Eighty-one-year-old Sachiko Asano travelled 8,500 miles to Africa to see jacaranda trees in bloom, one of hundreds of Japanese inspired by a culture of flower-viewing to make the trek every year.

Due to this status, replanting of Jacarandas trees is currently prohibited. Jacaranda trees not only produce purple blossoms with Herbert Baker Street in Pretoria being the only region where these ...