Tens of thousands of trees alive with colour and four billion bees, busy pollinating.

What could be better? Nothing, except, perhaps the mounds of golden almonds all this hard work will yield. The almond blossom season is also a great time to celebrate the growth of Australian almond plantings which have increased from 3,750 hectares in 1999 to 28,000 hectares in 2009 in the key almond growing areas of Sunraysia in Victoria, the Riverland and Adelaide in SA and the Riverina region in NSW.

Residents and visitors to almond growing areas can share in the fun of the blossom season by visiting one of the two Australian annual almond festivals: the Willunga Almond Blossom Festival in South Australia from Friday, 23 July to Sunday, 1 August and the Mallee Almond Blossom Festival in Victoria on Sunday, 15 August. For more information on the almond blossom season and photos of almond orchards, visit www.australianalmonds.com.au