Blue-banded bees are up early, busily pollinating our eggplants and tomatoes. Our potatoes and Phillip Island hibiscus are budding. Meanwhile our honeybees are zooming around gathering far and wide...

AUSTRALIAN WILD PLANTS
Broad-leaved Paperbark, Melaleuca quinquinervia
Forest red gum, Eucalyptus tereticornis
Spotted gum, Corymbia citriodora subsp. maculata (syn. C. maculata, Eucalyptus maculata)
Brisbane wattle, black wattle, Acacia concurrens (syn. Acacia cunninghamii)

URBAN FOREST PLANTS
African tulip tree, Spathodea campanulata, an invasive weed
Bangalow palm, Archontophoenix cunninghamiana
Easter Cassia, Senna pendula, a bushland weed
Mango, Mangifera indica
Queensland silver wattle, Acacia podalyriifolia, a slightly weedy native. Flowering three weeks earlier this year thanks to the rain…

GARDEN PLANTS
Bedding begonia, Begonia semperflorens
Cosmos, Cosmos bipinnatus
Duranta – various cultivars
Nasturtium, Tropaeolum majus
Phillip Island hibiscus, Hibiscus insularis
Salvia – various cvs and species
Spider flower, Cleome spinosa
Sweet Potato, Ipomoea batatas ‘Marguerite’
Tibouchina – various cultivars

Damien Andrews
11th June 2008