I am late with this post as we are already in December. As I write a cold south east wind is blowing. This is normally associated with early spring, but we have had some extremely hot days and summer is definitely here. The spring bloom has faded and we are reliant on summer stalwarts for colour, however looking back November had many stars.
Roses
Early November was a glorious time in the garden. All the rambling roses were at their peak. One of my favourites is an old rambler with clusters of small very double soft pink heavily scented flowers. It is the rose which forms the boundary hedge at the old Boschendal rose garden. I am not sure of the name. I have two big bushes tangled up with a rampageous musk rose and a cerise purple old climbing rose called Russelliana. To be out in the garden in the early morning when the scents of all these roses are heavy in the air is to be in heaven.
There are several musk roses in the garden. Most have large clusters of single white flowers. One has delightful semi double flower. All are scented and most are vigorous growers with particularly vicious thorns making them ideal barrier plants.
November is also when the old Wichurana ramblers such as Dorothy Perkins flower. These roses have small glossy leaves and are common at the Cape surviving in old country hedges. Dolly as we fondly call her has clusters of bright pink flowers and vicious thorns, but no scent. She makes a charming picture growing in the plumbago on the boundary fence. I also have a darker pink red form for Dolly which might be the rose called Excelsa. It makes a huge bush tangled up with a rose which has clusters of single pink flowers with white centres. I grew it from slip gathered on the side of the road near Joubertina in the Eastern Cape
The other very special Wichurana rambler to flower in November is the blue rose, Veilchenblau. I struggle to grow this rose well, but its flowers are a joy every year. I think it likes a little shade
Several years ago I bought two rose bushes from the university Botanical garden in Stellenbosch. Their labels indicated that they had come from seed collected by the previous curator, Wim Tijmens, on a visit to China. Curator of this garden from 1966-1999, he was a great plantsman and I was delighted to give them a home. They have both done exceptionally well surviving with minimal water and make big bushes with smallish pale pink flowers. One is single, the other semi double
Towards the middle of the month the 3 huge bushes of Cécile Brunner or Bloomfield Abundance started flowering. I am not sure which it is as both have tall candlabras of pale pink exquisitely formed small flowers which tower up above the bushes. They were some of my earliest plantings and now they dwarf the plumbago hedge and everything around. They get no water in summer, but are thriving and their pale pinks blooms nodding over the blue hedge are pretty. I seem to have a soft spot for pink and blue combinations which make sophisticated gardeners shudder. What was the old rhyme – “pink and blue will never do, all the boys will wink at you” Well what is wrong with that!
Lastly it would be unfair to leave the roses without singing the praise of Mermaid. She was covered with her big yellow single flowers for about a month. Unlike the other rose mentioned, there will be more flowers as the summer progresses. Mermaid also has vicious spines and grows along the boundary fence surrounded by plumbago.
I was delighted to get her ancestor, Rosa bracteata, two years ago. This is also known as the Macartney rose and has single white flowers with bristly buds/calyxes and shiny foliage. A huge bush used to grow against the wall of the Castle in Cape Town, but last time I looked someone had set fire to it and I am not sure if it survived. This rose is sometimes confused with Rosa laevigata (the Cherokee rose) at the Cape but they are easy to tell apart. The leaves of R. laevigata usually have 3 leaflets, the flowers are bigger and occur very early in Spring, with a few in autumn. Leaves of R. bracteata have 5 or more leaflets, are glossier and it flowers later and on and off all summer. The buds are also bristly and the branches have brownish down.
Trees of November
Without a doubt, November is Jacaranda month. It is not only Pretoria that celebrates this tree, Boland towns also have magnificent specimens, often covered in lilac purple flowers without a leaf to be seen. Our young trees have leaves while in flower and are not yet as spectacular. The sight of the flowers against the clear blue sky is very special, as is the lilac carpet of fallen flowers. These trees are on the invasive aliens list and there are parts of the country where they should not be grown. They are best grown in a courtyard or paved area where you can grow other plants in pots and you can enjoy the carpet of fallen flowers. Very little will thrive in the soil under a Jacaranda.
