Tag Archives: fynbos

Everything is Fine!

Fynbos 1 – Leucadendron salignum

Haiku 268

The world in chaos

However, in my garden

Everything is fine!

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The end of a Cape winter is when my fynbos flourishes.

Fynbos 2 – Erica Quadrangularis

Mr Spaghetti Leg’s plant is covered in tiny white flowers.

Fynbos 3 – Erica Quadrangularis

The whole plant is still very small, as you can see by comparing it to the bricks surrounding its base. But it’s still here!

Fynbos 4 – Erica versicolour

Fynbos grows very well, as it is endemic to the Western Cape and quite unique. This Erica was only planted two years ago and just keeps growing. As does the massive cheese plant behind it!

Fynbos 5 – Erica versicolour

It has been producing flowers for months now.

So yes, everything’s fine – in my garden at least!

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I’ve written about fynbos a few times, so for more info, just click on the links highlighted in blue.

 

Renewal

Erica 1

Haiku 214

Delicate as lace

Tiny tinkling flower bells

Spring is in the air

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Erica 2

Mr Spaghetti legs’ plant returns each Spring.

Although it isn’t really Spring till next month, I am certainly not complaining. I’m always happy to see the plant is surviving and even growing a little each year. You can see just how small it is by the bricks.

Erica 3

This plant with the tiny delicate flowers is a fynbos, Erica Quadrangularis.

Mr Spaghetti Legs.

Mr SL is all ears

 

Abundance

Erica Versicolour 1

Haiku 189

New kid on the block

I know you’re happy when you

Grow abundantly

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Erica Versicolour 2

My daughter Ski gave me this lovely fynbos bush last September. It’s an Erica Versicolour, and has settled in nicely and grown a great deal.

Erica Versicolour 3

It started producing flowers almost at once and has continued to do so ever since.

We are now heading into the winter months here in Cape Town, but it will burst forth anew in Spring, next September.

 

Red Devil

Red Devil – Leucadendron 1

Haiku 180

Petals etched in flame

Burning in the evening light

Fiery Red Devil

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Red Devil – Leucadendron 2

This is my lovely fynbos plant, Leucadendron salignum.

Also known as a Red Devil, that name is clearly demonstrated here as the plant looks to be on fire in late afternoon sunshine.

Planted in my garden about four years ago and pretty much left to its own devices, it has flourished and grown as tall as me.

Which just goes to show that if you use indigenous plants, in this case Cape fynbos, they do very well.

 

Hang in There, Baby!

Erica 1

Erica 1

This is Mr Spaghetti Legs’ plant; a little Erica Quadrangularis my husband bought me when my old boy died. (I mentioned this briefly in Crunchy.)

It is still trying to get established and I have to water it a little every few days to keep it growing. I only have to be late one time and it will die! Hot summer days!

Happily, there is new growth, just at the ends of the fronds, but I have to watch this little plant very carefully and make sure the roots do not dry out.

Erica 2

Erica 2

You can see from this aerial shot that it is very small still. (That is grass on the left.) It will have tiny white flowers on it when it blooms, as you can see from below, when I was given it.

Erica 3

Erica 3

This little Erica is indigenous and therefore suited to our climate. All I have to do is keep it alive till the winter rains and it will do the rest.

After all, my Red Devil leucodendron is now half as big again as last year; see Fynbos.

 

post script: We had good rains on Friday! Yay! It didn’t fall in the catchment areas, so won’t have filled up the dams, but our lawns, and this little Erica, were very very grateful!

 

Fynbos

Fynbos 1

Fynbos 1

My daughter, Pix, bought me this lovely Fynbos plant on her last visit.

Fynbos

Definition: A distinctive type of vegetation found only in coastal South Africa, characterised by a diverse richness of endemic plant species, particularly small heather-like trees and shrubs, that grow in soil that is acidic and nutrient poor, and in a climate with cold, wet winters and hot, dry summers.

Pronunciation: Fyn – as in Train. Bos – as in Boss.

Fynbos 2

Fynbos 2

This plant is called a Red Devil, Leucadendron salignum, and looks rather like the South African national flower; the Protea.

I’m happy to say it has settled in very well. I’m always a little nervous with new plants, because I tend to kill them! But it is still here and is producing lots of new ‘blooms’, so I assume its roots have taken hold.

The great thing about fynbos is that because it is indigenous, it is well adapted to our climate with periods of drought or little rainfall. I don’t have to rush out and water it every hot day, now it has established itself.

It joins the rest of the plants in my garden. If you can survive here without molly coddling, you’re very welcome!