Lyonothamnus

The Catalina ironwood's exfoliating reddish bark and leaves are remarkable any time of year, but you can also spot it covered with white flowers when it's in bloom.

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Flickr user brewbooks

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• When it normally flowers: Summer
• Native to: Channel Islands
• About the tree: Being native to coastal regions, Vejar said the best place for this species to grow is by the coast, though it’ll still survive in the Inland Empire and other warmer areas.

Floss silk tree

• Ceiba speciosa

This specimen of ceiba speciosa was started from seed at the L.A. Arboretum.

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Courtesy Frank McDonough/L.A. County Arboretum

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• When it normally flowers: From August to December, depending on variety
• Native to: South America
• About the tree: The tree is loved by horticulturists for its prominent flowers and low water use – though its tendency to drop branches without warning has earned it the nickname “palo borracho” (drunken branch), said McDonough.

Lacebark tree

• Brachychiton discolor

Brachychiton discolor's flowers are beautiful on the tree, but they're just as showy when they drop to the ground.

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Courtesy Frank McDonough/L.A. County Arboretum

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• When it normally flowers: Summer to fall
• Native to: Eastern Australia
• About the tree: These flowers will eventually drop from the tree like jacarandas (and other flowering trees) – but with the lacebark tree, that’s actually a plus, as they produce a pleasing thwack sound when they hit concrete or asphalt. “I like to just put myself in a nice meditative state and listen to these things,” McDonough said. “There's no way to put any kind of word on it. It has a very calming effect on you.”
  

Plumeria

This is just one of many, many varieties of plumerias you can see at the L.A. Arboretum and around town.

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Courtesy Frank McDonough/L.A. Arboretum

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• When it normally flowers: Spring to fall, depending on variety
• Native to: Tropical and subtropical parts of the Americas, from Florida to Brazil
• About the tree: While this plant commonly associated with Hawaii is often grown as a shrub, McDonough said they’re more accurately classified as small trees. The L.A. Arboretum currently has the largest collection of plumeria in the U.S., and you can celebrate the flower at their Plumeria Festival this July 19 and 20.
  

Red flowering gum

• Corymbia ficifolia

A personal favorite flower produced by the red flowering gum tree.

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Kevin Tidmarsh/LAist

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• When it normally flowers: Year-round, but especially in July and August
• Native to: Western Australia
• About the tree: All right, I’ll admit it – this tree is my own addition, and I saved my personal favorite for last. I’m a big fan of flowers that look otherworldly, and these anemone-like blooms really take the cake. Like many of the trees listed, it can also grow in urban conditions that other species would balk at – it’s very “punk rock” in that way, as Vejar put it.

Updated November 14, 2026 at 13:52 PM ET

WASHINGTON— Friday's nationwide ground stop started when a contractor updated old Federal Aviation Administration telecommunication lines, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Saturday.

Tens of thousands of passengers across the U.S. are still stranded Saturday after the rare ground stop. Bryan Bedford, the FAA administrator who joined Duffy at Saturday's media briefing, said schedule problems should be resolved by Sunday evening.

Nearly 25,000 flights were delayed, and over 9,000 were cancelled on Friday, according to FlightAware, a flight tracking site. The disruption seeped into Saturday morning with more than 4,000 cancellations recorded, which is 18% of flights departing the U.S., according to data from Cirium, an aviation analytics company.

L3Harris, a long time contractor for the FAA, was doing routine maintenance in at least one remote location changing copper wire to fiber optics, Duffy said. "When I tell you that we're using old equipment, we're using old equipment," he said.

He said the FAA is still investigating the exact error that started flooding other routers in the air traffic control system, and if L3Harris was at all responsible.

"It's pretty straightforward work that we were doing yesterday at, again, a very remote location. So what we're working to determine was whether we had incompetence, meaning was it user error, installator error from L3Harris, or did they install a faulty router?"

L3Harris did not immediately respond to NPR's request for comment.

These updates have been happening in American institutions for decades, Duffy said.

"Virtually every single institution in America has gone from copper to fiber, from analog to digital," Duffy said. "Just maybe the FAA is the last one to be doing this work because the investments haven't been made, but this is not complicated."

Bedford said there was no evidence of anything nefarious happening or any AI-related issues.

Since his time in office, Duffy said he's been asking Congress for money to make more upgrades. In July 2025, Congress approved $12.5 billion to modernize the nation's aging air traffic control system.

With that money, 70% of copper communications have been replaced to high-speed fiber, Bedford said. Duffy called the innovations and the need for more a "bipartisan moment."

"This is the moment, if we don't start to switch out our systems, when, how long are we going to wait, America, and Congress?" Duffy asked.

Thousands of passengers miss flights

Passengers wait at boarding gates at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington, DC on November 13, 2026.

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Zina Desmazes

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AFP via Getty Images

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For about four hours on Friday, thousands of flights at U.S. airports were grounded in one of the biggest disruptions of the nation's air travel system since the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.

