Gardening in Africa

Gratitude in the garden

noreply@blogger.com (Maree) — Sun, 22 Mar 2026 03:53:00 +0000

Nothing quite stands at attention like Chlorophytum (Hen & Chicks) after a good soaking. Had some more rain this afternoon and the gratitude emanating from the Hen & Chicks was almost palpable.

When life is loud

noreply@blogger.com (Maree) — Thu, 19 Mar 2026 03:47:00 +0000

When life is loud - let the sun find you. This was my thought when I saw my Aloe vera drinking in the sunshine after a much-needed downpour. We get a lot of rain here on the Dolphin Coast of KwaZulu Natal (South Africa), but the extreme tropical heat in between showers is hard on even a succulent garden.

Trees teach you

noreply@blogger.com (Maree) — Mon, 16 Mar 2026 03:42:00 +0000

Trees teach you that growth requires patience. For almost a year I've been watching this tree, just outside my garden fence, take root and grow into a beautiful, tropical-looking specimen. I have no idea what it is, but it's a welcome addition to the view from my bedroom window.

The garden is smiling again

noreply@blogger.com (Maree) — Fri, 13 Mar 2026 03:29:00 +0000

After two weeks of sweltering 34°C heat, a day of welcome 20mm rain and the garden is smiliing again. I know succulents are drought resistant, or they're supposed to be, but it's amazing how they thrive after a downpour.

Something uninvited

noreply@blogger.com (Maree) — Wed, 11 Mar 2026 06:21:00 +0000

An unknown (uninvited) newcomer to my garden - don't know if it's a weed or whether it's a tree - I guess time will tell. But if uninvited "visitors" keep showing up (like the Juncus - common Rush - top right) I'll have to start rethinking my "succulent garden" category ...

Re-potting after neglect

noreply@blogger.com (Maree) — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 03:00:00 +0000

I've just freshened up this pot of succulents which was standing in the garden. When I tested the ground it was a hard as concrete, I really don't know HOW they've managed to survive!

First I watered the pot heavily to soften the ground. I gently removed each plant, cut off dead and old pieces and carefully laying them down in the shade so as not to damage them. I then put in a mix of potting soil and garden soil with pebbles at the bottom to aid draining and re-planted most of them, leaving some space for new growth. An Aloe at the back with the Aeoniums next to it and in front added the Crassula and the Echinopsis cactus with a few crystal pebbles as decoration.

I'm just wondering if the red tinges on the Aeoniums is a bad sign or not? They're normally as green as grass... But they all seem none the worse for the wear and neglect, that pot has been standing there on the little table for over a year without any attention and just the odd watering.

Neglected and forlorn somewhere in the garden...

A new resolution - I promise to spend more time with you, my darling succulents!

::

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Cotyledon orbiculata

noreply@blogger.com (Maree) — Tue, 23 Sep 2025 16:14:00 +0000

Family: Crassulaceae
Common names: pig's ear (Eng.); plakkie, platjies, varkoorblare, varkoor, kouterie (Afr.)

I was lucky enough to find this lovely specimen at Sterlig Nursery in Roodepoort in January. It will be spending the winter inside with some of my other succulents and then, in spring, go into the new rock garden I'm planning.

This succulent plant has thick leaves which may vary from green to grey, often with a red line around the margin. Cotyledon orbiculata has five varieties, based on differences in leaf and flower shape. The variability of leaf size, shape and colour is also influenced by the immediate environment. Selected forms in cultivation have been given names such as 'Elk Horns' or 'Silver Waves'.

Flowering time is mostly in winter from June-August, but in the winter rainfall areas such as the Western Cape, it is often in midsummer. The colourful, hanging, tubular/bell-shaped flowers are carried in clusters on the ends of an elongated flower stalk. They are mostly orange-red , but yellow flowering forms are also occasionally found (Ernst van Jaarsveld pers. comm.).

Distribution 
Cotyledon orbiculata is widespread throughout South Africa, but is usually confined to rocky outcrops in grassland fynbos and karoo regions. Black frost will damage the flowers, if planted in an unprotected spot, but the plant itself will tolerate moderate frosts.

