After leaving the “Children’s Garden” down the straight path, on the left you will find the Lemon-Scented Myrtle or Sweet Verbena Tree (Blackhousia citriodora) which is also known as Lemon Ironwood as it had very hard timber. An essential oil, ‘citral’, provides a powerful lemon scent in the leaves and in summer it is covered in clusters of sweetly perfumed white flowers. It naturally occurs in subtropical rainforests in QLD.
“Well, hello dears! So nice that you could come and say hello. Myrtle is my name, and I am here with my friends Lilly, Rose and Jasmine. Together, we are the BWA – the Botanical Women’s Association.”
Transcript
The Lemon-Scented Myrtle tree: " Well, hello dears! So nice that you could come and say hello. Myrtle is my name, and I am here with my friends Lilly, Rose and Jasmine. Together, we are the BWA – the Botanical Women’s Association. We take pride in knowing who is who and what is what in these gardens and take it upon ourselves to send sweetness through the soil to whoever is in need. Who doesn’t like a bit of sugar every now and then? It’s the perfect pick me up.
We keep saying that to old bunya over there - He’s always grumbling about something. “Pop in and have a nice cup of tea” we say… but he won’t. One day he will come around, I’m sure of it.
It’s a lovely spot, isn’t it? I certainly think so. Perfect mix of light and shade; enough foot traffic but not too much – I can hear the children, but I don’t have to deal with them… Yes, it’s absolutely lovely.
You know what else is lovely? – A nice cup of tea. Would you like a cup? As a lemon myrtle, I make a lovely cuppa and I love to bake, and I love to make the house smell lovely and just generally freshen up the place. You want some flowers? Take them – I don’t mind – plenty more where they come from. Mostly we spend the day just chatting amongst ourselves. Agathis, the Kauri Pine over there keeps us up to date with the things that we can’t see. The Native Quince and Black Bean let us know if there’s a wedding on or some other special occasion so that we can send out our perfume for everyone to enjoy and Fern gives us updates of all the things going on in the Children’s Garden. Better get back to it I suppose! Have a lovely day dears! "
