Agonis flexuosa

Our friend Bill would be in Perth now, or close to it. Lib and I, and mutual friends Maria and Louise, local literary magnates, had dinner with Bill and Paula at their Emerald house last Saturday evening. Superb Indian cuisine, fine wine, music,(Tchaichovsky, Joan Baez, Cat Stevens) and cultured conversation (ranging from the collection of semen from men and drone bees to American politics) made the evening memorable. Bill, a poet, writer, artist, musician and philosopher with a quick wit is always great company as is his beautiful wife Paula, who is equally talented.
It wasn't planned as a farewell dinner, as the Perth job came up after the dinner was marked on the calender, but Bill broke the news he was leaving the next day to travel by car to Perth to take up a temporary job for three months, managing a chain of 30 supermarkets in West Australia.
It made me recall my one and only visit to West Australia some four years ago. After landing at Perth airport at about 8.00am., we hired a car and drove out into the treelined streets. We stopped to consult the map in the hire car, having no idea which direction to take. I was struck by the clear blue sky and the brightness of the daylight, but the first trees I noticed were Agonis, which were familiar because there are several in our garden and some at the farm which I planted at the same time. I use the foliage in the few mixed bunches we do, but other than that there's no demand for it. I do like the tree, my tree of the week.
That first night of our holiday we decided to stay at Busselton. We were fortunate to find accomodation in a small caravan park as, unknown to us, it was the Friday night of a long weekend and everything had been booked out by Perth residents escaping the city for the weekend. Just as we approached, apparently, there'd been a cancellation, so we grabbed it for three nights and settled in our cabin, which had a large Agonis growing over it providing welcome shade.
If you've been to Busselton you know that it's located right on the shore of Geographe Bay, a wondrous calm natural haven about 40km long where clear blue skies meet the blue green water where dolphins play, and the white sand dazzles the eyes.
Walking the 100 metres from the cabin right onto the beach was a walk through the camping ground and Agonis trees. These had been pruned and lopped roughly to provided campers easy access to their sites, and to remove limbs that might split off I presumed. It was obvious the Agonis would take hard pruning and actually thrive on it.
The next day we drove a little north and picnicked for lunch in a Tuart forest, and here again the Agonis was plentiful as a second tier understory. I talked to a local who referred to the tree as 'peppermints', a name I'd not heard it called before but logical for the strong scent of the leaves.
It seemed that almost everywhere we went near the coast the Agonis was a predominant tree. At one place, out of Albany, on the way to a magic little bay the name of which escapes me just now, a sign read something like "Fire Hazard Slashing Zone- vegetation is slashed to reduce fire risk", and huge areas of foreshore park had been tractor slashed recently. Most of the regrowth was Agonis about a foot high.
The Agonis is hardy tree of considerable charm, suitable for Victorian gardens, and can be left to achieve its graceful natural weeping form if there's enough room, or pruned hard to keep small if necessary. One of my favourites.

The 'Encyclopaedia Botanica' says,
'Agonis flexuosa' Myrtacae. Peppermint Tree; Willow Myrtle. A native of WA, it is adaptable to most soils and conditions, and is drought and frost resistant.
An evergreen tree it can grow to a height of 14m with a spread of 6m. The stem is long and slender, with graceful pendant branches; the leaves are green, willow-like, with a strong smell of peppermint, and 10cm long; the flowers are white, small, and numerous, occurring in globose heads and appearing in spring. Propogation is by seed sown in spring or by cuttings. Prune back annually after flowering.

There are ten Agonis varieties listed. All are native to WA. I noticed the bees working the Agonis flowers this season. Of course there would not be enough around to provide a honey crop and I wonder if such a honey is produced in WA. I didn't meet a beekeeper over there to ask.
If you read this Bill, while you are in WA, if you run into a beekeeper, can you ask him? Maybe someone in the supermarket business would know.