Ecology 
The brightly coloured flowers attract bees and birds, which feed on the nectar of the plant. The silver-grey leaves of some forms owe much of their attractive colouring to a powdery white coating which may assist in reflecting much of the sun's heat to prevent excessive water loss from the thick succulent leaves.

Uses and cultural aspects 
This is a well-known medicinal plant. The fleshy part of the leaf is applied by many South Africans to soften and remove hard corns and warts. The Southern Sotho use a dried leaf as a protective charm for an orphan child and as a plaything. In the Willowmore District, the heated leaf is used as a poultice for boils and other accessible inflammations, in particular, earache.

Growing Cotyledon orbiculata
This is an easy to grow plant suitable for a number of places in the garden. Cotyledon orbiculata is an ideal plant for the rockery, but also grows well as a pot plant placed on a veranda (stoep). It will also add texture and form to the well-drained flower border. When planted as a pot plant, good drainage is important. It is often found in full sun, but also grows well in semi-shade under trees. This is an ideal plant for the water-wise gardener.

Plants may be grown from seed, but take care in the early stages not to over-water. The best time to sow the seed is in spring, and they should be kept moist, not waterlogged. Once the seedlings have reached 20-40 mm they can be transplanted. Taking tip cuttings is the fastest method of increasing plant numbers; they must be kept fairly dry to prevent rotting. Once the tip cuttings have rooted they can be transplanted in a medium of 2 parts gravel to 1 part compost.

This plant has few pests, but it may be attacked by snails in the garden.

::

Crassula Perfoliata falcata - Propeller plant

noreply@blogger.com (Maree) — Fri, 29 Aug 2025 06:21:00 +0000

When I acquired my Crassula falcata, I was prepared to wait for a long time for it to flower. I was told that a young plant takes ages to flower, but just two months later, I was blessed with the first bud!

Endemic to South Africa, from the Cape Province, they grow to approx. 2 feet (0.61m) tall. The blossom started off with a light pink but soon turned into a sparkling, striking red.

Soon I was rewarded with this beautiful flower!

The flower is actually quite heavy and soon leaned horizontal and I was scared it might break off. But turning it to face the sun solved the problem as the plant reacted quite well and started to get up straight again.

The bloom started fading during summer and I'm looking forward to some more lovely flowers!

Crassula falcata plants grow to 2 feet tall. Their small scarlet red flowers grow in a large cluster, rising dramatically above the plants' leaves in summer, giving a beautiful showing for 6-8 weeks. They flower smells like cinnamon and can bloom twice per year, attracting birds and other pollinators.

July garden up-date

noreply@blogger.com (Maree) — Sat, 09 Aug 2025 07:44:00 +0000

Crassula multicava

We're nearing the end of winter here in the Southern Hemisphere and having a mostly-succulent garden ensures some much-needed colour and nectar/food for wildlife as well as host plants for insects to lay their eggs when really needed.

Chlorophytum comosum (Hen & Chicks), also known as Spider plant.

Crassula Multicava and Asparagus fern

A young Aloe vera which took root in the garden from a dropped seed.

In the middle of June i cut these Leather-leaf ferns right down and a month later, with a bit of rain, it is prouting beautifully.

The Fairy crassula (Crassula multicava) makes a beautiful edging plant, especially whenit flowers towards the end of winter.

Evening gardening

noreply@blogger.com (Maree) — Thu, 22 Jun 2023 03:44:00 +0000

I love being in the garden just after sunset when it's cooler (the Coastal heat can really get to me) and I think the plants agree.

Even the Chlorophytum (Hen & Chicks or Spider Plant) is perky and opened up after looking very withered and dried up this afternoon. The Spekboom in the back-ground has grown beautifully tall over the last 2 years, and maybe soon I'll have some shade in this hot, West-facing garden.

Coral Aloe (Aloe striata) in a pot and Mother-in-Law's Tongue in the back-ground.

The thick wide leaves of the Coral Aloe are smoother than the more typically serrated or spined varieties typically found on aloe species. Flowering in the later winter and early spring months, the eye-catching coral red blooming inflorescences bring colour to a garden when it's needed most.

