Another Sunday walk!

Yes, the King Proteas are still looking stunning! Protea cynaroides Protea cynaroides Pinker above, and yellower below. Protea cynaroides and in all stages..... Protea cynaroides But there's more if you look harder, for example the Restios which one tends to walk past as 'just another reed'. The variety is amazing: Restio This flower above is from this tuft below: but there are lots more types: That's just a few examples! We're starting to notice the plants of the next crop of Wachendorfias with their pleated, spear-like leaves: Wachendorfia There are still just two flowers on our favourite pink Helichrysum, but look closer: Seed pod or bud? The Brunias have a new crop of baubles: As usual, the Lobelias seem quite happy growing in the middle of the road! Do they ever stop flowering? The dam is nearly full again, it was dead still and the Club looked so inviting! Elgin Grabouw country club Tucked away where we know where to look, the fungi are thriving still: This is a new plant for us, now in flower, right next to the road, and we've never noticed it before: The flowers, leaves and buds: On the way back, Oliver's growing frames looked interesting upside-down! A few weeks ago in another area, we noticed this plant and wondered what it was: Cunonia capensis As a result of Pippa's Botanical Illustration course this last week, we now know it's a Butter Spoon tree, Cunonia capensis, Red Alder or Rooiels. It's easy to see how it got that first name! :-) A

Sunday Flower walk

.... which seemed to be taken over by Proteas! There isn't much colour in the veld at the moment, but we know our stamping ground well and know where to look for the Proteas which are stunning at the moment! We're not actually sure what this is yet, but we broke a tiny piece off and Pippa is attending a 3-day Botanical Illustration course this week at Fernkloof as part of Hermanus Fynarts Festival http://www.hermanusfynarts.co.za/ so she'll take it along and ask the fundis: It certainly has a Protea look about it! Below is what the whole bush looks like: But the Kings (P. cynaroides) were stunning! Protea cynaroides flower Protea cynaroides plant White King Protea - Protea cynaroides Ptotea cynaroides Just measured the lead, that makes the diameter 270mm! Protea cynaroides Protea cynaroides Protea cynaroides The top left one here is opening like an artichoke. Protea cynaroides Protea cynaroides Protea cynaroides This above looks like a scene from Lord of the Rings! Protea cynaroides with seeds They're even beautiful when they've gone to seed! Otherwise, the wild lobelias just go on and on! Lobelia and there are still ericas around: Erica Erica After a miserable day yesterday, what a difference! But there's snow on the High Tops! We are privileged to live in such a beautiful place! :-) A

Flower walk

Weather not too promising, but not too cold, just the possibility of more rain. Ideal weather for fungi, we're finding delicious field mushrooms in the orchard. Some of what we saw today might be deadly! There are still a couple of tritoniopsis, but their season is over really. This one seems to be clinging to the restio: Tritoniopsis There's new growth among the helichrysums, even if the plant has been blown over like this one: These taller ericas are among the last to be in flower (Port Jackson behind): Just one of the Protea family, all on its own: There's very little colour at this time of the year, this huge white 'miniature cow-parsley?' caught our eyes: We're into the next cycle now, here are leaves of the Wachendorfia coming up, the flowers in a candelabra with the orange turban, and in their area we remember them, there are lots coming up: Wachendorfia growing from roots again Here's a mesemb-type worth watching out for! Probably a blast of colour in spring! Another fungus: This might be a sepp, but not about to try out! These small heart-shaped flat leaves snug on the ground caught my eye! Saltera sarcocolla (it was windy!) Not many at this time of year : Saltera sarcocolla We're watching this one, pale green leaves now, and the dead stem had a yellow iris flower. The pelargoniums are putting some colour into their leaves now. Colour also coming into the leaves of the selago serrata, now called Pseudoselago serrata: Pseudoselago serrata Just two flowers on the pink helichrysum! These wild lobelia must have the longest flowering time of all! This is the best example of an Othonna quinquedentata I've ever been able to photograph! It was not tall as they often are, and the mass of flowers was noticeable at 50 metres! Othonna quinquedentata More fungi! A worthwhile walk even though there's not much colour around at the moment! :-) A