Spring Flowers and a Film Shoot :-( Sunday Flower Walk

It's officially Spring by the date, and Nature thinks so too! There is a carpet next door in the orchard of what we think is Arctotheca  acaulis:

A carpet of Arctotheca acaulis

In the road, Romulea rosea:

Romulea rosea

Oxalis among little Daisies

Oxalis and Daisies

Romulea hirsuta var. cuprea:

Romulea hirsuta var cuprea

Sour Fig Carpobrotus edulis :

Sour Fig Carpobrotus edulis

Drosera, also in the road!

Drosera

Here is a large Restio re-growing after the fire with its feathery culms and some of the thick stems starting to come out of the ground.

Restio re-growing

We were keen to check up on the flower with the striped bud we had found. What a surprise!

Spiloxene capensis?

The stripes are still on the back of the petals:

Reverse of the petals

And once we had seen this one open, there were more! These two were growing up inside a bunch of Agapanthus walshii!

More, growing amongst Agapanthus walshii

Up close, each petal has a heart-shaped dot in the middle. Are they Spiloxene capensis?:

There petals have heart-shaped dots at the base

This Wachendorfia with the sickle-shaped leaves had the most impressive candelabra of flowers!

Magnificent Wachendorfia

The Lanaria lanata are pushing up flowers all over!

Buds on Lanaria lanata, all over the place!

Can this be a Metalasia? We will be back to check!

Metalasia?

Bud detail:

This is what the bud looks like

There was a strong Northerly wind, making it very difficult to photograph little flowers!

What is this? 

Can it be a Geissorhiza? A Romulea flava?

This is how the plant grows

'Our' Satyr Orchid is now in full flower:

Satyr Orchid

Flower detail:

Orchid flower up close

We checked on the Othonna heterophylla but it had been eaten again. We remembered finding another nearby, that was much more photogenic!

Othonna heterophylla

One flower had even gone to seed:

Spent flower of Othonna heterophylla

More of these which have us stumped!

What are these? 

A splash of pale pink caught my eye, next to a big rock.

Gladiolus hirsutus?

A Gladiolus hirsutus? This is how it's growing, flattened by the wind!

This is how it's growing, blown flat by the wind!

Flower detail from the side:

Flowers and buds, from the side

At the top we were astonished to find a huge area of recently burned veld completely denuded by a film-shoot!

Burned veld completely denuded by a film crew!

It's incredible that this can happen without an Environmental Assessment! Somewhere there was our single Erica longifolia we have been watching for years.... gone! I went across to where the only Phaenocoma prolifera in the whole area we monitor was..... gone too, and the area raked clear! Does money buy anything?

Everything raked away!

They even left 'props' behind:

Props left behind

Pippa reckoned we needed to check a rocky south-easterly facing slope, her hunch paid off!

Moraea ochroleuca?

Moraea ochroleuca? There were many of them, and more to come! They grow at least half a metre tall.

Flowers from the side

Re-growing from cracks in rocks, now in flower Teedia (or Oftia?)

Oftia or Teedia

Heeria argentea, re-growing nicely from the base!

Heeria argentea, re-growing

Then a white Spiloxene (if that's what it is!)

White Spiloxene?

.... with the same striped petals underneath.

The same striped reverse of the petals

The whole plant

I've said before the Pelargoniums benefited from the fire. This one's on steroids!

Pelargonium on steroids!

:-) A

Diverting Water Sunday Flower Walk

On the path past the Railway cottages there are little splashes of yellow from Romuleas, R. flava?

Romulea flava?

...and pink/mauve ones, R. cruciata? They have loooong thin leaves!

Romulea cruciata?

Also next to the path we can count on seeing Sour Fig Carpobrotus edulis, which are also slowly growing back in the burned area, if you look hard.

Sour Fig Carpobrotus edulis

We have been watching the main access road wash away year after year, all because a culvert is blocked, which should allow the water to follow its natural course. Instead, it is diverted by the road and goes straight down the hill, taking everything with it. I have been trying to dig it out both ends these last couple of weeks, but today I took some drain rods from the workshop.

Clearing out the culvert

I had made a temporary furrow across the road while I worked, but this shows the last of the water flowing along it, the rest is going through the culvert. When we came back that way to retrieve the rods, it looked a lot better!

Culvert flowing clear! 

The water is now flooding out over the block beyond as it would have before the road was built, instead of down the hill, like this:

This is the damage the water from the blocked culvert has been doing to the road

From there to the sorry sight of where the 4x4 route went straight up the sandy hillside in the burnt area the first Sunday. Oh dear! Despite our best efforts to divert the water. I have suggested that the 4x4 participants come up here with sand bags and fill them with washed-away sand and pack them in the ruts, as part of their contribution to the Environment. I'm waiting... come on Isuzu and Westvaal Stellenbosch!

The only hope here is sand-bags!

Perhaps I should mention at this stage that Brian du Toit passed away this last Monday, just two weeks after showing me the right way to make a water diversion on this track. This issue is dedicated to him.

Late Brian du Toit showing me the Right Way to divert water!

Following his example, I serviced those we'd made, where they had silted up.

Following his example!

We're still intrigued to find out what this fleshy-leaved plant is in that area. For the moment we're referring to it as the Frenchman's moustache!

Unknown plant with fleshy leaves

Another intriguing plant which we have observed growing like this, might well be a Wachendorfia affected by the fire. There are now more upright leaves growing from the roots.

Is this (and all the others) simply a Wachendorfia paniculata affected by the fire?

We're concerned at the condition of this Agapanthus walshii. Others are looking healthy not far away.

Agapanthus walshii not looking healthy

This magnificent Leucadendron just missed being burned.

Leucadendron which escaped the fire

We call this Elephant Rock!

'Elephant Rock'

Last week I didn't get a good shot of the serrated leaves of this re-growing shrub. The wilted new growth still has us guessing:

Serrated leaves and wilted new growth on unknown shrub

We found this caterpillar on a Lanaria lanata. Not sure if it's responsible for the wilting of that leaf, or if it's wishing it had chosen a green one?

Caterpillar on Lanaria lanata

The Pelargoniums are really coming back with a vengeance, looking very healthy!

Healthy looking Pelargoniums!

This Brunia also escaped the fire:

A Brunia which escaped the fire, in full bloom

:-) A