It forms in clumps and usually won't grow higher than tree feet in height. Unlike many aloes, it's a solitary species that doesn't grow offsets that can be replanted, therefore it makes an excellent pot subject. It seems to be very slow=growing and I'm really looking forward to the day it flowers.

(Pics taken with iPhone 11 Pro)

Echeveria harmsii

noreply@blogger.com (Maree) — Thu, 15 Jun 2023 04:52:00 +0000

Family : Crassulaceae
Botanical Name : ECHEVERIA harmsii
Plant Common Name : Plush Plant

This soft little fuzzy succulent has beautiful leaf color that adds interest to small gardens and pots. It is a rosette-forming species that hails from northern Mexico. This evergreen forms small asymmetrical rosettes comprised of fleshy, football-shaped leaves with a burnished-red cast along the leaf edges. The rosette will occasionally send out pups, or lateral plantlets. As these accumulate, the plant develops a mound-like habit.

This succulent has large, beautiful flowers, but it is not a heavy bloomer. In spring it sends up stems topped with orange, bell-shaped flowers with golden throats. Each stem may include many flowers that open at different times for a longer season of colour. The blooms are highly attractive to hummingbirds.
Like most succulents, this plant prefers full sun and needs very porous soil, whether grown in a pot or a frost free rock garden. As plants age, they grow rangy but this can easily be remedied with careful pruning. The cuttings root easily in moist sand. Watering should be done sparingly as this is a very drought tolerant plant. Feed it occasionally from spring to summer occasionally with a liquid fertilizer solution at half strength.

This one started flowering shortly after I put out out in the sun in January, but I have just brought in for the winter as I'm not sure how it will handle the frost we get here.

Carpobrotus

noreply@blogger.com (Maree) — Sat, 10 Jun 2023 15:35:00 +0000

I used to have stretches of this wonderful ground-cover in my last garden. This easy-to-grow succulent, native to South Africa, is a wonderful ground-cover, ideal for low-maintenance and water-wise gardens. I have a few stems peeping through from the other side of my picket fence and it's flowering at the moment. If I had space, I would propagate some for the garden, but unless I clear up some of the Callisia repens, it's not going to happen.

Carpobrotus leaves are eaten by tortoises. Puff-adders and other snakes such as the Cape Cobra are often found in Carpobrotus clumps where they ambush the small rodents that are attracted by the fruits. Flowers are pollinated by solitary bees, honey bees, carpenter bees and many beetle species. Flowers are eaten by antelopes and baboons. The clumps provide shelter for snails, lizards and skinks, so it’s a wonderful plant to have if you want to attract wildlife to your garden.

CARPOBROTUS C. acinaciformis (sour fig, elandsvy, goenavy, Hotnotsvy, strandvy, suurvy ) has purple flowers, robust, short, greyish green, sabre-shaped leaves and tasty edible fruits, used to make a delicious jam, and grows in coastal sands usually close to the sea, in the Western Cape, from Saldanha to Mossel Bay (South Africa).

Carpobrotus juice (from leaves) can be used as a mild astringent. When mixed with water the juice can be used to treat diarrhoea, dysentery and stomach cramps. It can also be used as a gargle for sore throat and laryngitis, and mild bacterial infections of the mouth. The leaf juice can also be used externally, much like Aloe Vera for burns, abrasions, open cuts, grazes, mosquito bites and sunburn. It is also used to treat ringworm, eczema, dermatitis, herpes, thrush, cold sores, cracked lips, chafing, skin conditions and allergies.
Info from Wikipedia

CONSERVATION STATUS
Carpobrotus edulis is not regarded as threatened in its native habitat, but it is invading natural areas in other parts of the world and threatening the survival of other species. In California, where it has been used since the early 1900s to stabilize the soil along railway tracks and roadsides and as a garden ornamental, it has naturalized and is invading coastal vegetation from north of Eureka to Rosarita Bay. It is known as the highway ice plant in the USA. It has naturalized along the west coast of Australia from Perth to Albany where it was also used for soil stabilization and is known as pigface. It has naturalized in parts of the Mediterranean and on the south coast of England.

