There’s at last a sign that our long tropical dry season might soon draw to a close, with useful rain forecast starting on 30 Dec. 2016.
In the meantime, I’m still watering recent plantings, and when doing so this morning (Christmas morning) I was delighted to notice this shrub in flower for the first time.
It is a Watsonville Range Paperbark (Melaleuca sylvana), a rare species in the wild listed as Endangered, and probably uncommon in cultivation as well.
Its natural range is just to the west of my home town on harsh sites in drier country.
I planted three of these 23 months ago, purchased from a native plant nursery. I watered them through the 2015 dry season, but haven’t given them a drop in the 2016 dry season.
All have survived well, and this one has thrived; it is now 2 m tall and this is the first flowering.