These pretty little native shrubs are flowering in the garden at the moment. The botanical name is Leptospermum Scoparium and is native to New Zealand and parts of Australia where it is commonly called "tea tree."
The honey that the bees make from the flowers has many medicinal qualities and is a cure all for lots of problems. Oil is distilled from the leaves and is a powerful natural antibacterial, antifungal and antiseptic.
Mother Nature is a tough lady and I'm sure you can guess who won.
Last week a violent spring storm blew through. We had about 6 big trees blown over taking the fences with them.
One Willow tree managed to land on a gate and break the post the gate was hung on.
Combined with the branches of other trees that were snapped off we have a lot to clean up, but on the bright side we won't be running out of firewood any time soon.
This beautiful bridge crosses the main lake of the park in New Plymouth. The original was built in 1883 and financed by the winnings of a horse race - The Poet was the horse that won.
After the first one deteriorated this replica was built just before World War II. The red colour was based on a famous red lacquer bridge at Nikko Japan.
