Tag: aloe

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August 2019

Time has sped by since I last wrote this blog and the worst of winter is over. I escaped the coldest and wettest period when I went to the UK for almost three weeks towards the end of July for a family wedding. Here is a description of my trip. While I was away we had a few light snow falls on the mountains and about 100 ml of rain.

Trees to welcome spring

The days are getting longer with the sun rising at 8 am and setting around 6 pm. It feels as if spring is here with the almond trees in full bloom. I hope for a good crop of nuts this summer. I have noticed some bees and midges among the flowers which are an exquisite pale pink in colour. Against a blue sky, the trees in bloom are almost as lovely as a bevy of brides.

From the verandah we admire Erythrina lysistemon , the lucky bean tree, covered in crimson flowers. The malachite sunbirds love it and are always darting in and out, but they are shy and difficult to photograph. This tree is a star of the garden for about two months. It comes from the interior of SA, but does well here and there are splendid specimens in Worcester. I also have Erythrina caffra from the east coast but it flowers a little later. I grew my tree from seed collected from a white form in Port Elizabeth many years ago, but the flowers of mine are the usual orange.

For a fortnight now we have a blaze of yellow in the garden. This is from 2 trees of Acacia cultriformis, the knife leafed wattle, from Australia. The flowers are very fleeting, but the trees are tough and have beautiful grey leaves which look good all summer long. Sadly we can no longer grow other grey leafed Australian wattles such as Acacia baileyana and A. podalyriifolia as they are deemed invasive.

Although flowering cherries do not grow here as it is too hot, flowering plums /prunus and peaches do well. As I write one of the purple leafed plums with pale pink double flowers is in full bloom. I grew it from a slip from a very old tree neglected in the garden at Welgelegen at UCT. This old house had some special plants in the garden but many have been swept away or have died from neglect. I am very pleased to have saved the plum. Nearby I have one with fragrant single white flowers which comes from Fresh woods the beautiful garden of Peter and Barbara Knox Shaw in Elgin. It is called Vesuvius and has very dark purple leaves and little cherry sized plums later in the season. These 2 and the common single pink prunus make a little purple grove when their leaves appear.

Other early spring treats

Nearby is the old rose Souvenir de Madame Leonie Viennot with soft peach pink and cream flowers. The plan is one day she will scramble up into the prunus, and the purple foliage will enhance her flowers. Such are the hopes of gardeners.

One little cluster that always delights me at this time of year is a combination of Salvia africana-lutea, Buddleja glomerata (Karoo buddleja) and the purple leafed dodonea (Dodonea viscosa ‘Purpurea’). Salvia africana-lutea is the bruin salie or brown sage or salvia, whose flowers are uniquely coloured with dark brown bracts and paler brown/tan orange flowers. These are complemented by grey leaves. It is a tough plant from coastal areas of the Western Cape and does well here in the garden. It looks lovely growing near anything with cream flowers. I have another form too which has paler greeny bracts.

Buddleja glomerata has shiny silver leaves and bright yellow fluffy flowers. Unlike most buddlejas the flowers are unscented , the plant is incredibly tough and looks good all year round. It is growing near the purple dodonea, or sand olive whose foliage is even darker purple in winter and the 2 look stunning together.

The brown sage also grows near a cream lantana and near another buddleja with soft creamy yellow flowers. This is another plant that I grew from a slip from an old garden in Rondebosch. I think it is the cross between B. asiatica with white flowers and B. madagascariensis which I think has brighter yellow flowers. The flowers have a delicious fragrance and come in long spikes. It is quite a big, lax shrub and does not thrive for me as it doesn’t get enough water here.

When I returned from the UK, the garden was scented by Buddleja auriculata with its tawny, biscuit cream flowers in small spikes. It doesn’t look much, but the fragrance carries on the air and it is always a winter delight in the garden.

It is always fun to find a different form of a common plant. For years I have grown the rosemary with bright blue flowers and I was delighted to find a form with pale pink flowers to complement it. I plan to grow them side by side. The purple dodonea mentioned earlier isn’t native to SA, but the green leafed form, is. They are both garden stalwarts in dry areas with sandy soils. They are especially pretty now with their winged seeds which adorn the bushes. The limey green shading to creamy pink colours of the wings of the green sand olive complement a pink flowering buchu close by and they look good in a vase together.

