Air plant flowers

I think the one thing in my mother's garden that always fascinated me was her air plants. They used to hang in a rubber tree close to the front gate and once a year these grey spikey looking plants that doesn't grow from the ground got the most beautiful pink and blue flowers. When my mom … Continue reading Air plant flowers →

Succulent flowers

I have succulents like these in my rock garden but it was great to find this patch in Settlers Park a few week ago. They make for a nice ground cover and is beautiful with their pink flowers.

Flowering Spekboom in Addo

I like pizza... and braaivleis... and burgers... and... and... and... Elephants like a whole bunch of things as well. One of those things is Spekboom (Portulacaria afra). Spekboom, also called the elephant bush, forms part of the Subtropical Thicket biome and is prevalent in the Addo Elephant National Park. In actual fact its one of the reasons … Continue reading Flowering Spekboom in Addo →

Valley Thicket

South Africa boasts seven biomes or plant kingdoms and Port Elizabeth is fortunate that five of the seven occurs within the Nelson Mandela Bay metro boundary. One of the biomes which is found largely in the Eastern Cape is the Valley Thicket Biome, previously called Valley Bushveld. The biome is found mostly in river valleys and … Continue reading Valley Thicket →

Everlastings

Everlasting flowers amongst the Fynbos on the hillside close to Cotswold

Prickly Pear Flower

The prickly pear season is usually around January to March but I was surprised to find a prickly pear plant with a flower in the Baakens Valley the other day. Taking a close up photo I realised how my photography has stagnated lately. Why stagnated? Well, for one I can't remember when last I've taken … Continue reading Prickly Pear Flower →

Moss seed

Have you ever wondered what moss seed looks like? On a visit to the Tsitsikamma I was taking a couple of macro pictures of moss between rocks when I found that a patch of it was seeding. I've noticed it before but never realised what it was I was looking at.

Fort succulents

Succulents on top of Cogmans Kloof with the British Fort in the background

Grasses at St Peters

Wild grasses at St Peter's Church ruin in South End

Planting Spekboom

As most of the Addo Elephant National Park is made up of what used to be farmlands, big parts of the park consist of open fields. Addo has embarked on a project where locals are used to plant spekboom on these fields to help and bring the natural bush back quicker. Spekboom (sometimes referred to … Continue reading Planting Spekboom →