Monday, November 24, 2008

The manuka trees are in flower

Our bush backdrop is dotted with patches of brilliant white, the flowers of the native manuka tree. I like the way the colour of the bush changes depending on the time of year. Early September and there are patches of yellow from the flowers of the Kowhai tree.

The cabbage trees are also in flower right now.



Here is a photo of a manuka:

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5 comments:

  1. LizNovember 24, 2008 at 9:21 PM

    Great shot Bridget! I love manuka trees. We have them popping up everywhere so I am going to grab some and transplant the seedlings into little polybags for planting later. Posted up a salad for everyone. It's really nice. Give it a try sometime.

    Liz

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  2. Cabbage Tree FarmNovember 25, 2008 at 9:51 AM

    Hi Liz
    They are very easy to grow, even laying down fallen branches with seed pods they will sprout up.
    We got a lot of our trees from tiny seedlings we started off in bags. It's a good way to get lots for later planting and they grow big before you know it.
    Thanks for the salad recipe, need more of those for summer.

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  3. JoannaNovember 26, 2008 at 12:37 AM

    Lovely to see what manuka looks like - in the past few years, we've started seeing manuka honey in our shops, delicious, as well as all those extra health benefits

    Joanna

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  4. UnknownNovember 26, 2008 at 1:28 AM

    i've only recently been introduced to manuka honey. what about the plant makes the honey special? what are the health benefits mentioned by joanna?

    thanks!

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  5. Cabbage Tree FarmNovember 26, 2008 at 9:08 AM

    Hi Joanna
    That's nice that you can get manuka honey in the UK now. I'll try to get a better picture of a tree for you.

    Hi Astropixie
    The honey that the bees provide from feeding on the manuka flowers has antibacterial properties. We have manuka honey wound care creams in our first aid box. I will post a link.

    cheers
    Bridget

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