After-the-Fire Sunday Flower Walk

OK, there wasn't a fire here! About this time last year a fire swept up out of the Vyeboom valley to the gates of Nuweberg Forest Station and Drostersnes Fire Look-out. Yesterday, on my way to Villiersdorp to prepare the 70-year-old Massey Harris Combine Harvester for next Saturday's Field to Loaf Demonstration at Compagnes Drift, a splash of colours on my right made me stop. The predominant colour was blue, but pink, yellow, mauve, orange and white were all to be seen in the veld.

The blue came from tall Iris-type plants. If I'd noticed at the time the corkscrew-twisted buds I now see on my photos, that would have been a clue that they were Aristeas, in this case, A. capitata:

Aristea capitata

One can see where I was from this photo, the forest on the left is being clear-felled and the cleared area is nearly up to the gates of Nuweberg. Immediately behind is the orange of the seeds of carpets of Wachendorfia paniculata which were so impressive a few weeks ago.

Wachendorfia paniculata seeds

Behind and to the left is a mass of these candelabra-shaped spent flowers! To the right behind is a Lanaria lanata, now showing the tiny pink flowers among the white fluff:

Lanaria lanata

Mauve, or actually what would have been a mauve carpet a couple of weeks ago but now brownish, came from Dilatris pillansii, now past their best:

Dilatris pillansii with spent flowers

More mauve from what looks like Corymbium glabrus:

Corymbium glabrus (?)

Flower detail:

Corymbium glabrus (?) flower

Yellow from this stunning daisy Berkheya herbacea (?)

Berkheya herbacea (?)

Flower detail:

Berkheya herbacea flowers

More white from this daisy. Can it be a Dimorphotheca or African Daisy-type?

White Daisy

Its leaves are fleshy and glossy fronds seen here at ground level:

White Daisy with glossy leaves

And pink from this stunning Watsonia rogersii (?):

Watsonia rogersii (?)

This picture above gives an idea of the colour mix! Flower detail:

Flower detail

We found another today! Also pink were Phaenocoma prolifera:

Phaenocoma prolifera

I stopped on the opposite side of the hill on the way back and found the Therianthus out:

Therianthus

This picture shows where I clambered up to!

Carpet of Therianthus under pipeline

And amongst them, Combflower Micranthus:

Combflower Micranthus

All that in about five minutes at each stop! Today we had an early walk, the round-leafed Nymphea nouchali are taking over from the oval leafed Waterblommetjies Aponogeton distachyos.

Nymphea nouchali with Aponogeton distachyos 

We checked on the stocking we'd tied over two spent flowers on the Gladiolus carnea last week and checked that there were plenty more to spread their seeds naturally:

Gladiolus carnea spent flowers

Another daisy is taking over from where the Euryops are fading:

Daisy

Flower detail:

Flower detail

Pippa spotted a splash of pink in the middle of the veld!

Watsonia rogersii (?)

Looks the same as yesterday's, Watsonia rogersii (?)

Flower detail

After watching them develop for months now, the Purple Powder Puffs Pseudoselago serrata are beginning to open:

Purple Powder-puff Pseudoselago serrata

Pippa sketching, Eikenhof Dam and Country Club in distance

This is where we check on one of the ultra-rare Agapanthus walshii which we know flowers every year. Joy! For the first time, three buds!

Agapanthus walshii with three buds

Recently in this area we found a Lobelia jasionoides. We found another today. It looks as if it would make good ground-cover:

Lobelia jasionoides would make good ground cover!

On the way back, right next to the 'red road' was another A. walshii we've never known to flower before. The one behind it has two buds where it normally has one. Maybe we're in for a good year?

This Agapanthus walshii hasn't flowered while we've been observing

The Helichrysums are coming into their own....

Helichrysums

These look like Cape Snow Syncarpha vestita:

Cape Snow Helichrysums, Syncarpha vestita

I stopped at the yellow pea-type again which I now think might be an Aspalathus callosa:

Aspalathus callosa (?)

It was hot, so the dogs took advantage of a swimming hole, the Wyrm muddying up Boy's drinking water!

Dogs having a bath!

:-) A

Yellow and Pink Sunday Flower Walk

We always walk past the ruins of the Railway Cottages. These must have been home to keen gardeners in the past, because although the houses are broken down, the garden survives, with deep blue Agapanthus, Amaryllis belladonna, Pelargoniums, many different kinds of fruit tree, and more, like these Acanthus mollis:

Acanthus mollis at the Railway cottages

Dorothy Perkins:

Dorothy Perkins roses at their best

Prickly Pear Opuntia:

Prickly Pear Opuntia

Beyond, a splash of colour along the road came from a fresh flush of flowers on a Many Umbrellas Erica multumbellifera:

Many Umbrellas Erica multumbellifera

We'll watch these flowers, normally they get bored through from the side, perhaps by some insect?

We made our way to the stand of what we think are Gladiolus carnea we found a few weeks ago. At the request of Jessie Walton, we're trying to capture a few seeds.

Seed pods of Gladiolus carnea (?)

Only one stem had turned brown, but that had been kinked. We put that and a still-green one into a stocking:

Stocking to catch seeds

In this area we're normally followed by a Stone Chat or two. I don't have the kind of camera to catch them, but this is the closest I could get:

Stone Chat watching our every move!

Other birds we saw were African Harrier Hawk or Gymnogene as we knew it, doing aerobatics in one small area directly above us, a Jackal Buzzard and another buzzard type with mottled colours which did two flypasts.

The tiny pink flowers are now starting to appear amongst the white fluff on the Lanaria lanata:

Tiny pink flowers on Lanaria lanata

Across the road, 'the other pink Gladiolus', possibly G. pappei is still flowering.

Gladiolus pappei (?)

Flower detail

For years now, we've been watching these Iris type plants. Normally we miss them flowering and find spent blooms and the previous year's dried up flowers. Today we were lucky and found many flowering. This is how the plants grow, and Pippa's hand gives an idea of size:

Bobartia filiformis (?)

It looks like a Moraea, but which one? No! Pat says it's a Bobartia, probably B. filiformis, and adds that the reason we haven't seen them in flower before is that they close in sunny weather! They were open today because it was cloudy!

Flower detail

.... with buds in various stages:

Flower open (it was cloudy)

I was pleased to spot a smaller example of the round-leafed, almost succulent, pea-type we saw last week:

Small pea-type with round almost succulent leaves

More peas, Psoralea pinnata:

Psoralea pinnata

There are still lots of Restios around, Anina says this could be Elegia persistens:

Elegia persistens (?)

We haven't seen Gnydias for quite a while:

Gnidia

Growing in the road, a plant which has us intrigued:

This has us guessing

Is this the same, a short distance away?

The same?

I don't think I'd risk eating this!

Unknown fungus

Some animal has displaced this stone and eaten the bulbs:

Bulbs eaten by animal

Another pink Erica, this one with longer flowers:

Erica

It's a bit late for the 'normal' Mesembryanthemums, this one still has plenty of open flowers:

Mesembryanthemum

We came across several of these Orchids/Disas, every time near the stumps of felled pines:

Orchid / Disa

Most of the Dilatris pillansii are over, this is what the individual flower looks like:

Dilatris pillansii flower

On the way home we found another specimen of what we think is Gladiolus pappei, but the darker pink diamond looks different from the one in the picture above:

Gladiolus

Back home, growing well on the compost heap is Goosefoot Chenopodium or Lambs' Quarters, which Pippa cooked as spinach last week and had me fooled!

Goosefoot Chenopodium

:-) A

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