Spider plant

noreply@blogger.com (Maree) — Sun, 04 Jun 2023 16:42:00 +0000

Bottom left corner—Tradescantia and opposite it, some Hen & Chicks (also known as Spider plant). Behind that, one of my Spekboom (Portulacaria afra).

I read somewhere that the Spider plant, or Chlorophytum comosum, symbolizes fertility, good energy, and prosperity. Yay!

I also read that Spider plants may suffer from infestations like scales, aphids, mites and whiteflies. Luckily, in all the years I have had Hen & Chicks in my gardens, I’ve never experienced any of those infestations.

(Photograph taken at night with iPhone 11 Pro)

In the garden - I drop my thoughts here and there

noreply@blogger.com (Maree) — Sun, 01 May 2022 17:11:00 +0000

In the garden

I tend to drop my thoughts

here and there.

To the flowers

I whisper

the secrets I keep

and the hopes

I breathe.

I know they are there

to eavesdrop

for the angels.

I have this lovely little fern that just sprouted on its own, possibly Leatherleaf Fern (Rumohra adiantiformis). I might have to remove some of the paving to give it space to spread. I just LOVE ferns!

Origin: Australasia, South America, South Africa. Also known as Knysna Fern, Seven Week Fern, Seweweeksvaring (in Afrikaans).

Some grown-up Leatherleafs. Hopefully mine will look as good one day ...

Shade-loving Aloe zebrina

noreply@blogger.com (Maree) — Sat, 13 Jun 2020 08:35:00 +0000

Family : Asphodelaceae
Common names : zebra leaf aloe, spotted aloe

As soon as I get some shade going in my ‘new’ garden, this will be one of the first Aloes I will be getting. Also on my list, but for full sun, is Aloe ferox, not often seen here on the coast, so I think the only solution would be to ‘import’ one from somebody in Gauteng. Hoor jy my, Rita Gouws Bester? ☺️
Aloe zebrina is a small, variable, stemless compact succulent. The succulent leaves of Aloe zebrina are densely clustered into a rosette and have a slightly channelled upper surface. The colour of the leaves varies greatly but they are usually green and marked with large oblong whitish spots; the margins are armed with stout, brown-tipped teeth and the leaf tips are dark red to brown. It has pale but striking coral-coloured tubular flowers that occur in rather sparse inflorescences. The fruit is a dehiscing capsule with many seeds. Seeds are dark-coloured and broadly winged, which assists in dispersal.
.

Aloe zebrina is widespread in northern South Africa and is also widely distributed in Namibia, Zambia, Angola, Mozambique and Zimbabwe and is not listed as threatened, mainly due to its wide distribution.

The habitat of Aloe zebrina is normally dry thickets and may include marshy meadows on river banks. It suckers freely and therefore forms dense groups. Blooms are mainly found from February to May, but also June to August. The pollination is performed by birds and this aloe does equally well in shade or full sun.

In north-western Botswana, the roots of Aloe zebrina are among the main dyes for the Hyphaene palm fibres, which are used in weaving baskets, to give them a golden-yellow colour. The method was adopted for wool dyeing by European settlers who modified it to create better colours with other metallic mordants. The roots can easily be collected on a sustainable basis because of the plant's ability to readily form new roots.

The people along the Kunene River in Angola prepare cakes from the pressed and boiled flowers. The powdered stem and leaf bases are taken medicinally by women after delivery to cleanse their system. The (bitter) juice of many Aloe species is used as a disinfectant for wounds, as worm expellant and also to treat skin problems.

Aloe zebrina has potential for cultivation in arid to semi-arid, frost-free locations.

Aloe zebrina flowers against a background of Marigolds.

This is my new garden 🌵

noreply@blogger.com (Maree) — Wed, 25 Mar 2020 05:06:00 +0000

Hi ya all! Long time no see! I am not deceased (although it felt like it for a while. Well, 2 years...) and I haven't left the country. We've settled into our new home here in KwaZulu Natal after emigrating from Gauteng) and above is the garden I inherited - a fairly healthy-looking Scadoxus and some Sedge grass. I just love Sedge! Hope it seeds and spreads all over! And lots and lots of river pebbles. And paving stones. Lots of them... Will see where this leads...

