Bees N Blooms has been working hard this month to ramp up propagation of Red Flowering Gum trees. The Red Flowering Gum (Corymbia ficifolia) is native to Australia and grows well in a Mediterranean climate. It has many qualities to recommend it. This tree is drought tolerant, with gorgeous red or orange clusters of blooms that are rich with pollen and nectar. They provide an excellent source of food for bees and butterflies for several months at a time of year when flowers are typically scarce (late summer), as well as nesting sites for birds. Growing up to 28 feet tall, Red Flowering Gum trees have glossy, dark green leaves that provide shade for humans and shelter for birds. They are good for both urban and rural areas. The City of San Francisco has several streets lined with these beautiful trees.
Red Flowering Gum trees have beautiful clusters of blossoms that bees love.
Red Flowering Gum trees on Folsom Street in San Francisco in early August.
We planted our Red Flowering Gum seeds in November, 2016 and now have sprouts! Here are the 25 healthy plants from our first experiment, in which we tested germination in different soil types. Bees N Blooms is in the process of conducting scientific tests to maximize the efficiency of propagation of this species. To read more about the technical details of the propagation process, please see Germinating Red Flowering Gum Seeds (Corymbia ficifolia) in the Resources section of our website. These trees are typically unavailable in nurseries. This may be because the Red Flowering Gum typically won’t grow from cuttings, and usually does best when grown from seeds. Bees N Blooms purchased thousands of seeds directly from Australia and we will propagate at least a few thousand new trees in the next several months, all organically grown. They will take a couple of years to mature, but we hope to have this flowering beauty ready for sale in mid-2018. Contact us if you’re interested in having a few and we will reserve them for you now!
