Friday photo – the floral calendar

I mark the turning of the warm months of the year by the flowering of the trees. There’s a distinct sequence that starts in late winter with almond blossom and runs through to mid autumn when the Silver Princess begins to dangle its pink bells. Here are two of the calendar markers easy to spot when they burst into bloom.

This red bottlebrush – the Callistemon ‘Kings Park Special’ is a popular street tree across Perth. Nondescript for most of the year, it flares into a mass of red for just two to three weeks.

I’m not sure if the Callistemon is early this year. My memory is that it’s normally a little later, but this is only my second year back in Perth and I’m still refreshing my memory on how the calendar runs. However, dead on time is the Prunus nigra.

The dark-purple-leaved ornamental plum is a popular ornamental in gardens and town streetscapes around the south-west.

The purple-leafed plum is in the middle of the traditional spring blossoms – well after almonds and apricots, but hitting its glory before the apples and pears. It’s also very easy to distinguish from the other trees in the stone-and-pome-fruit family.

Advertisement