Sydney Morning Herald: It wasn't just the fireworks bursting into Sydney's night sky with the International Fleet Review this month.
The same night also brought some of the first lilac blossoms from groves of jacaranda trees, the latest flora to flower early during the city's exceptionally warm year.
''It's certainly pretty early considering what's happened in the past,'' says Dr Brett Summerell, acting executive director of the Royal Botanic Gardens.
Informal guides indicate the trees are flowering as much as...