Tea-ing Off for the Hot Stuff

Yesterday gave me an absolutely delightful surprise that I am now hoping will be a tee off toward better things as our tea tree bloomed as we hit the heat of early summer, long after I had given up hope of it doing so this year.

I was thrilled to see the tiny white flowers appear.

As I’ve mentioned often previously, this year had a darker than normal winter, which is usually bright and sunny in Tokyo, and even though it has been warmer, it has had an impact on blossoming.

But our tea tree has clearly joined the party now.

The next few days should provide even greater enjoyment as the flowers reach their peak.

Also looking exciting is what I believe will be our first-ever banksia flower.

We have had banksia in the garden since we started in 2022.

But none have flowered and many plants have died.

This year, the plants have thrived, including the banksia robur grown from seed, but we have yet to see a flower.

Until now! (I hope!) I’m pretty sure we’ve got a bud sprouting on the hairpin banksia, which would justify its prime location in the garden.

There’ve been plenty of false alarms so far, so I won’t get my hopes too high, but I will still closely watch over its development.

Otherwise, the grevillea continues to bloom magnificently and prodigiously.

And the kangaroo paw are simply sublime.