It's Springtime Downunder.

Yes Spring has arrived in the land downunder and whilst daffodils and tulips might be popping up in gardens further south, you won't be seeing any such flowers here in the hot tropical north.

The first day of Spring (September 1st) is known as Wattle Day here in Oz. In many, many corners of this great land, the native Acacias or Wattle Trees start to bloom and signal the beginning of our Spring ... but not here in my north-eastern corner of Australia.

In the surrounding bushland here, the Acacias bloom from early Autumn into early Winter, not Spring! So we're not seeing bright golden sprays of wattle blooms like this right now.


Acacia bloom ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

We are however seeing the lovely fluffy white clusters of Eucalypt flowers.


Eucalyptus platyphylla flowers ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

Yes, the magnificent Poplar Gums, Eucalyptus platyphylla, are blooming. My place is surrounded by these enormous Gum trees. The bushland here is dominated by these stark white trees.


Bushland dominated by Eucalyptus platyphylla, the Poplar Gum ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

This is the view out into the surrounds right now, during our 'dry' season and you can clearly see the predominance of the Eucalyptus platyphylla.


Eucalyptus platyphylla ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

Most of them are around 20 metres in height and they will flower from late August into October, which is mid- to late dry season here.

This year, however, one or two have only just started blooming this past week. So bloom time is a slightly late, but it's terrific to see these fluffy little white flowers once again.


Eucalyptus platyphylla blooming ( photo / image / picture from Bernieh's Garden )

 

Eileen, in the last two or three years, daffodils, hyacinths and tulips have been turning up in our nurseries here. These potted beauties just look so out of place. I'm not sure how many are actually sold. I suppose someone might buy one so they can put the pot on display in their house for a week or two, but our springtime temps are just too warm for them to look good for any length of time.

 

Nice foto's, B-- Of course the Acacia really is an eye-opener, but the various eucalyptus trees that flower during the course of the year I found to be stunning. There are so many colours--I think that I read once that there were 500 or 600 types of Eucalyptus trees. Is that right? Anyway, they are majestic and lovely to see. I like how the fruit bats come and visit the trees at night. They are also such interesting animals.

Anyway, thanks for this nice posting. it brings back good memories to me.

 

G'day Sjoerd. There's probably more like 700-800 different species. It's our most common growing native tree. The flowers of the Gums are distinctive as they don't have petals, but stamens. There are indeed loads of colours.

Right now I'm listening to the fruit bats feasting on the flowers of the Poplar Gums out in the bush tonight. They're certainly enjoying themselves!

 

Interesting Bernieh, I love the Acasia, we had lots of it in the flower shop while it was in season, I assume it came from S America, but never gave it any thought as to where we got it from...maybe it was shipped in from Australia, maybe not. I always liked the smell of it. Does yours make a "fragrance blanket" throughout the blooming area? And does the eucalyptus do the same also? Thanks for sharing. Everything from where you are is so very different from here, I always love to see what you post. Thanks

 

Carolyn, I've never noticed a perfume from the flowers of the Poplar Gum. The leaves of course do have a definite smell.

There is another type of Euycalypt tree that grows in my yard, the Corymbia torelliana, and the flowers of that tree do have a definite sweet honey-like smell. That particular tree will flower later in the year.

 

Hi Bernieh,
lucky you with spring starting and all it will have to show,..and then your summer as well,..i certainly am looking forward to seeing great and unusual blooms from you for the coming weeks.

 

Hi Philip. Unfortunately Summer is not a good time for gardeners in my corner of the world. It's quite hard on the garden and the gardener, so there probably won't be all that much to share, aside from the year-round bloomers.

Spring is simploy a precursor to our Summer, so as the temperatures climb and the humidity levels soar, I spend less and less time out and about the garden. Most of the potted plants, which make up a large portion of my courtyard garden will probably only last another three months or so. When the wet season rains start, they don't do well.

 

Very lovely pictures indeed. Thanks for sharing. We here in Karachi Pakistan have lots of these Eucalyptus trees also. They were imported from Australia in the late 1970s. It was thought to be a very rugged tree, which could thrive in our hot climate (and hopefully add some much needed green to our streets).

However today we are trying to eradicate this tree. Because it has a habit of chocking all underground water and sewer pipes. And aside from that, it also lowers the underground water table.

But it still is a very nice looking tree, and it has also got some medicinal benefits. So if planted in a planed way, it is a great tree to have (which works as an excellent windbreaker too).

 

Bernieh: looks and sounds wonderful. Except the summers. I don't get along with heat and humidity. I especially like your mentioning the part about the fruit bats. They are some very neat but pretty large bats. I googled bats in your area. It said that you have several different varieties of fruit bats. Do you know which ones are in your part of Australia? Maybe some day my honey and I will get a chance to visit.