Warm Sunday Flower Walk

In the week I was working on Elgin Ridge Organic Wine farm. Outside the cellar is a succulent garden which is looking really good at the moment! This Malachite Sunbird was feasting from aloe to aloe.

Malachite Sunbird on Aloe at Elgin Ridge

This Aloe looks different from any I have ever seen:

Unknown Aloe at Elgin Ridge

A pink Sour Fig Carpobrotus is spreading all over the rock wall. Could it be C. acinaciformis?

Carpobrotus acinaciformis?

In 'our' area, the 'normal' Sour Fig Carpobrotus edulis is also in flower, but just here and there.

Carpobrotus edulis

Where we will later see the Nymphea nouchalis with its round leaves in the Experimental farm dam, for the moment the area is taken up by oval-leaved Waterblommetjies Aponogeton distachyos or Cape Pondweed, Vleikos or Water Hawthorn, the picked buds and flowers are popular locally in stews! 

Waterblommetjies Apongeton distachyos

Pippa had done some preparatory snooping yesterday and we followed her path to photograph her 'finds'. This pink/mauve Erica is taking over from the previous ones, now all spent and burned brown.

Mauve Erica taking over from earlier types

Here is just one flower stem, showing short bell-type flowers:

Flower detail of above Erica

We had to criss-cross an area to locate her 'find', in the meantime coming across many different Restios. Anina says she thinks this one is Restio capensis:

Restio capensis?

The tangled look of this one above made me think it's 'mate' was perhaps this one, not far away:

Restio capensis? 

Detail of the flower of the upper one, a female Restio capensis:

Female Restio capensis flower

This looked like a Mum & Dad Hypodiscus aristatus:

Hypodiscus aristatus female & male

With this flower on one, male Hypodiscus aristatus:

Hypodiscus aristatus male flower

More Hypodiscus aristatus male flowers

More Hypodiscus aristatus flowers above, and female below:

Hypodiscus aristatus female flower

And another with crooked stems which Anina says is Restio egregius:

Restio egregius

With these (male) flowers:

Restio egregius male flower

Whoever thought thatch reeds were just thatch reeds? At last we found what we were looking for:

Phaenocoma prolifera flower

A single Phaenocoma prolifera plant! While a few kilometres away near the reservoir I visited recently, there are carpets of them, this is only the second example we've found in 'our' patch, and it's not a young plant either! Nearby we found this young Leucadendron (we think!) with red old leaves and a reddish edge to the new leaves:

Unknown Leucadendron

Close by were some different pink Ericas:

Pink Erica

The flowers are much longer than the previous one and not belled-out at the tips of the petals. It was alive with bees and other insects.

Flower detail of above pink Erica

A female Stonechat (?) Prinia (?) with spent Elegia mucronata male flowers:

Bird on Elegia mucronata male flowers

This is what the Struthiola ciliata look like now!

Struthiola ciliata

Flower detail:

Struthiola ciliata flowers

We're noticing more and more of these Cyphia volubilis, Klim-op or Baroe climbing along all kinds of host plants.

Cyphia volubilis or Baroe

Cyphia volubilis or Baroe flower detail

The tufted leaves on this Erica and the spent flowers make us think it's an E. coccinea.

Erica coccinea with spent flowers?

Here is a spent flower:

Spent flower of Erica coccinea?

By this time we were in the road where we found the strange small plant growing out of corms. On the way, we found this one growing, also in the road, straight out of the ground, could it be the same?

Unknown plant in road

Unknown plant in road and corms.

While I was on my knees I noticed this tiny flower on some moss, or is it a Drosera?

Moss flower or Drosera?

We went off to look at the Ladybirds we'd found in hollows in rocks last week, having thought they were wasp eggs until studying the photos!

Pippa inspecting holes in rockface

They were still in the first hole we discovered:

Ladybirds in original hole

So we looked further. Yes, several other holes were occupied!

More ladybirds in another hole.

.... and a single one in another hole. Note the white head with the black pattern and five black spots:

White head of Ladybird can be seen

So which kind are they?

This young Sour Fig Carpobrotus has established itself in a saucer-sized dish of sand in a hollow of the rock close by. No doubt it will survive and thrive! 

Carpobrotus in tiny patch of sand

These twin Lobelia tomentosa flowers were growing at the end of one stalk!

Twin Lobelia tomentosa flowers! 

The Violas were being more photogenic today!

Viola flower detail

We don't know of any others, but this patch covers about two square metres!

Patch of Violas

Lobelia pinifolia?

Lobelia pinifolia?

Red Full Moon tonight!

Red Full Moon!

