Blossom and rain?

As kids we were told by Dad that a heavy blossoming from the eucalypts in summer would be followed by heavy rains in winter. This summer the blossoming has been exceptional. I don't know if there is truth behind the saying but it will be interesting to see if we have a wet winter. The theory goes that the trees know there is to be a wet winter. Therefore they produce lots of flowers so they can set plenty of seeds ready for the forthcoming good growing season thanks to the all the rain. When I asked Dad who told him about this he said it was the local Noongars who lived in Perth and had family connections to the south west.

The jarrah trees were loaded with blossom in November. Thinking back to my childhood, in the days before our rainfall dropped off so dramatically in the 1970's, there were good flowering years but  I can't remember seeing trees quite so snowy white. For quite some years now the jarrah blossom has been sporadic and unexceptional. I thought the trees were too stressed to flower well - so many years of below average rainfall and hot hot summers - but somehow they managed to put on an amazing show this season.

Jarrah blossom - Eucalyptus marginata

Jarrah 

It seemed every jarrah tree was covered in creamy stamens including the ones you didn't know about. The nearby bush sprouted giant jarrah trees that I never realised were growing there - in the previous eight years that we have lived here they had never flowered.

 From a distance the trees glowed in the sunlight, like giant random candles.

Marri trees in bloom glowing in sunlight

Following that, in February the marri put on an amazing show, especially up towards Perth. Again the trees were dripping with blossom and nectar and the air was heavy with the rich sweet scent of it. 

There is nothing quite like it.

 Down here the blossoming was not so heavy in February but the marri is in the throws of a second heavier flowering now. Even some of the red flowering gums are having another crack at it.

Marri blossom - Eucalyptus calophylla
or Corymbia calophylla

Marri 

So I am waiting to see what winter brings. According to the old local knowledge it should be a beauty.

 Time will tell.