Borgen inside, Burgan out

Xmas snow in Flowerdale

In our household the current favourite TV program is Borgen, a Danish political drama showing on SBS1 on Wednesday nights. However outside, if you are an insect, Burgan is where it is at. Burgan (Kunzea ericoides), sometimes called White Tea-tree or Kanuka, is a large shrub found in Australia and New Zealand.

For almost a decade I have watched with trepidation as the Burgan has taken over one of our valleys. The thickets it creates are so dense that nothing grows on the ground beneath it and most other vegetation has been choked out of existence. It does however provide nesting sites for a number of bird species and a wonderful place to hide for the resident Swamp Wallabies (Wallabia bicolor).

In early summer Burgan flowers so profusely that it looks like it has snowed in the valley. The sheer volume of insects and number of species that visit the flowers is astounding. Check out some of the visitors on the clip below.

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As it turns out, the characters in the Burgan are far more diverse and colourful than anything you see on telly—including Borgen. I guess that’s life.