:-) A

Sunday Flower Walk through the Week

We had a Christmas in July party today so I'll have to pick out what we found in the week. I had a job on at Karweyderskraal and although I didn't have time to stop under the Eskom powerlines for the Protea compacta, Bot River Protea, which are at their very best at the moment, there were interesting flowers in the farm-yard.

We are used to the white Metalasia here, so a pink one was a novelty: M. erubescens?

Metalasia erubescens?

Near it in the yard was a Lobelia, also different from the ones we know here. To the right behind is a white Erica:

Unknown Lobelia

This bush with yellow flowers caught my eye, possibly with a pea-type flower.

Unknown plant

The triangle at the turn-off to our Country Club is looking impressive at the moment. These Proteas are a bit hidden behind the billboards:

Proteas at the Country Club turn-off

A distinctly paler one near them:

More Proteas at the Country Club turn-off

Leucadendron with yellow flowers, L. laureolum?:

Leucadendron laureolum?

And the red one! Leucadendron 'Safari Sunset'. This one obscures the signboards and has to be cut back every year, but it seems to thrive on it!

Leucadendron 'Safari Sunset'

It was too wet to do our 67 minutes for Mandela at Max Harris Park yesterday but I popped in to see what was in flower. The Japanese Flowering Quince Chaenomeles speciosa started flowering a couple of weeks ago. It was severely cut back at our first Gardening Day, so it should be fuller than it is. Nevertheless it is striking with its deep pink blossoms and no leaves:

Japanese Flowering Quince Chaenomeles speciosa buds

There is a single pink bloom on the otherwise white Camellia:

A single pink Camellia flower on an otherwise white bush

If you ignore the rubbish and tangled fencing under them, the Aloe arborescens are stunning. The NGK spire is having a face-lift. They're wasting their time looking for eggs under the cock!

Aloe arborescens

This bush has looked familiar all along; now that its colours are coming through, it looks like a Fiddlewood Citharexylum quadrangulare. The word 'guitar' can be picked out in the Greek!

Fiddlewood Citharexylum quadrangulare?

There are still lots of Proteas to come, with several buds like this:

Protea bud in Max Harris park

Is this a Blue Daisy, Blue Marguerite or Felicia amelloides?

Blue Daisy, Blue Marguerite Felicia amelloides?

So easily overlooked are the Crassula ovata or Jade Plant flowers! The leaves of this one are riddled with holes and it looks quite scruffy, but up close the flowers are exquisite!

Crassula ovata flower

We did go for a short walk yesterday. I took this picture of a white Metalasia to compare the foliage with the pink one. This one certainly has the 'axial tufts' referred to in some of the guides. The M. erubescens above (if that's what it is) has plainer leaves, more like a rosemary plant.

White Metalasia flower showing foliage

Here is an Erica we're not familiar with, we found several in one patch only:

Unknown Erica

Here's that plant with the red flowers again!

Unknown plant with red flowers

Amongst it and nearby is a tough-growing plant with almost Cedrus-type leaves, now covered in round white flowers:

Unknown plant with white flowers

In the middle of the road, right on the track was this unusual tiny plant. Felled trees had been dragged across the road on both sides of it, could it be something special?

Tiny plant in road, growing from corms

The Retios are numerous, impressive and complicated. At first they all look the same, until you look up close. The flowers particularly are beautiful if you study them closely, each one very different! Anina has kindly identified the three specimens in the photos below: 'This one is a Hypodiscus aristatus male flower'.

Hypodiscus aristatus male flower

Anina says of this below: 'Possibly another Hypodiscus aristatus male, but a younger flower. The female flowers are similar, but usually only a single inflorescence. (Yes, these are a whole inflorescence with lots of little flowers hidden by the spine bracts) and slimmer'.  

Younger Hypodiscus aristatus male flower?

Again, thanks to Anina, 'Thamnochortus lucens male.'

Thamnochortus lucens male flower

The much-hacked Buchu, Agathosma betulina has come back with a bang! We have to be careful where we stand near it, for its numerous babies! Two can be seen coming up at the bottom of the picture.

Buchu Agathosma betulina with babies

On the way home we found the remains of a Bolete (?) with scaffolding!

Old Bolete?

And close by, some impressive orange Cinnabar brackets, Pycnoporus spp?

Cinnabar Bracket fungus Pycnoporus spp?

On the subject of fungi, on the driveway at home we have been watching this Fairy Circle:

Fairy Circle at home

The bare ring is where they were growing and the grass in the middle was mown at the same time as the rest around but has grown vigorously in comparison with that on the outside of the ring!

:-) A