Header picture

The header picture is of Corymbia ficifolia (syn. Eucalyptus ficifolia), commonly known as the Red Flowering Gum. While this is an orange form, there are many other colour forms of this species, mostly in the orange-red range, although  they can be white right through to deep crimson in colour. Also this species has been used as a parent of many cultivars, some of which are available as grafts (usually using Corymbia maculata, Syn. E. maculata as the rootstock).

Red form of Corymbia ficifolia

From my experience this species and many of its hybrids produce an incredible amount of nectar, enough that several bunches of flowers would be enough to produce a glassful - no wonder the bees love it!

The tree is often used in amenity horticulture because of its habit of producing large numbers of conspicously displayed flowers. It is sensitive to heavy frost although with a protection it can survive in a place such as Canberra (-10 C is the lowest recorded temperature). It is most usually quite small but can reach up to 10 or so metres. In colder climates the frosts often 'prune' it so that it becomes a very dense shrub or small tree.

Corymbia 'Summer Beauty' is a cross between C. ficifolia and C. ptychocarpa

In the wild this tree hails from a relatively small area in the south-west of Western Australia. It is not only popular with people, being extremely attractive to nectar feeding insects and birds. All in all a great plant to start the blog off with - enjoy.

The Bumbleblog - buzzing between flowers

The idea behind this blog is to log my adventures in my never ending quest for finding flowers. Its about the flowers and the plants (of course) but its also about what I encounter on the way. Essentially its about nature but I will not restrict it to that - anything (interesting) from my forays into the natural world, be they ten minute walks in the park, ten hour hikes in the mountains or ten month long expeditions (as unlikely as this is), will make it in.

I am new to this blogging thing so I hope my noobness can be worked out fairly quickly and that I can write fairly often. I would like to think that some of my blogs will be quite good guides for those that wish to walk in the same places that I do, we will see.

As I live in Canberra it is likely (at least for the near future) that most of my blogs will concern the local bushland in the area. However, I do like to explore new places, so I hope that areas further afield will also make fairly regular appearances.

A worn out BumbleB taking sustenance at Blue Lake (Kosciuszko National Park)

Oh and don't panic I won't include too many photos of yours truly - mostly the photographs will be much more attractive!