Going Batty With Pollinators Around Night Flowering Tree

Who Knows ~ A Tree or Shrub - Tree Tuesday with @old-guy-photos

Literally going batty about knowing what this thirty year old tree in my garden actually is, periodically been looking over the years, who knows I don't!

We planted this alongside the house, found the perfume overbearing so close, out came the spade and wheelbarrow, it got moved onto the outer perimeter of the garden.

With the breeze coming up through the hills from the sea or river, flowering now in Autumn (that's our season down in the South) it wafts through the house, a sweet delight.

Canon PowerShot HS730 SX : f/4 1/1000 sec ISO-800

First weeks the flowers are closed during the daylight hours, bees still visit unable to resist the strong perfume almost prying open the blossoms trying to get into the blooms.

Canon PowerShot HS730 SX : f/4 1/1250 sec ISO-800

Well hidden in plain sight a bee in the center of the photograph trying to get to the nectar inside. Swirling around this time of year plenty of butterflies as well, flowers start opening, sorry no captures of butterflies today, they are way too busy flying away!

Canon PowerShot HS730 SX : f/4 1/1250 sec ISO-800

This first section of photography shows the flowers stubbornly closed during the day. Now lets visit just before the sun goes down and watch them pop open inviting night life to come visit to pollinate. Bees linger on till sunset, going back to the hive at night, or my eyesight fails me.

Canon PowerShot HS730 SX : f/4 1/500 sec ISO-400

Though there are many brackets of flowers, full of blooms, they appear to stagger opening, almost prolonging their flowering stage. Exceptionally pretty, dripping with nectar each dainty little blooms opening over a period of a couple of weeks.

During these autumn months the sun is down by 18h00, the best time of year (my opinion), around 20 deg C at this time of the evening, the bats come out, you hear their beeps moving around the tree, sending out their navigation system by sound. Sure the smell brings them in!

Canon PowerShot HS730 SX : f/4 1/1000 sec ISO-800

Variegated leaf is large, showing the all year colour when not in flower. Brackets are russet/burgundy/plum with white, flowers are white some tinged with pink, delicately small with a great aroma for the whole neighbourhood to share.

Canon PowerShot HS730 SX : f/4 1/1000 sec ISO-800

Should you recognize this tree/shrub please save me from going totally batty doing research trying to identify, leave a comment below on leads to find out what this is, thanks have a happy day in your garden with trees.

Thought for today: "A small shrub may grow into a tree." ~ African Proverb