The 1st flowers have just opened on the small-leaved kowhai tree, Sophora microphylla, at my parents' house in Ōtautahi-Christchurch. The tree came from Gore Bay as a seedling.
We first thought it was the earliest year ever, but no, that was 2017. It's been amazingly variable.
2012: 8 July
2013: 6 July
2014: 2 June
2015: (full bloom on 6 September so a late year)
2016: 31 July
2017: 4 May
2018: 8 July
2019: 23 June
2020: 6 June
2021: 21 July
2022: 19 June
2023: 28 May
@astrokiwi Interesting. Is that a Sophora microphylla too? The Cook Strait kowhai, Sophora molloyi, has been flowering for over a month now. That's a bushy kowhai widely planted around Ōtautahi. It typically flowers much earlier than other kowhai species.
@joncounts Not sure. It's about twenty years old, has a very sprawling habit (some branches go along the ground then back up!). We pruned it vigorously a few months ago to open it up if dead twigs and lift it from overgrown hedge back to small tree. Has responded with its best flowering ever
@astrokiwi It's interesting that pruning triggered so much flowering.
One difference between Sophora molloyi and Sophora microphylla, other than the first typically being shrubby and the latter being a tree, is that S. molloyi makes flowers nestled amongst its leaves, whereas S. microphylla's leaves are usually quite old and dropping when it flowers which are visible across its canopy.
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