I probably sound like a broken record a lot of the time, but native Australian flowers are just so much fun to have around. Showy, colourful and a little odd in their own way, but that I why I love them. This week, I have seen a nice colourful bunch of these flowers that I really enjoy sharing with people.

Below are the flowers of the Queensland fire wheel tree (Stenocarpus sinuatus). A rainforest tree in tropical and sub-tropical areas (although it can grow in warm temperate areas too) that grows to 30 metres tall is all about these great flowers for me. The colour, the form, the quirkiness of them-they are just cool! Yep-I’m a geeky plant person, but I think we all need something to be a geek about/

Not for the first time, we are going to the in-your-face showy stamens of a Corymbia ficifolia cultivar, although I don’t know which specific one. I saw these flowers as I came out of the pool today, and i got a little excited. If you look really closely, you may be able to see some little black critters within the flowers doing their thing and loving the show as much as me. Flowers in the Myrtaceae family are among my favourites-I hope you can see why.

Another favourite flower of mine belongs to the genus Grevillea, which belongs to the Proteaceae family. Again, showy, colourful and quirky. I have two different species for you today-the wooly grevillea (Grevillea lanigera) and a random cultivar-there are so many in different colours that I cannot be more specific with it than that!

Nest is the trunk of the Queensland bottle tree (Brachychiton rupestris). Just odd. I love a bit of odd in my life, why should plants be different? The trunk is really interesting and swollen, and similar to baobab trees.

This is my week in native plants. I hope you enjoy seeing the showy nature of these plants that call Australia home. I am hoping to be able to share more about Australian plants over the next few weeks and months, along with more about the ecosystems they come from. Until then, have a good weekend.