The aviation system is back online and slowly returning to normal Saturday morning, but delays and cancellations will continue, Duffy said. Bedford said all passengers will be put on new flights or they'll get a full refund, but that people should reach out to their airlines directly.

Flight boards at airports across the country Saturday morning continued to be riddled with red cancelled marks. At Tampa International Airport in Florida, people in the main terminal area before security curled up in chairs to grab a wink of sleep.

On Friday night, a flight board at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in D.C. showed dozens of flights delayed into the early morning hours or cancelled.

Passengers Erin and Jake Britt spent half the day at the airport in D.C. on Friday. Their plane to Fort Lauderdale, Fla. boarded at 3 p.m. By 5:30 p.m., they were getting off the plane — but they were still in D.C.

"Overall, our plane was definitely annoyed, but reasonable," Erin Britt said, as the couple left the airport at 8 p.m. "People being upset and asking like, 'Well, how are you not prepared for this?' And it was like, 'Well, no one was prepared.'"

She said neither the pilot nor flight attendants had any more information than passengers."They seem just as in the dark," she said.

The pair decided to cancel their weekend trip, but the night didn't end there. They spent over nine hours overnight waiting on the JetBlue customer service call line to be reimbursed. "I was setting alarms in 20 minute intervals in case I fell asleep," Erin Britt said.

For people who had events or plans over the weekend – the delay added an extra layer of stress. Joe Romano and Maddie Cabana had a cruise leaving Orlando, Fla. Saturday afternoon.

"It was a big eye roll. I mean, I travel a lot for work already, so I'm constantly dealing with flight delays," Romano said. "When this happened, I was just like, 'Of course, it always happens to me.'"

"Just rather inconvenient and frustrating," Cabana added, as the pair contemplated checking their bags or going home. They even thought about driving to Florida. "Hopefully, everything will be fine. It'll all work out. It always does."

And it did— eventually. After their JetBlue flight was ultimately cancelled, they quickly booked another one on Southwest Airlines and made it early Saturday morning.

Others, like Suze DiPietro decided flying wasn't worth it anymore. Her husband drove about four hours down from Ocean City, New Jersey to pick her up in D.C. Luckily, they had friends in the area where they spent the night.

"My husband, my hero, is driving down from New Jersey to come get me," DiPietro said.

Other alternatives included people switching to Amtrak trains as they struggled to get to their destination. Although, even Amtrak's system had a brief outage Friday night.

This was only the second nationwide ground stop since September 11, 2001. The U.S. last issued a ground stop of this scale in 2023, when all U.S. airports were shut down due to an outage in the NOTAM (Notice to Air Missions) system, which alerts pilots and airports of real-time hazards.

That outage prompted fears of a cyberattack, but the FAA later determined the issue was caused when contract workers inadvertently deleted critical files.

The FAA has recently begun rolling out an AI-enhanced software tool known as the SMART system as part of its ambitious overhaul of the nation's air traffic control system. But Air Space Intelligence, the company that makes the tool, quickly dismissed speculation that its product could be connected to the flight disruptions.

"The current ground stop is not based on or a result of the SMART system, any product of ASI or our integration with FAA and ATC," the company said on social media.

Ava Pukatch contributed to reporting.

Copyright 2026 NPR

Eggs from the first confirmed sea turtle nests found on the U.S. West Coast have hatched.

"We are excited to share that some of the olive ridley sea turtle eggs from Seal Beach successfully hatched after a 58-day incubation period," said the Aquarium of the Pacific in a social media post.

The Long Beach-based aquarium has been keeping watch over 204 olive ridley sea turtle eggs, laid on Seal Beach and Huntington Beach in September. A second set of eggs found on Huntington Beach is still incubating

The aquarium said the hatchlings were released early Saturday morning in a coastal area with little light and human disturbances.

Baby turtles, the aquarium said, go through a “frenzy period” after hatching, where they swim nonstop for up to two days

The eggs came from the first confirmed sea turtle nests found on the U.S. West Coast. Scientists say unusually warming water tied to El Niño likely drew the rare turtles to the Southern California coast.

If you happen to see 600 people snaking down 14.3 miles of Santa Monica Boulevard (and then some) on Saturday, Nov. 21 — their sole purpose is just to … walk.

“For years people were asking us, ‘What are you doing?’” said Michael Schneider, founder of the Great Los Angeles Walk.

These strolls are maximalist in nature, usually covering the entire length of a given thoroughfare. Sunset Boulevard. Melrose Avenue. Ventura Boulevard.

The inaugural Great L.A. Walk in 2006 along Wilshire Boulevard.

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Courtesy Great Los Angeles Walk

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How the walk began 

The pre-Thanksgiving tradition started in 2006 with Wilshire Boulevard. Schneider, who had reached the milestone of living in L.A. for a decade, was inspired by a book about the street’s history to walk its entire 15.8 miles on foot. He asked others to join on his blog Franklin Avenue.