One of the first harbingers of spring and which has been flowering since July is the beautiful tough climber Hardenbergia violacea from Australia. It has scrambled right to the top of the Searsia lanceolata tree and looks gorgeous with its clusters of bright purple flowers amidst the tree’s green leaves. This is a long lived creeper and I keep meaning to grow more from seed as I fear one day it might die. Competition from the Searsia roots must be fierce and I don’t often remember to water it in summer.

The poplars along the boundary have suddenly leafed out and the pomegranates are also looking lovely with their fresh bronze foliage.

Purple beauties

Another star of the garden this month is Magnolia soulangeana. My bush is still small, but this year it has rewarded me with more flowers than ever before – big purple pink goblets that are white within.

The Californian Judas tree is also flowering with tiny bright purple pink flowers clustered on the stems. It is a bit touch and go with this shrub as I never know whether to water it in summer or not. Parts of it have died back but it is still hanging in there.

Continuing in the lilac purple theme this month are the ginger bush (Tetradenia riparia), Geraldton’s wax bushes (Chamaelaucium uncinatum) and a beautiful bushy plant that I think is a tree mallow (Lavatera sp.). The ginger bush which comes from the northern part of SA has catkins of lilac flowers which make its other common name, the misty plume bush most appropriate. Flower colour can vary from white to a darker lavender. I also have a related species from Madagascar given to me by my late friend Gill Scott which I treasure. It has similar flowers, but greyer more lanceolate leaves.

Geraldton’s wax bushes come from Australia. They have tiny leaves which allow them to survive hot summers without water. The small saucer shaped flowers come in a range of purples, pinks and whites. They are exceptionally good as cut flowers lasting for weeks in the vase.

The tree mallow is a big bushy shrub with grey leaves and big hollyhock shaped flowers. I have two forms. One has clear pink flowers and the other lilac flowers with a darker eye. The shrubs flower for weeks now in spring and are great garden plants if one has the space for them.

Bromeliads

I am starting  small collection of bromeliads. They grow well in shady places and don’t seem to require too much water.  This month one with spiky red and yellow flowers has been flowering for weeks.  I also have 2 forms of the one called angel’s tears (Bilbergia nutans).  One far more delicate that the other.  The hanging flower stalks and bracts are shrimp pink and the flowers which hang like tassels a combination of pink, green, navy and yellow.

Succulent mounds

The succulent mounds are at their best in spring. Over the years I have planted many vygies/ mesembs, but although they flower in the first year, not many survive to flower the next year. One of the mesembs happy here is flat, creeping Jordaaniella dubia. This has bright yellow flowers which make bright patches on the mounds. One of the aloes which we bought in 2017 from the aloe nursery in Swellendam is also flowering with cheerful red and cream bicolour flowers. I think it might be Aloe cryptopoda bicolor.

Growing close by is another vygie, given to me by my friend Tos Zeeman. It is a specially big bright purple pink carpobrotus and I hope the patch will be stunning when it establishes itself.  These vygies grow well on sunny banks.

Weeds glorious weeds

In August the whole farm is pale cream, awash with the flowers of a weed I call the wild mustard. This plant grows about 50cm tall and has leaves and flowers a bit like rocket, which is growing like a weed in the veggie garden. Here rocket, Florentine fennel and mustard lettuce all seed themselves each year. Florentine fennel in particular is a delicious vegetable. The other treats from the veggie garden this month are peas and celeriac and the asparagus is also starting to shoot.

My front lawn also has some of the wild mustard, along with Arctotis daisies and small white flowers which might be a type of Cotula. Although many might frown upon this mess, I love the meadow look. It is such a contrast to the dry summer dust bowl. Tiny little purple flowers from a Romula species which has round grassy leaves also brighten empty areas.

The birds are all busy making nests and the garden is alive with bird song. Weavers have selected a bare oak tree and owls have settled in the wild olives. One hears their hooting at night and one owl has decided a cypress is just the spot to set up watch at twilight.

August 2019 Gallery

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June 2019

Winter has definitely arrived. The days are short and although it rose at 8:40 on the midwinter solstice, there is no warmth in the sun until after 10 am. Then it is lovely to find a sheltered spot and to bask like a dassie (Hyrax). By 4pm it is getting cool again. The sun set at 5:15pm at the solstice.

Although I have never experienced frost at KSU, winter nights are usually below 10 °C and often down to 3-5°C. The old cottage we live in has no fireplace. The large chimney breast attached to the kitchen had a wood stove in days gone by. Now we use the alcove for storage and rely on heaters for warmth.