There are no trees in my little patch, I will fix that soon, but for now it is totally a hot, sun garden. So, obviously, succulents are the answer, and lots of them!

Graptoveria fantome was some of the first succulents I planted, had been mothering them in pots for the last 2 years. Mother-in-law's Tongue (sansevieria trifasciata) is always welcome in my garden, I will try to get an en masse planting going, but will then have to remove a few of the paving slabs I also inherited.

And, of course, lots of Spekboom (Portulacaria Afra). This was a small cutting that I had mothered for the last few months and one can grow them in virtually any scenario - outside, of course, in the house, in the ground, in pots, and even propagate them in water in a bottle, as below.

Of course you know that Spekboom (evergreen and indigenous to South Africa) is an environmental miracle worker, with the potential to tackle carbon emissions like no other plant can. Hectare for hectare, Spekboom thicket is as effective as the Amazon rain forest at removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere – quite a feat for a plant endemic to semi-arid areas. One hectare of Spekboom can sequester between 4 and 10 tonnes of carbon per year. This makes it a powerful tool in the fight against climate change and the move towards a zero-carbon world.

And Spekboom trees can grow as tall as 5 meters. Spekboom is edible, with a slightly lemony taste, Spekboom leaves are juicy and full of moisture, making them the perfect ‘pick-me-up’ during a long day’s hiking. It is also a favoured food of black rhinos, elephants and koedoes.

A little bit of rain does wonders!

My resident gecko keeping a watchful eye on the plants. No infestation of insects here!

I'm still not used to the humidity and heat of the coast, so my gardening is relegated to early-morning or late-afternoon or during the cooler winter days now looming. Watering the garden is always a joy and I hope to acquire a hosepipe one of these days, as soon as I can get the Municipality to install a water meter at the garden tap. Not an easy feat. But we're holding thumbs!

See ya!

Happy New Year for 2020!

noreply@blogger.com (Maree) — Tue, 31 Dec 2019 05:06:00 +0000

There you will find me...

noreply@blogger.com (Maree) — Wed, 07 Aug 2019 06:29:00 +0000

... … on my knees, in the garden, sprinkling handfuls of Marigold seeds in the moist soil.

It’s heading for summer and what could be more blissful than lovingly tending to your flock of flowers? Just like our children, they thrive on tender care and love.

Many of us have Marigold flowers (Tagetes) growing in our gardens, but did you know that marigold flowers have great healing abilities? These beautiful golden flowers will heal your body in many different ways. Marigold flower tea has great antioxidants that help to prevent cardiovascular disease, strokes, and cancer. And I say they heal the soul also.

To make tea or infuse the flowers, boil the water and then add 1 tablespoon of the flowers to the pot of tea and let it steep. Do not add the dried flowers to cold water and then let it boil. The tea purifies the blood, so drink this tea regularly.

Marigolds are also great insect repellents, mosquitoes hate them! By growing these flowers in your yard, you can be assured that mosquitoes will leave you alone and you’ll be helping out your local bees, too. Sprinkle them in the next boxes of your chickens - not only does it look pretty and smell good, it will get rid of all those pesky fleas and mites.

Black Karee (Rhus lancea)

noreply@blogger.com (Maree) — Mon, 17 Jun 2019 09:31:00 +0000

Rhus lancea, or Black Karee as it is commonly known (and now called “Searsia lancea”), has the habit of growing in weird shapes if not pruned, the branches sometimes bending in upon itself, giving it an untidy look, but which the birds love! They criss-cross this highway of branches at an amazing speed in search of insects and feed on the clusters of small, yellow or red, berry-like fruits in Autumn.

The fruit in it's green form, highly prized by birds and primates

The flowering season is between June and September, and fruit begins to form from September to January. The leaves hang down, which are glossy and dark green. The flowers are yellow and fruit is small, round and slightly flattened. Several birds eat the fruit but the Bulbuls (Pycnonotus barbatus) were the most prolific eaters in my garden, and guinea fowl and pheasants eat the fruit waste on the ground.

Black Karee seeds ready to drop and populate the garden with hundreds of seedlings!