About two dozen people showed up. That day, they popped into storefronts, stopped by restaurants, sneaked into the Park Plaza Hotel near MacArthur Park and shot up to the roof. “That kind of unearthed a whole new side of Los Angeles as we walked down Wilshire,” he said.

By the time the trek reached the ocean, folks were asking Schneider about next year. Now, it's always on the Saturday before Thanksgiving.

“I inadvertently turned it into an annual tradition,” he said.

The 2016 edition of Great L.A. Walk along Pico Boulevard.

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Courtesy Great Los Angeles Walk

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The 2007 installment was Pico Boulevard — with restaurant recommendations along the route handpicked by the late Pulitzer-winning food critic Jonathan Gold.

Eventually, Schneider included themed walks. March of Los Pobladores — which retraces the final leg of the 1781 journey taken by the original founders of L.A. — from the San Gabriel Mission to downtown. And USC to UCLA when the rivals faced off on game day.

This year’s route: Route 66 

This year's theme is Route 66.

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Google map screengrab

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This year’s focus is Route 66, marking the centennial of the iconic road. Saturday's walk will start in Echo Park, then go the whole way down Santa Monica Boulevard and end at the pier, totaling about 16 miles.

“You see so many different versions of Los Angeles,” he said.

Michael Schneider, founder of the Great L.A. Walk, at last year's trot along Wilshire Boulevard.

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Courtesy Great Los Angeles Walk

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Celebrity sightings and a marquee shout-out 

One year, he said, the group walked by Magic Johnson.

“He waved at us," Schneider said. "Probably was wondering why [there were] hundreds of people walking past where he was."

As many as 600 people now join the walk, he said. As the number grows, so too has its legend.

“Now we find a lot of people who know who we are,” he said. “You hear people say, ‘Hey, it's the Great L.A. Walk.”

A couple of decades ago, a friend in New York told me about something happening that was kinda underground and just getting traction. It was called “The Moth.” People took turns telling a true, personal story, with no notes, named after the Southern tradition of sitting on front porches and sharing spellbinding tales — with moths flying mesmerized around the porchlight.

It sounded amazing. And terrifying. I filed it under the same list as bungee jumping — no doubt exhilarating but something I’d never do — and got on with my life. Over the years, as it grew bigger and bigger, I went to several Moth events in different cities, and was always so impressed with the storytellers — and equally adamant I’d never do it.

Cut to this September, when a message went out to all the staff at LAist. We’re a media sponsor of The Moth, and an event, a open mike StorySLAM, was coming up in Silver Lake. There were a few tickets available. Did anyone want one? The theme was "Divas." Sure, I thought. I’d go watch. It's always fun.

Nagging thought

As the days went by, the same thought kept nagging at me. How about getting on stage yourself? No, I thought. Too risky. But this time there was another thought, even more vehement. Why are you being held hostage by fear? Life is too short. If you want to do something, you just have to do it. And this opportunity has just fallen into your lap.

So when the day came, I went to the event, and put my name in the hat. Would I be picked? I sat there with sweaty palms as the show started and people came up tell their own funny, moving, poignant stories.

Finally, near the end of the show, my name was called out. Gulp. I walked on stage to the mic, and began telling my story.

“Some years ago I was a BBC radio producer. A show host and I were at Albuquerque airport, on our way to Los Alamos to do interviews about the Manhattan project. But when we got to the gate, it was closed. They’d boarded the plane 15 minutes early. We couldn't believe it. There was only one plane per day and we'd flown in from London and were on a tight schedule. What should we do?”

Holding their breath

It was a strange experience, simultaneously storytelling while looking at the audience and scanning for their reactions. They seemed to be enjoying themselves.... and were holding their breath, waiting to see what came next.

“I could see the plane on the tarmac, one of those regional planes with propellers, on the other side of an alarmed emergency exit door. So I decided, in the heat of the moment, to push it open, and started dashing across the tarmac, yelling for the host to follow me. Security men began running towards me from every direction as the alarm blared loudly.”

The audience was laughing with delight and disbelief, and I was laughing, too, at the recollection. What on earth had made me do that? Ah, my young, impulsive, determined self. Just as well it wasn’t today, post 9/11. I’d be dead.

“As I reached the plane, the security men were shouting 'What are you doing? You can’t run onto the tarmac!' That’s when the diva part came in. I drew myself up to my full 5’ 2” and said, determinedly, 'No, YOU were the ones who boarded the plane early. We did everything right! We have our tickets, we have interviews to do and we are going to get on this plane.'"

The security men looked at each other, unsure what to do. Maybe it was the British accent, or not being used to a woman giving them a dressing down. But one of them shrugged, moved out of the way, and they let us get on the plane. "Hurray! And we made it to Los Alamos, in time to do our interviews. Thank you.”

The audience went crazy, clapping and whooping. I was standing there grinning stupidly. I couldn’t believe I’d done it.

Yes, the story went down well. And the audience hadn't eaten me alive. But there was something bigger, something even more satisfying in my reaction. I’d had made myself do something I was scared of. I'd faced my demons.... and survived.

A lesson for us all.