Fortunately we have had more rain but often accompanied by gale force winds, but no snow yet. As I write I hear the rain falling on our tin roof and I have a blanket wrapped around my knees. They promise snow and it certainly feels cold enough.

In the garden the tecomarias are still flowering as is the Mexican sage. Lavenders are coming into flower and they look splendid near the Seville oranges which are full of fruit.  In the old rose garden,  a small shrub which started off with variegated leaves which have reverted to plain green, is full of bright yellow daisy flowers. I think it is a euryops but cannot be sure.

The gales have blown most of the leaves off the trees and the oaks are almost bare, although some have retained drab brown leaves. The syringas, (Melia azedarach) which I should not be growing as they are on the invasive list, make a splendid show with their leaves turning bright yellow before they fall enhancing the yellow berries.   I think they will be even more splendid next month when the berries in the leafless tree light up the winter sky. These trees were here when I arrived.

The real joy of the garden is all the green; grass, oxalis and the wild mustard weed with its pale yellow flowers. The birds are celebrating too and the garden is alive with bird song. It is difficult to recall the pale brown of the summer months. Nowhere is this more noticeable than in the veggie patch which yields barrow loads of weeds for the compost heap.

Guavas and Seville oranges

There is little fruit at this time of the year, but we do have a single white guava tree. It is the only guava in the vicinity and the fruit is usually stolen. This year we erected a fence topped with razor wire around it and I harvested one bowl of fruit ( cost R500) before the birds attacked. Sometimes you just cannot win!

We also have 5 Seville orange trees and this year they have borne exceptionally well.  They are too bitter to eat, but  perfect for making marmalade.  That is a lot of marmalade so I have given away as many oranges as possible and taken some to the local padstals (farm stalls) to see if they can sell them.

Marmalade is one of the easiest jams to make. I use an old family recipe which works on the formula 1 fruit:3 water:2 sugar. Wash the fruit and remove any scars from the peel. If waxed, scrub to remove the wax. Cut the fruit up finely, removing pips and the pith between the segments. Take 4 cups of finely chopped fruit to 12 cups of water. Leave overnight to soak. Next day boil for about 45 mins until the fruit is soft and almost half the water has evaporated. Let it cool, then add a bit less than 8 cups of sugar. Boil up again until setting point reached.

In the pond the waterlilies have died back. However the waterblommetjies  (Aponogeton distachyos) are flowering, but I haven’t waded in yet to collect any for bredies.

Succulent garden

The most exciting section of the garden in winter are the succulent mounds. It is still too early for the mesembs, but the cotyledons are flowering – not as well this year as in the some years, but they are still very pretty. There are several varieties at KSU. I think they are all forms of Cotyledon orbiculata with different leaf shapes. Four varieties have grey leaves: one is round, the traditional pig’s ear shape with dark red flowers and another with similar leaves but pale pink flowers; another has thin round pencil shaped leaves and paler flowers; the final variety with grey leaves has forked shaped leaves. I also have a variety with green, round leaves and pink flowers.  Also in the succulent garden, the wild rosemary bushes are still covered in white blossom.

A splendid feature plant on the original succulent mound is a Kalanchoe beharensis, or elephant’s ear kalanchoe. This large succulent has big grey felted leaves and comes from Madagascar. It has fairly insignificant heads of pale pink flowers now in winter. Each year it grows a bit taller and its branches are marked with the scars of fallen leaves. It struggles a bit in our dry summers and requires water occasionally.

Euphorbias

I like euphorbias. They come in all shapes and sizes. One of the most splendid flowers now in winter, the poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima) from Mexico, but grown the world over. Once it was very common to see the big bright red bracts of this shrub flowering in winter, but now they are only found in old fashioned gardens and impossible to buy from nurseries. They only sell the dwarf pot plant form. I will need to beg some cuttings in spring. I do have the limey yellow form however, growing near a maroon caster oil bush and it is delight at this time of year.

In KZN I have seen one with twisted red bracts called the Ramshorn poinsettia which is very eye catching. Many years back local nurseries were also selling a salmon pink form of the standard shape, but it has also vanished from  nursery stocks. If the cold has caused the leaves to fall at flowering time, so much the better.

Another euphorbia which I have only had for about a year, but which is slowly growing on a succulent mound is the Firesticks form of E.tirucalli, the rubber hedge euphorbia. This is currently a very fashionable plant, used extensively in landscaping. The normally green stems are bright orange in the top half of the plant. It doesn’t seem quite as tough as the original green form, but this is normal for sports which have less chlorophyll. I look forward to the increased display as the plant grows and becomes a feature of the mound both in summer and winter.

