Rain Stopped Play Sunday Flower Walk

The rain had been promised for today, just two millimetres out of the south. Rain from that direction is hard to predict here, but it hit with a clap of thunder after lunch, followed by a few drops. The real rain came when we were furthest from home! We had seen quite a lot of flowers by then and saw more on the way home but it wasn't fun stopping for pictures!

But this morning on the farm, two plants were worth snapping, Virgilia oroboides (or capensis), our Keurboom is looking magnificent:

Keurboom Virgilia oroboides

Under it are Scilla peruviana growing wild:

Scilla peruviana

There are still a few Satin Flowers, Wine-cups, Geissorhiza aspera to be seen, but they are past their best.

Satin Flower Geissorhiza aspera

We caught the tiny Sundews Drosera open again!

Sundew Drosera flower

The smaller, earlier Wachendorfia paniculata have finished flowering now and have set seeds. These triangular turban-like pods will still turn orange.

Wachendorfia paniculata seed pods

But on the big ones further up, the flowers have still to open!

Large Wachendorfia paniculata

Some of the Brunias have finished flowering and new growth is pushing through the spent flowers:

Brunia with spent flowers and new growth

The single Buchu Agathosma betulina we have found which was so badly hacked at last year is recovering and we're watching the progress of its babies scattered around. This is the most impressive one. Rubbing a single leaf is enough to leave a distinctive smell on your fingers for hours!

Young Agathosma betulina plant

We thought all the Trachyandra revoluta were finished flowering, now we had found the right name for them. We did find two examples still flowering:

Trachyandra revoluta, still in flower

What I thought before might be Combflowers Micranthus, have turned out to be grass:

Grass seed

The tufts are impressive! 

Tuft of grass with above seeds

All year we've been keeping an eye on the Purple Powderpuffs Pseudoselago serrata, waiting for the flowers to appear. There are again many more plants than we remember before, so when they come they'll be spectacular. This is the biggest plant we've found, about 60cm tall, and the flower heads aren't forming yet.

Purple Powderpuff Pseudoselago serrata

Right next to the road where we usually find Lobelia tomentosa, suddenly I noticed a very different one! It's not L. pinifolia which as it sounds has needle-like leaves, we know where to find plenty of those, this one is different.

Lobelia comosa? 

Could it be Lobelia comosa?

Flower detail

While on the subject of Lobelias, we've never seen a white one before! Hidden between two large rocks:

White Lobelia

A white L. pinifolia?

Flower of white Lobelia

The flowers are out on the big Psoralea pinnata, dead on cue (October to December).

Psoralea pinnata flowers

The local Pelargoniums are all out, with their exquisite red veined pattern in the pink flowers!

Pelargoniums in flower!

One of 'our' roads is literally lined with these plants with white clusters of flowers:

Unknown plant

Twice through Manning's Fynbos book hasn't given a clue as to what it is, and there were lots of them!

Flower detail

This Teedia is growing out of a hole in the rock face where it has found enough sustenance to produce flowers and berries!

Teedia growing out of a hole in the rocks!

It's Vygie time!

Vygies, but which one?

The succulent leaves are short and triangular, and with all the rain we've had, fat!

Succulent leaf detail

Pippa's next exam is Rock Art. No we didn't find any!

Any Rock Art?

I spotted a splash of colour in the midst of what we think is a Campylostachys cernua. But it's supposed to be white and flower in February, this was pink. It looks as if an Orchid of some kind is growing up within the plant!

Orchid in Campylostachis cernua?

On the way home the Sour Figs Carpobrotus edulis had closed up.

Sour Figs Carpobrotus edulis closed for the weather

These Helichrysums are aptly called Cape Snow!

Cape Snow Syncarpha vestita

:-) A

Gardening Day at Max Harris Park 24th May

Hello all,

The weather forecast might have frightened people off, but apart from the strong Northwester, we had sunshine! The rain came later, hopefully extinguishing the veld-fire on De Rust, of which we had a grandstand view.

Since last Gardening Day on 7th May, Lecia and Talitha have mapped the garden out and today Lecia staked out the various areas they demarcated on their map, Street Garden, Link, Kiddies Playground, etc with plastic markers.