Be careful where you plant this tree. Although it doesn’t have an invasive root system and can be planted near buildings or walk-ways, it grows to a height of 20 to 30 ft, with a width of 20 to 30 ft, and is one of the messiest trees I have ever come across! It will clog up your pool filter in no time and we spend hours every week raking up the fallen leaves and berries. I don't think the leaves have much composting nutritional value as they seem to take ages to decompose.

A ten-year old Black Karee in my previous garden in Tarlton, Gauteng

A stray seedling sprung up next to the garden path...

The bark of this Karee is reddish-brown in young branches, but rough and dark brown in older branches and stems.
Can be used as fence posts because the wood is resistant to termites. Indigenous evergreen, it is wide-spread in South Africa and is only missing from Kwazulu Natal. It grows to 5-10 meters and makes a lovely evergreen shade tree, hedge, wind break and roadside tree. It is in the top 5 frost and drought-hardy trees.

The leaves of the Black Karee (Searsia lancea) glistening brightly after a spring shower...

Look at the trees, look at the birds, look at the clouds, look at the stars… and if you have eyes you will be able to see that the whole existence is joyful. Everything is simply happy. Trees are happy for no reason; they are not going to become prime ministers or presidents and they are not going to become rich and they will never have any bank balance. 
~ Osho

Strelitzia reginae (Bird of Paradise)

noreply@blogger.com (Maree) — Sat, 02 Feb 2019 07:38:00 +0000

(Pic taken with my iPhone 6s Plus in Sheffield, Ballito, KwaZulu Natal)

Strelitzia reginae, the crane flower or bird of paradise, is indigenous to South Africa. An evergreen perennial, it is widely cultivated for its dramatic flowers. In temperate areas it is a popular houseplant.

(Pic taken with my iPhone 6s Plus in Sheffield, Ballito, KwaZulu Natal)

After many, many attempts of growing this beautiful plant in my previous garden in Tarlton, Gauteng (South Africa) and having it frosted down to the ground every year until it succumbed to the cold winters, I am now totally surrounded by masses of these plants here in Ballito. I just can not get enough of looking at the intricacies of the flower, it truly could be a bird of paradise and take to the skies any minute!

Strelitzia reginae is one the most popular horticultural perennials around the world. It flowers for long periods with its vivid orange and bright purple/blue inflorescence and is an ideal pot plant and cut flower subject. The inflorescence stalk is 700 mm tall with 4-6 flowers that emerge in succession in a boat-shaped spathe ± 200 mm long, producing a mucilaginous substance when in bloom. The flowers have orange sepals and blue/purple petals (May to December).

It occurs naturally only in South Africa along the eastern coast from Humansdorp to northern KwaZulu-Natal in coastal bush and thicket. It grows along river banks in full sun, however sometimes it occurs and flowers on margins of forest in shade.

Bees are common visitors when the spathe is in flower. Sunbirds may be the pollinator, but this has still to be proven. The role of sunbirds in Strelitzia pollination needs to be investigated, as they have been observed "robbing" the flowers by taking nectar but by-passing the pollination mechanism. Birds eat and disperse the seed. In nature, where its distribution overlaps with that of S. juncea, in the Humansdorp District, they hybridise easily.
(This info from SANBI)

It is regarded as a perennial herb by the abakwaMthethwa clan in KwaZulu-Natal, who use the strained concoctions from the inflorescence to treat inflamed glands and venereal diseases. The seeds are also used in the Cape to sour milk.

Read more about Growing Strelitzia reginae here.

Special Features of Strelitzia reginae :

Attracts birds

Drought resistant

Feature plant

Good pot plant

Medical plant

Useful plant

Feeds honeybees

Invasive species - Pom-pom weed (Campuloclinium macrocephalum)

noreply@blogger.com (Maree) — Sat, 26 Jan 2019 03:05:00 +0000

Following the tractor around on our smallholding in Tarlton, Gauteng (south Africa), I also get a chance to ‘rescue’ small wildlife and flowers, giving the driver strict instructions to ‘go around’ it. This Pompom weed was blowing around briskly in the breeze and I had to hold it still to get a shot. These wildflowers have been blooming on our smallholding the whole summer, making bright pink splashes against the blue-green grass all along our fence.