Lastly I have been admiring Euphorbia mauritanica, sometimes called the yellow or pencil milkbush because of its thin cylindrical stems. This is a common plant in the strandveld and succulent karoo and elsewhere in South Africa, but not always available in nurseries. All summer long its bare stems have formed a mound in front of a tall cypress and beside the spekboom hedge, now the bright green leaves are sprouting. I look forward to its yellow flowers in spring before the leaves fall as summer comes.  I very much enjoy the contrast of the 3 green plants together.

Big brother, the naboom, Euphorbia ingens, which looks like a cactus grows fairly close by. These last 2 euphorbias never get a drop of water in summer, but the others do. All euphorbias are poisonous and have milky latex which is an irritant. They must be handled with care. There are several other species at KSU.

In the pink

At the edge of the old rose garden is a large bush of  Hibiscus mutabilis that  is still flowering. This does not flourish at KSU and only comes into its own in autumn with the rain. I grew it from a slip from the tree which for many years grew at Rosebank station. I am not sure if it is still there. It is an intriguing plant with flowers that change colour, starting out white and turning pink.

In the Arderne garden in Claremont there are/were big bushes of  a double form which is even more lovely. I have a plant of this, but it is really struggling and needs far more water than I can provide. It is known as the Confederate rose as it does so well in the SE of the USA, although it hails from China.

Other beauties from China are the camellias. I wish I could say they thrive here and they should as my neighbours have large bushes and the soil is very acid, but mine struggle and I have lost many of my treasured plants. I fear I will have to plant them all in pots if they are to survive. One has obliged with a beautiful pink flower.

Last of the pinks is a dombeya. This big bush grows down near the pond and struggles a bit  in the summer, but survives with minimal water. The leaves and flowers are now being battered by the gales, but nevertheless the big hanging heads of pink flowers are a joy. I am not sure of the species, but I grew it from a slip from a huge bush which grows outside the old offices at Kirstenbosch. I think it might be the hybrid called Dombeya x cayeuxii.

To end I want to celebrate Aloe arborescens, the only aloe to survive the mysterious enemy which ate all the buds off my other aloes. Here on the boundary fence they are the iconic winter image of KSU- only the snow on the mountain tops is missing- hopefully along with the peas I will be able to write about that next month.

June 2019 Gallery

 

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March 2019

Summer  has ended and we have been tipped into a strange season which does not have the usual attractions of autumn. On the last day of February and again on the 11th March we had some rain which promised  the greening of autumn, but after that the winds blew and no further rain fell and everything just seems to be hanging in there. The days are definitely shorter though with the sun rising at 7:40am and setting at about 6:10pm at the equinox. The sun is moving northwards quickly now and it set directly behind the highest point of the western mountains  at the equinox.

Fruits of autumn

The Hanepoot grapes were disappointing this year. They are usually at their best in February but were a bit late this year. The rains caused many of them to rot. These grapes, the remnants of the old vineyard which covered the whole farm, are sweet and delicious. They are a very old variety, Muscat d’Alexandrie, planted worldwide and one of the earliest grapes to be grown at the Cape. Here they are highly esteemed as a table grape and used to make fortified Hanepoot desert wine. Sadly very few new plantings are being made here I am told.

The quinces  ripen in March. One of the real delights of KSU is an old quince boundary hedge which bears tasty if misshapen and sometimes stung fruit every year. This old hedge receives no water or feeding, but gives us enough fruit to share with friends and to enjoy in a variety of ways. Quinces are tasty cooked with lamb or pork. In this part of the country many housewives bottle them to serve as a side dish with meat. I make quince jelly and cotignac or quince paste which is delicious. It is tricky to make as the thick sugary paste spits as it boils and one needs to cover the pot with a mesh and to wear gloves and use a long wooden spoon to stir the paste. It is prone to catching/ burning at the bottom of the pot, so one has to keep stirring until it is ready to set. Once dried in the sun, cotignac will keep for a long time and can be enjoyed as an after dinner treat or served with the cheeseboard.

Persimmons also ripen in March. Gorgeous golden red balls of sweetness, there is nothing to do with them but to eat them fresh and as fast as possible or the mousebirds will beat you to it. While they are still firm they can be peeled and added to salads.

