Another flower ride and walk

Again a ride first then a walk with the dogs later. The two areas are only a couple of km apart but the flowers vary a lot! Pinus radiata I was discussing the pines with various people. Cape Pine says their wood is Stable, Stronger and Straighter. We've always called it SA Krom, but apparently this is Pinus radiata which grows more slowly here and is in fact better than woods from the hotter areas further north where a different variety is grown with about half an inch between rings! We stopped at the plants which we noticed last week, which we think might just be invaders. Here is a picture of a more advanced branch in flower. There seems to be only this small area where they are growing. The pink tips of these leuchadendrons (?) stand out. .... but some seem to be dying amongst them, couldn't work out why: The taller ericas were dense just further on (wind was blowing, sorry!) There were some very dark pinks amongst them, almost mauve. Erica longifolia Lots of the yellow / green ones too! Well past their best.... Erica Around the corner and this Protea was attracting a lot of bees, to the outside of the flower. Protea repens The pink Helichrysums are mostly past their best, but there are buds still: Phaenocoma prolifera Here are the various stages of the flower, all on one plant: Phaenocoma prolifera The Wesselsgat dam which used to be Grabouw's only water supply and is now just for use in an emergency, was overflowing strongly. Here one gets an idea of how thickly the fynbos grows here. The rainwater on this spider's web looked like diamonds! Again the profusion of fynbos! (with some Port Jackson longifolia behind!) In the roadway, this tiny Tritoniopsis was struggling.... there were plenty more, much bigger, dotted around, normally singly. Tritoniopsis dodii These Saltera sarcocolla seem to go on and on, but you do have to look carefully for them. Saltera sarcocolla I thought this was another Tritoniopsis, but somehow it looked different from a distance. It is, but what is it? Gladiolus ... Pippa snapped me on the way back. My bike helmet was a 21st present from HMQ..... Only Johan will catch the significance of the colours of this cycle path pointer! The walk from home later, a tiny snake run over by something, not identified yet. We've been collecting seeds from these Agapanthus walshii for Jessie. Suddenly, they're ready, those not eaten. Agapanthus walshii with seeds A good haul for her, yet plenty left to blow away in the wind: Agapanthus walshii seeds Here's the very first of these Restio flowers on this plant to burst: Restio Suddenly a flock of sysies (?) came past, settled for a moment and as quickly, all were gone! There was lots more, as usual! :-) A

2 outings today....

One on two wheels.... partly to try out the carrier on the car which we need because we can't ride off the farm without the dogs following. We went to the Club and showed our passes to Forestry for the first time although we do carry them when we walk in from our side. Once clear of the forest, the flowers got interesting, slightly different.... Protea cynaroides Plenty of Ericas around and if one doesn't look for them, the Tritoniopsis might be missed: Tritoniopsis ... Some nice pink helichrysums, still some buds coming: This nearly escaped us: .... with cone shaped buds, opening into pink florets: Not sure it might be an invader? There were several in one area. Quite a few dead leuchadendrons (?) amongst others quite healthy looking. group of leuchadendrons And some stunning restios in flower: Then this afternoon we went on our normal walk with the dogs from here.... again Tritoniopsis: Tritoniopsis ... We have had a hitch-hiker on our walks of late, she comes to play from next door, and sometimes stays over with her friends: She has a name but we call her Blondie. She gets on well with Worm, Boy isn't toooo keen on her. This white helichrysum among the Ericas stood out: We came back on a road we normally go on, and these Ericas caught Pippa's eye, they are past their best, pity because there are lots in an area we've never noticed: Erica Red, and also yellow: Erica Another protea: Protea cynaroides And this little Selago serrata, how can it exist in that crack? Selago serrata from rock The sun was already at a low angle and I tried to catch it behind the restio flowers: :-) A

Sunday flower walk

Hello all, Where to begin? The Ericas are impressive at the moment, sometimes in big clumps made up of different varieties: Ericas Three distinct types: Erica Erica The Saltera sarcocolla are nearly finished, just one flower on this one, the rest have gone to seed. Saltera sarcocolla with seeds Quite a few Roella around still..... (there was quite a wind up there this afternoon!) Roella ciliata Not everything in flower has impressive colours, this one needs to be identified still: Jessie asked us to look for seeds on the Agapanthus walshii, as hers has been eaten off by a mole. Not promising, (perhaps this is why they're so rare?) most of the stalks were bare. Agapanthus walshii with spent flower In one area we found several Othonna quinquedentata which now have their insignificant daisy-like flowers out. Othonna quinquedentata Fluffed the focus! Othonna quinquedentata flower This yellow plant, (there were several in a small area) stood out. The wild lobelia are to be seen all over the place! Lobelia We found another specimen of what we found near the A. walshii's last week and now think is an Erica longifolia (?). Actually not far away from the others as the crow flies. Erica longifolia We're not sure if this is something special or an invader, the stem didn't look like fynbos: This needs to be found still in the Protea book: Protea with variegated leaves Another view: This was an interesting ground-cover plant, with tiny yellow or orange flowers. Another mystery! It's astonishing how this hardy Daisy can survive for years in a crack in a vertical rock face! I suspect this is another Daisy: The Lanaria lanata are mostly fully open like this or gone completely, they start as a round white ball: Lanaria lantana During the week, in another area on the way to Iona Vineyards, I spotted some Nivenia stokoei: Nivenia stokoei There were quite a few, all around the beginning of the Perdekloof trail. The vivid blue was difficult to miss! The leaves are flat and look as though they're plaited. :-) A