If I could go for a walk in an indigenous forest every day I would. I love the beauty and peacefulness of it and don't think I'll ever be able to get enough for it. One of the thing that I always find very interesting are the young fern leaves that's coloured pink, something I saw quite a lot of in the Tsitsikamma last week. I asked somebody in the area once why the young leaves are pink before turning green and…
There are few things as beautiful as a spider's web covered in dew or rain drops encountered on an early morning walk through the veld or bush.
A fern growing out of the remains of a bush fire in the Groendal Wilderness area outside Uitenhage in the Eastern Cape
Like these rain drops I haven't been hanging around much lately. Not because I've been lazy but because I've been away for about a week and didn't have time to prepost anything. But I'm back. Hope you missed me.
While exploring the town of Montagu in the Western Cape I discovered the Montagu Nature Garden on the outskirts of town. I wouldn't really call it a garden, but rather a nature reserve as it covers quite a big area. The Montagu Nature Garden was established in 1954, the year that Montagu celebrated its centenary. Montagu Nature garden is situated in the most southerly part of the succulent Karoo “biome.” It has the distinction therefore of having flora of 3 regions of…
I get very excited when I find something new and hiking along the Guinea Fowl Trail in Port Elizabeth the other day was one of those exciting days. I saw Hyobanche Sanguina, commonly known as Cat's Paw, for the first time. Cat's Paw is a parasitic plant which grows on the roots of shrubs. The clustered red flower reaches about 150 mm in height and it's soft furriness along with the protruding white anthers forming the characteristic cat's nails gives it it's…
Its that time of the year when most of us actually dare to venture into the garden (often with a lot of persuasion from the wives) and do some work towards making the yard look a little bit prettier. Port Elizabeth has a number of excellent nurseries where avid gardeners (and the rest of us) can get everything they need to spruce up around the house. One of the bigger nurseries in town is Bloomingdales in Walmer where you will be…
We headed out to the Van Stadens Wildflower Reserve west of Port Elizabeth the other day and found lots of Pin Cushion Proteas (Leucospermum cordifolium) in flower. Caroline has pointed me to the PlantZAfrica website which has great information on South African plants and flowers. Pin Cushion Proteas are part of the Cape Floral Kingdom, better known as the Fynbos biome. The Cape Floral Kingdom is indemic to South Africa and found mainly between the Cape West Coast area and Port Elizabeth. The…