The first time I ever saw a persimmon tree was in November in Venice. The tree had no leaves, just beautiful orange fruits glowing against an old building and a blue sky. I was entranced and determined to find and grow a persimmon. Here at the Cape the trees still have leaves when the fruit ripens so they are not as visually spectacular, but the glossy green leaves do turn yellow and red before falling making for a very attractive garden tree.

Other unusual fruits that ripen now in March are cherry guavas and citrons. I have 2 small red cherry guava bushes. The fruits are about the size and colour of a cherry and taste a bit like a guava – one can see where the common name comes from. There is another variety which has greeny yellow slightly larger fruit, but I don’t have it. At KSU the bushes remain less than a metre in height and it may be due to our colder winters. I have seen much bigger bushes in Cape Town.

Citrons are another of those heritage fruits which can be found on some old Cape farms. Members of the citrus family the fruits have hardly any flesh. The large round fruits were made into a preserves or used for candied peel. I have 2 kinds;  one with large spherical fruits with flatten bottoms and 1 with a strangely misshapen fruit where the segments separate. It is known as a Buddha’s hand citron and is of Asian origin.  Both have a long lasting citrus aroma and can perfume a room. Citrons were the earliest citrus trees to be cultivated in the Middle East and are part of the Jewish festival of Suchot.

Autumn bulbs

March lilies (Amaryllis belladonna) are one of the joys of late summer. Indigenous to the Cape, these bulbs send up their flower spikes from the bare ground any time from late January, but here at KSU they only appeared in March and it was a very poor showing this year with only two flower heads. I am worried that the moles might have eat lots of the bulbs although they are very poisonous.  They have a lovely scent and despite the common  name are not lilies but part of the large Amaryllidaceae family.  Once the winter rains come the leaves should appear and I can see how many bulbs I have left.

Nerine sarniensis is another gorgeous native autumn bulb. We grow ours in a pot and every year we have the great pleasure of their scarlet flowers which appear to be covered in gold glitter in the sunlight. This is another bulb which flowers while the leaves are dormant. This is also a member of the Amaryllidaceae and has the strange common name of Guernsey or Jersey lily.  Sarnia was the Roman name for Guernsey and when this bulb was named it was thought to come from there. There are several other nerines that flower in autumn which I would love to grow, but none can compare to this.

Brugsvigia bosmaniae is another beautiful amaryllid with candlebras of pink flowers.   Usually one has  to travel  to Niewoudtville to see the spectacular  display these bulbs make in the veld after autumn rains, but this year I was stunned to find a hillside of them flowering nearby  in the Karoo Desert National Botanical Garden in Worcester.   What a sight!

Cape honeysuckles

Oranges, reds, yellows and pinks, what a kaleidoscope of bright autumn colours this shrub offers. Often taken for granted here at the Cape as it is so easy to grow, these plants signal autumn at KSU. Tecomaria capensis is not a member of the honeysuckle family, but is a great favourite with sunbirds. They can flower all summer long if they are well watered, but here we have the main flourish in March after the first autumn rains. I have collected 7 different colour forms; a dark red, very robust shrub whose leaves are a dark green; a bright clear orange which is the most common form of Cape honeysuckle and which I remember from hedges of my childhood in the Eastern Cape; a cross between these two which is orange red with markings inside the petals; a clear lemon yellow; a warmer golden butter yellow; a pink form and lastly a pale biscuit tan which is probably closely related to the pink form as they both have a tendency to walk /spread. The common combination of orange tecomaria with blue and white plumbago reminds me of the colours of the old South African flag.

Other stars of March

I wish I had shade to grow more Plectranthus.   Anyone  visiting Kirstenbosch in March will admire them grown en masse. They are great native plants for autumn. Here at KSU I have a few species grown as nursery stock in the hopes I can grow more one day. They are very easy to propagate from slips and I dream of a shady border of blue, pink and white P. ecklonii. Meanwhile I enjoy my few plants of the blue form.

Flowering in March this year is Aloe greenii. Is it a forerunner of winter aloes, or should it have flowered earlier? This aloe has a tall spike of subtle pink flowers which shoots up almost overnight from a rosette of speckled leaves. It is an easy aloe to grow and at KSU  it grows next to an Australian wattle with grey leaves which provide a foil for the pink  flowers and a little afternoon shade which it likes.  Sunbirds also love this aloe and the flash of turquoise against the pink is lovely. A big bed of them would be a fine thing, but I only have 1 plant.

Lastly a favourite that has been flowering most of the summer and is an anathema to most people, Morning glory. How can anyone not admire these glorious blue flowers, thuggish though they may be?

March 2019 Gallery