Another tree which flowers this month is the Catalpa (Catalpa bignonioides) or Indian bean tree. Despite the common name this tree is native to the south eastern states of the USA. These trees have large pale green hairy leaves and their tubular scented white foxglove-like flowers with maroon speckled interiors come in drooping clusters. They like water and my tree is struggling, but farms nearby have some magnificent specimens. I first saw this tree near Zoo Lake in Johannesburg almost 50 years ago and have always wanted to grow one. It is closely related to the Paulownia with lilac flowers which I tried to grow, but lost.
The Jamboes tree also bears its clusters of creamy white fluffy flowers now. These if we are lucky will grow into tasty rose apples to enjoy at Easter. This tree is a member of the Eugenia family and has glossy leaves which emerge an attractive bronze red. Jamboes used to be common in old Cape gardens, but they are seldom seen now.
Lovely white shrubs.
I have several pretty white shrubs which look great in November. First is Romneya coulteri, a poppy with spectacular big white flowers with yellow centres. Fried egg plant is one of its common names. This is a wandering perennial plant which sends up tall stems (about 2m) of greyish silver leaves. It is tricky to get established and will only grow from root cuttings taken in the middle of winter (June). It comes from California and Mexico and does well in the sandy soils of the Cape, but you need a big space to do it justice as once it gets going it will spread over several metres. From my front veranda I can see it displayed against the purple dodonea, but the real joy is to stand under the plants and look at the sky through their crepe paper like flowers. It is very drought tolerant and gets no summer water.
The carissas are also in flower this month and Carissa edulis in particular has been fabulous. The whole bush was covered in clusters of white flowers emerging from pink buds. The sweet scent is glorious, and I picked a big branch for the vase and enjoyed the fragrance indoors for a week.
Escallonia is also a valuable shrub in the garden. Its evergreen foliage always looks healthy and is a good foil to the plant’s clusters of small waxy pristine white flowers. You do get pink and red colour forms, but I prefer the white. I should prune and shape the plant more to enhance its value.
Lastly is sweetly scented Bauhinia bowkeri. This scrambling shrub comes from the Eastern Cape, but has done exceptionally well here. The white flowers emerge from unusually coloured mink brown buds and cover the big bush for at least a month at this time of the year. It has typical twinned bauhinia leaves which are a fresh green.
Cacti
Early in November we were treated to a spectacular flowering of the red cacti on the succulent beds. These cacti usually sense approaching rain and time their flowering to coincide with the rain. I should try to find out what they are called, but meanwhile we just enjoy them.
One grows as a cluster of tallish columns (about .5m) and has small red flowers that stick all the way up the stems. It flowers off and on all summer as fronts pass.
The other has an increasing clump of dumpy stems covered in prickles from which flower buds emerge. The large brilliant red iridescent double flowers remain open for a few days. These flowers are also triggered by the promise of rain, but the flowering in November was exceptional and the entire clump was covered in blossom.
Lastly I have a pale pink cactus which has similar short stems which make spreading clumps and it only flowers now in spring, but the large single flowers are exquisite, albeit short lived.
Fruit and veg
The veggie garden is dying back in the heat, but we are enjoying the courgettes. These are very rewarding to grow and one has to be vigilant as they can turn into giants overnight. The Lazy housewife beans are also starting to bear. These runner beans do well out here in the Boland and are delicious if picked before they get too old.
I was able to make us a pot of gooseberry jam from my pickings in mid-November. We have also been feasting on Logan berries. These ripened towards the end of the month and are a fleeting treat. The apricots are starting to ripen so more jam making is scheduled. The mouse birds are eating the peaches much to my annoyance. When I first came here there were none of these birds about, but their numbers are increasing.
As we move towards Xmas we are spending more time on the stoep/veranda in the heat of the day doing jigsaw puzzles. We share this with nesting rock pigeons, swifts and sparrows. It is a fairly busy and noisy household.
KSU November 2019
