Metrosideros excelsa in flower

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Caroline

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Metrosideros excelsa in flower
« on: December 10, 2014, 12:01:51 AM »
I promised a while back to post photos of the big old pohutukawa -metrosideros excelsa- in flower. Here are a couple of early ones to whet the appetite.  The trees do not all flower at once - individual branches start the ball rolling - and some trees are later than others. The legend is that when the first canoes arrived from mythical Hawaii-iki, the chiefs threw their feathered headdresses into the water, on the basis that they could not compete with the pohutukawa in bloom.
I am establishing a garden on Waiheke Island, 35 minutes out of Auckland. The site is windy, the clay soil dries out quickly in summer and is like plasticine in winter, but it is still very rewarding. Water is an issue, as we depend on tanks. I'm looking forward to sharing ideas. Caroline

Caroline

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Re: Metrosideros excelsa in flower
« Reply #1 on: December 10, 2014, 12:04:17 AM »
And this is the second photo - will master the technique of attaching more than one photo eventually!
I am establishing a garden on Waiheke Island, 35 minutes out of Auckland. The site is windy, the clay soil dries out quickly in summer and is like plasticine in winter, but it is still very rewarding. Water is an issue, as we depend on tanks. I'm looking forward to sharing ideas. Caroline

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Alisdair

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Re: Metrosideros excelsa in flower
« Reply #2 on: December 10, 2014, 03:19:37 PM »
What a gorgeous sight, Caroline - nearer Christmas it would be good to have one that we could use as the cover picture on the MGS Facebook page. We try to change the picture, which has to be much wider than tall, every day....
Alisdair Aird
Gardens in SE England (Sussex); also coastal Southern Greece, and (in a very small way) South West France; MGS member (and former president); vice chairman RHS Lily Group, past chairman Cyclamen Society

Caroline

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Re: Metrosideros excelsa in flower
« Reply #3 on: December 31, 2014, 08:38:48 AM »
It has definitely been a great year for pohutukawa.  Here are a couple more photos.  The specimen with the twisty trunk is in front of my house; I found it hard to do it justice regardless of what time I took the photo.  The other one is on the far side of Te Whau peninsula, overlooking the Tamaki strait.

Happy New Year to all in the northern hemisphere - it looks as if we are in for a wild night here, but nothing compared with Europe's snow and ice.
I am establishing a garden on Waiheke Island, 35 minutes out of Auckland. The site is windy, the clay soil dries out quickly in summer and is like plasticine in winter, but it is still very rewarding. Water is an issue, as we depend on tanks. I'm looking forward to sharing ideas. Caroline

Caroline

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Re: Metrosideros excelsa in flower
« Reply #4 on: December 31, 2014, 08:48:50 AM »
Still haven't mastered the art of attaching two or more photos at once.  Here is the biggest and brightest tree of the lot.
I am establishing a garden on Waiheke Island, 35 minutes out of Auckland. The site is windy, the clay soil dries out quickly in summer and is like plasticine in winter, but it is still very rewarding. Water is an issue, as we depend on tanks. I'm looking forward to sharing ideas. Caroline

Hilary

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Re: Metrosideros excelsa in flower
« Reply #5 on: April 02, 2022, 08:31:37 AM »
METROSIDEROS EXCELSA, POHUTUKAWA
I hope I have identified this plant correctly.

We went to Loutraki one sunny Sunday in March and saw these two small trees on the seaward side of the new Town Hall.
I was thrilled to find something different to snap and took I don’t know how many photos

As usual I forgot to notice important things about the tree such as what do the leaves look like and what colour the bark is. I was too excited about the flowers

Those of you who own THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN journal number 13, Summer 1998 can read
THE POHUTUKAWA: METROSIDEROS EXCELSA
By Hamish Warren

This tree is mentioned in THOUGHTS ON GARDENING IN SAMOS
By Jennifer Gay
THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN number 107, January 2022

For photographs of this garden see the website
https://www.mediterraneangardensociety.org/107-samos.html

MGS member
Living in Korinthos, Greece.
No garden but two balconies, one facing south and the other north.
Most of my plants are succulents which need little care