Eucalyptus bridgesiana

Eucalyptus bridgesiana or Bridges' Gum, native to Australia, produces highly ornamental juvenile foliage with rounded, cordate leaves of a brilliant blue. It forms a large tree with a beneficial shade. During its flowering in white pompoms, it produces a significant amount of nectar and pollen for bees for 2 to 3 months, and yields good quality honey. It grows in ordinary garden soil, in full sun, but also in clayey, humid and cold soil, regardless of the soil's pH. It is frost resistant down to -10° (14 °F) C.

Eucalyptus bridgesiana is an Australian species found in the central-eastern regions of Victoria, on the plateaus of New South Wales and southeast Queensland, near grassy underwoods or streams. Like all Eucalyptus, it belongs to the Myrtaceae family. Its growth is quite fast, and it eventually forms a large tree measuring about 15 m (49 ft 2 in) in height and 8 m (26 ft 2 in) in width, depending on the growing conditions. Its grey bark is very rough and cracked, fibrous, and marbled with shades of grey and white on the trunk and large branches. The crown of adult foliage is a shiny green, made up of pendulous and lanceolate leaves. It is open and wide.

The youngest branches have smooth, cream bark. The juvenile leaves are rounded, cordate, small, and brilliant blue. They are alternate and tightly packed, encasing the stem. This foliage gives off a typical Eucalyptus scent when crushed. The plant also produces many shoots from dormant buds located under its bark, allowing it to respond very well to coppicing and pollarding. The ornamental quality of the young foliage makes this pruning option interesting: this eucalyptus can be regularly pruned to keep it in the form of a 2-metre (6 feet 7 inches) high bush and enjoy only its juvenile foliage. Flowering spreads from November to May, depending on the climate and the age. In general, it appears in March-April. The flowers are located in the leaf axil in groups of 7 white glomerules. The quality of the nectar and pollen for bees, for 2 to 3 months, also makes it a valuable tree for good honey production and it can be pruned into a bush for this use.

Eucalyptus bridgesiana has a lignotuber just below the soil surface. This organ allows it to regrow from the stump in the event of severe frost, fire or radical pruning. Easy to maintain and not very picky about the soil, it tolerates clay and a bit of limestone, as well as acidic or ordinary soil. It is effective as a windbreak and provides appreciable shade. Its young foliage is of high value for floral art and bouquet making.