The Pompom weed (Campuloclinium macrocephalum) is an ornamental South American herb belonging to the daisy family, Asteraceae. It is rapidly becoming the most serious threat to the conservation of grasslands in South Africa. Infestations become conspicuous when the plants are in flower between December and March, transforming the veld from green to pink. The plant initially establishes itself in disturbed sites such as roadsides, but then invades natural grasslands, open savanna and wetlands. This weed displaces native species, reducing both the biological diversity and carrying capacity of vleis and veld.

The plant initially establishes itself in disturbed sites such as roadsides, but then invades natural grasslands, open savanna and wetlands. This weed displaces native species, reducing both the biological diversity and carrying capacity of wetlands and veld. During winter the plant is not visible above-ground.

However, now there is good news! Bio-control scientists have released a tiny insect to wage war on the dreaded invasive Argentinian pompom weed and save our Highveld grasslands. Recently, bio-control scientists celebrated the release of a tiny insect known as the pompom thrips (Liothrips tractabilis) by releasing them into fields of pink-flowering pompom weed at Rietvlei Nature Reserve, south east of Pretoria.

Very difficult to remove (I tried pulling out a few of them and actually got nowhere - this weed breaks off just above the ground, leaving the large, tough roots underground.) Recruited from Argentina, where pompom weed is indigenous, the newly-released pompom Liothrips causes significant damage to the stems and leaf tissue at the growing tips. This causes deformities in plant growth, reducing the height, biomass and flower production of this unwanted weed. Scientists also warn that it will take several seasons for entomologists to build up large enough populations of Liothrips to halt the spread of pompom weed.

You can read more about this bio-control here.

Planting love

noreply@blogger.com (Maree) — Thu, 24 Jan 2019 06:54:00 +0000

Thought for the day ...

David Hobson said, "I grow plants for many reasons : to please my soul; to challenge the elements or to challenge my patience; for novelty or for nostalgia, but mostly for the joy in seeing them grow," and I whole-heartedly agree!

Starburst!

noreply@blogger.com (Maree) — Sun, 20 Jan 2019 03:14:00 +0000

Flowers of Syzygium australe

Looking much like a fireworks display, Syzygium australe has many common names that include brush cherry (because of the bright red berries it produces), scrub cherry, creek lilly-pilly, creek satin-ash, and water-gum, and is a rainforest tree native to eastern Australia. It can attain a height of up to 35m with a trunk diameter of 60cm. In cultivation, this species is usually a small to medium-sized tree with a maximum height of only 18m. The flowers attract many birds and insects, especially bees and, believe it or not, there was a bee on this flower which took off just as I pressed the shutter!

The blossom is spent...

noreply@blogger.com (Maree) — Tue, 15 Jan 2019 03:10:00 +0000

A Masked Weaver (Ploceus velatus) in an Acacia karoo

Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature ― the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.

And there’s something so absolutely pleasing about a bunch of carrots with tops on! Maybe it’s the thought of pulling them out of the ground. As I stood there looking down at the carrots, thunder rumbled its way into the distance, and then the rain came, dropping words to the ground all around me.

The blossom is spent and the trees are now all clothed in fresh green. Nature is throbbing with the sound of summer, a loud bird chorus. I feel the warmth of the sun on my shoulders and I feel at peace. If I had a song that I could sing for you, I’d sing a song to make you feel this way.

Where the wild grass grows

noreply@blogger.com (Maree) — Wed, 09 Jan 2019 03:48:00 +0000

This was a corner in my Gauteng garden at my wildlife pond where I allowed the indigenous wild grasses and weeds to grow wild. It was a real haven for small wildlife, birds and insects. All the trees there were indigenous as well – White Stinkwood (Celtis africana) and some Sweet Thorn (Acacia karroo), a favourite for nesting birds because of all the thorns.

Dedicated to all wild-grasses lovers!

They’re building ’em up
skeletons of brand new palaces,
glass is shining everywhere
so neat are the lines
converging and rising from the sea
that feeds my eyes with watery
veins. Though
the place I like most,
is where the wild grass grows,
where angry bikers hit mud hills
and thick-skinned fishermen cradle
pet-boats between one pint
and the other.
—Eszty Arod