A flowering ironbark is one of the most potent bird attractors around Canberra. I remember during the Great Regent Honeyeater influx (was it 1995?) they were often on such trees. For the suburban gardener a problem can be to nail a pink one. In about 1989 I bought one for the nature strip, being assured that ‘oh yes, that’s a pink one alright’, and finding some 10 years later when it blossomed that of course I had the cream flowered one. Even if my complaint was not time-barred, that particular nursery had gone out of business by then. Below are a couple of examples of the current ironbark season, both snapped in the course of the last couple of weeks not too far from Canberra.
