The sudden profusion of these small, pinkish flowers is the hallmark of spring here in the forest.

Styphelia ericoides

On warm, sunny days the scent from Styphelia is quite glorious ... it smells like vanilla to me. The flowers precede the insect boom, by weeks. I always find that a surprise, but perhaps the earlist visitors are tiny midges and wasps that escape my attention.

Styphelia ericoides (link to iNaturalist record of first flowering ... on 24th July!)

Although the very first flowers of Leucopogon affinis opened in early August, their flowering is generally later than for Styphelia ericoides, peaking well into September. The bushes are just as showy, the flowers a little larger. And the nectar-feeding insects readily shift their foraging to the new nectar source.

Leucopogon affinis