Markers for different areas in the garden

Also during the week, Graeme sent one of his diggers to rip out some of the densely growing aloes and sisals:

Graeme's digger clearing Aloes and Sisal

Harold and Deborah have now laid out a wonderful succulent garden on the west side of the hill.

Succulent Garden takes shape with baby watching

...... incorporating the Babiana sambucina:

Babiana sambucina among the new succulents

A set of steps was discovered on that side of the hill, so rocks are now packed to guide visitors to the base; at the top one can turn left or right to inspect the variety of plants they put in.

More succulents

If they establish as well as those they have planted outside Bear Trap Lodge, then this will soon be spectacular!

Tannie Elma was cutting back on this shrub to make room for the Protea below, the name of the plant is still a mystery to us!

Omalanthus (or Homalanthus) populifolius

Detail of one of the red leaves:

Leaf detail Omalanthus populifolius

Someone suggested Bleeding Heart, but nothing with that name seems to match up with this!

I did some weed-eating on most of the western half of the park and managed to tidy where the piles of cuttings were. These had been removed by the Municilality. But my actual job for the day was marking the shrubs. I couldn't find anything commercial to attach to the plants, so I cut up a sign made of corrugated plastic and attached them with clout nails or cable ties (loosely!).

Crataegus phaenopyrum

Above is our now-identified Washington Hawthorn or Crataegus phaenopyrum.

Cupressus sempervirens

This is well-known as a Graveyard Cypress Cupressus sempervirens. It has other common names including Pencil Pine and Italian or Tuscan Cypress. I had to lie down to take this picture!

Red-berried Cotoneaster

This is a really magnificent Cotoneaster!

Eugenia

An impressive Eugenia, right in the middle of the park.

Protea spp

We seem to have (at least?) two kinds of Protea, this one above has curled-in petals (or bracts?) and the leaves have red rims.

Protea spp

This one has opened fully and has plain leaves.

What is this? 

What is this, with its yellow flowers, long leaves and brown seed pods, something Australian?

Lagerstroemia indica or speciosa, Nandina domestica to the right

Pride of India Lagerstroemia indica or L. speciosa? (I wrote both names on the card). There are several in that area. To the right, almost in line with the Church spire is the Sacred Bamboo Nandina domestica.

Marble-chip Coprosma

Marble-chip Coprosma. There are two examples.

Yucca filamentosa or gloriosa

Adam's Needle, Palmlelie, Spanish Dagger, Yucca filamentosa or Y. gloriosa; take your pick!

Camellia

Now trimmed into tree shape, this Camellia is about to burst into flower! The one open flower I saw is white. Let's hope some of the rest of the plants produce pink flowers! There are several of them and they will flower from now, all winter.

Late-maturing Apple

This is an apple, but which? Not a commercial variety, the red and greeny-yellow fruit is only ready to eat now, so it's a late one.

Oleander

Not everyone's favourite, Oleander, but a great specimen! Don't use the wood to braai with, it's poisonous!

Abelia

I thought I'd spotted Abelia on my first rainy visit! Here it is, much cut back. It will flourish, I'm sure, judging from those in our own garden. It carries sprays of small whitish-pink flowers over a long period. Some can be seen at the top.

Virgilia oroboides

This Keurboom Virgilia oroboides has been trimmed to turn into a well-shaped tree. They grow quickly!

There were lots more to mark, another Cotoneaster, more Pride of India, Camellias, the Strelitzia, a Syringa Melia azedarach (listed as invasive, but not badly so in our part of SA), more Keurbooms, but there's plenty more not identified yet, so we're waiting for the experts to come and fill in the gaps! But already a visit to the park can be an edifying experience; I've enjoyed looking all these ones up!

I'm progressing on the baboon-proof (for which read vagrant-proof) dust-bin:

Baboon (and vagrant) proof rubbish bin

... and the locking system for it:

Locking mechanism for bin

The next Gardening Day is scheduled for 16th June, so make a note of the date! There are still garden beds to allocate! Or just turn up and do some planting or weeding!

:-) Andy