It was hot today so we stayed where the Southeasterly breeze fanned us! We wanted to check on the new area of Agapanthus walshii we had found, and we weren't disappointed!
But on the way I thought there were people with bright clothing some way off..... until I realised it was the stand of Watsonias we've been watching! They really are at their best now:
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Watsonia schlechteri (?) |
The nearest we get to identifying them is Watsonia schlechteri, named, I see after one Rudolf Schlechter, 1872 to 1925, from Berlin.
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Flower detail |
The Lobelia which we think is L. tomentosa, is all over and particularly vivid at the moment:
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Lobelia tomentosa (?) |
We were being watched at this stage by a Jackal Buzzard which obligingly flew right overhead, close enough for me to catch it with my point-and-shoot!
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Jackal Buzzard |
To the Agapanthus walshii, and a bit of a disappointment to see two flowers broken (eaten?) off on the first plant.
There was no trace of the flowers:
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Agapanthus walshii, minus two flowers |
Not taken off at the base, but both, half-way up:
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Broken or eaten off stalk |
OK, there are four other flowers, but we know how few seeds they make and how they get eaten, as can be seen here:
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Eaten flower of Agapanthus walshii |
Six on this plant.....
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Six Agapanthus walshii flowers |
.... and no less than 11 on this one!
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Eleven Agapanthus walshii flowers! |
Pippa's sharp eyes spotted some pink waving around in the wind and called me over:
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What's this? |
About 1.5m tall, woody leafless stems until the last 200mm where dense needle-like leaves begin, ending in a bunch of waxy pink very rounded Erica-type flowers on the end of red stems.
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Erica obliqua (?) |
Our books weren't much help, but while looking up some near-misses from the books on the internet, I spotted a flower lower down on the page, Erica obliqua. That's the closest we get.
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Flower and leaf detail |
The Therianthus are getting to the end of their flowering time
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Therianthus, nearly over! |
Likewise, the Lanaria lanata, where the tiny pink flowers in all the white fluff are turning brown:
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Lanaria lanata |
Growing out of the stump of a felled tree what is possibly a pair of spent Disa conferta:
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Disa conferta (?) |
The veld is dotted with the bright pink of these Erica pulchella:
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Erica pulchella |
I was pleased to spot a single Roella incurva, which we haven't seen for a while. Two years ago, we knew where to find them, but they got washed away.
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Roella incurva |
Flower detail:
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Flower detail |
I was keen to checkon the little Campylostachys cernua in the middle of the road. It had one flower before, now there were several. Campylo- means bent over, so the best way to photograph it is lying down under it!
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Campylostachys cernua flower |
Notoriously difficult to photograph is the Five Toothed Baboon Cabbage, Othonna quinquedentata with its tiny yellow daisy flowers:
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Othonna quinquedentata |
The Purple Powder Puff Pseudoselago serrata are getting past their best, but some are still in full flower:
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Pseudoselago serrata |
As usual there was a lot more, a Gnidia anomala which defied the auto-focus as usual and, and, and.....
:-) A
As usual nice photos, especially of the old favourites the Agapanthus annd Watsonia. Then there are some very special flowers, the Edelweiss, the Roella and the almost over but still looking pretty good the Therianthus. The Powder Puff is refered to as purple I presume from that is is somewhat different to a blue version? What else well the 'new' Erica is interesting and the photo of the Buzzard deserves credit. In all very interesting marks out of 10, well pretty high.
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