Wet and dry flower walks

Hello all, Saturday was wet, calm and overcast and gave the opportunity at last to get the true colour of the Lobelia which we think is the pinifolia: Lobelia pinifolia The pink buds of the white Helichrysums stood out too: and this Leucadendron, not pinned down yet, was stunning: Many of the white bulbous flowers from last week, which Susan thinks might be a Sparaxis, have been visited by an animal, perhaps a porcupine, although we found no quills left behind: Today was dry, windy from the south-west and only sunny for brief spells. These tiny hround-hugging plants are in wet areas of gravel, they look as though they're about to flower: Drosera trinervia This was a road, which might have been saved with a bit of water management: The ground-hugging creeper with the white flower from last week has pink cousins, it seems! This Hyacinth-type plant has little flowers all the way up; the bud started round but has elongated like this, about 120mm long: The double flower of 'our' Leucospermum oleifolium has also opened in the last week, or at least one of them has: Leocospernum oleifolium In an area recently cleared of pines, these are not far off making a great show! We'll be there to catch it, I hope! We're getting used to the magnificent uninterrupted view of Eikenhof Dam and the Country Club from this vantage point, now the pines have been cleared. We now have a name for this single specimen we have found, Muraltia, possibly heisteria, (purple gorse or kastybos) although this must be a stunted example: And for this, which we thought might be a Nivenia. Actually we weren't far off, thanks to Ebraime Hull at Harold Porter: Aristea africana. Susan says the flowers only open for a day, so we'll be lucky to catch them! We'll have to wait for them to unwind! Aristea africana buds Aristea africana plant Here's another lovely Erica, with little bunches of flowers at the ends of the stems: While this one had flowers all over. The daisies are truly magnificent at the moment! It was difficult fitting them all in the frame! The wind spoiled some other pictures, so that's all for now! :-) A

Short Flower Walk

It's yellow Daisy time! We ignore these all year, although they do seem to flower sporadically throughout. But now, they're stunning! Euryops abrotanifolius Now we know why we've never noticed pink Helichrysums among the white ones before, they're only pink in their bud form. Once open they're white! ...with a pink and later black centre: Syncarpha ... Those black centres in the white Ericas again: Veined rock with red clovers: This yellowish bush has a cluster of pea-type flowers: .... and grows up with stalks out of the ground: We've been watching this ground-hugging plant for a while: White flowers have appeared at the tips: Oftia africana The Wachendorfia paniculata are well in flower now, here is a bud: .... and this one's nearly fully open: We're still working on tracking these down: The Sour Figs Carpobrotus edulis are looking good, too. Bud: Carpobrotus edulis Opening: And fully open, complete with monkey beetle: From these pictures, it can be seen how the little beetles interact with the flowers! That was Saturday, today we went further, to check on 'our' leucospermum, now looking likea pincushion at last! We were told that this was a L. oleifolium. It does now look like one! The pair next to this one is still closed: Leucospernum oleifolium The other plants we wanted to check on were what we think might be small Nivenias. A few weeks ago, we noticed tufty ends to stalks which differed from the spent flowers still on from last year, and thought we'd missed the flowering. Not so it seems! Look what's coming out of the tufts! This is what a typical plant looks like, all made up of sets of fans of leaves. The tufts can be seen as well as some spent flowers from last year: In that vicinity was the single little plant we found last time, much the same as before, still defying identification: :-) Andy

Blustery flower walk

Hello all, It didn't actually rain on us but it threatened to! This morning we had a cloudburst here! ..... just as Pippa took the dogs for a walk around the farm! I read just now about Ericas: The ericas (Ericaceae), the largest genus of flowering plants in South Africa, are more delicate, repaying close examination of their almost infinite variety of colour and form. One or other of these species will be found in bloom at almost any time of the year. Read more:http://www.southafrica.info/about/animals/flora.htm#.UjXhJNKLBiw#ixzz2ez2tLRVm  Today was no exception, these are on the bank of the dam of the Experimental Farm next door: And later, ones which we had described as 'white' are actually black and white: We found the pink Everlastings again we can't believe we simply missed them up to now: and the curly bracts or petals....... An update on 'our' Protea / Pincushion / Leucospermum oleifolia (?), looking redder by the week! Leucospernum oleifolia And eventually, despite the windy conditions, I managed to 'freeze' the Thymelaecea which we haven't pinned down yet: Thymelaecea A Saltera sarcocolla stood out, but it was the number of buds that caught my eye: Saltera sarcocolla buds A 'new' one, an Iris type, we think. The bud: ...and the whole plant. The stems of the flowers are twisted: How's this for everybody working together? 100% Pure Country! And another 'new' one! Growing on its own, next to the road, with a wild Lobelia in the background, just to show they're still in flower! Detail of the growing tip: The Worm got a smell on this Brunia, which is doing its best to swamp a pine! And this magnificent stand of Restio shows how they thrive in this climate and sandy soil! In one area, there are many of these which we think might be Nivenias. There are some spent flowers on them, but perhaps some new buds, or have we missed, in a few weeks, this year's flowering? And there was more! For interest, on the whole walk, we saw just three other people, all friends of ours! A: