A little while ago I did a post on the Natal Creeping Fig with its purple flowers. In that post I mentioned that it is related to the Sour Fig (Carpobrotus edulis). I found a Sour Fig the other day and took some photos of it to show you what it looks like as well.
Today is the 1st of September which means it SPRING DAY. YAY! Winter is over (even if its only on paper) and everybody is looking forward to summer. To celebrate the coming of spring I am posting a pic of the King Protea which is South Africa's national flower. And to make it relevant to Port Elizabeth, the picture was taken in the Van Staadens Wildflower Reserve. The reserve is about 25 minutes from town and a excellent spot to…
Tomorrow (or today, depending when you read this) is Spring day. So it means bye-bye to the winter (even if its just on the calender), flowers blooming, bees buzzing, butterflies hovering, birds chirping and longer days. Oh yes, and don't forget people in bright clothes welcoming the arrival of spring. So in celebration of the coming spring, here is some... yes, you guessed it, flowers.
Yesterday I told you about Prickly Pears and in this case the red prickly pear. I also mentioned that the cochineal beetle was introduced as the prickly pear's natural enemy to stem the spreading of the plant. Cochineal beetles are best know for the fact that they are used to create a natural red dye. The information below I got off Wikipedia.Cochineal insects are soft-bodied, flat, oval-shaped scale insects. The females, wingless and about 5 millimetres (0.20 in) long, cluster…
Prickly Pears are originally found in Central America and first came to South Africa as fodder for cattle. Being a cactus plant, they grow very easily and took root quickly before starting to spread throughout some part of the country at an alarming rate. The spreading of it was brought under control through the introduction of the cochineal beetle. The fruit of the prickly pear is about as big as a extra large egg and is sweet in taste. It…
The Candelabra Flower is found in grasslands and is quite wide spread in summer rainfall areas. Unfortunately people pick them in the wild as the flower is quite striking and it never gets a chance to sow its seeds. The flower grows up to 70 centimeters high from a bulb. It normally flowers in the summer months where after fruit develops on the tips of the flower stalks. When they dry out they form a tumbleweed and spreads its seeds.
Today's post are all shots of new tree fern shoots. I love ferns and specially tree ferns. These I took in front of the hotel I stayed at in Johannesburg recently, but for me there is nothing like seeing a great tree fern growing inside an indigenous forest.
Its been a while since I've done a Random theme post. For today's post I did an impromptu macro photo shoot in my garden. I love succulents and cacti as they are easy to maintain and make the most interesting flowers when they do bloom. In front of the house I have a small rock garden while I have lots of different succulents in pots around the pool.
I have a specific liking for succulents and cacti and have various different types planted in pots and in the garden. One of the most interesting ones is the Carrion Flower. There are different types of carrion flowers and this one comes from the genus Stapelia. This specific species are small, spineless, cactus-like succulent plants. It is native to South Africa, but apparently grown as potted plants elsewhere. The flowers of all species are hairy to varying degrees and generate…
There is a bush just outside our office front door with these red seeds, berries, seeds, berries seedy berries on. I walk past it every day thinking that I should get a close-up of them, but I never have. Till this week.