There you will find me...

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

It's 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? It’s true, 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.

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.

The promise of spring

Some Daffodils I had in my garden a few years ago

As the days of winter grow longer and lighter, we instinctively yearn for assurance that spring will come again. Like the Victorians before us, we strive to brighten our homes and our daily lives.

Searching for ways to fill their rooms with the blooms and fragrances of spring, the Victorians began experimenting with forcing bulbs. This skill became an important addition to the Victorian housewife's list of domestic accomplishments. Bulbs were sold by door-to-door salesmen and through mail-order catalogues as early as the 1830's.

Not only did bulbs provide instant gratification, but they offered possibilities of prolonging the pleasure of floral company throughout the long, dark winter.



The Victorians were particularly partial to single Hyacinths, which are easy to grow and wonderfully fragrant. Growing other Holland bulbs (Dutch imports) - such as crocus, snowdrops, narcissus and tulips - also created drama and excitement in the Victorian home. As technology improve, allowing interiors to be warmer and brighter, more exotic bulbs (such as Calla and Bermuda lilies), were able to be grown.


Bright yellow Narcissus formed from hardy garden bulbs flourish in a natural straw setting

Today, the available range of both Holland and Cape Bulbs (originating from the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa) is vastly greater than our Victorian grandmothers could ever have imagined. We can obtain both tender bulbs (planted in the spring to form summer flowers, such as gladioli) hardy bulbs (planted in the fall, requiring a cold winter treatment, such as tulips) as well as Holland and Cape bulbs, pre-potted and pre-chilled varieties. And we can use our modern refrigerators to trick our bulbs into believing that Old Man Winter has come - and gone!



What has not changed - and never will - is our sense of wonder at seeing a lowly, unpromising bulb sprout first roots, then leaves and finally, a burst of fragrant flowers - each one keeping its promise of spring.



Perfect for the novice, Paperwhites are easy to grow and wonderfully fragrant

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Lost in summer

Summer is the season of simple and timeless joys. She frolics like a happy child between innocent spring and melancholy autumn waiting for us to embrace her unbridled delight with life. It's a time to engage in the simplest of tasks: weeding, watering, harvesting. And watching the garden dress herself in summer's glorious colours. The secret is in slowing down long enough to notice the simple miracles that surround us.

The Hydrangeas started blooming early this year and already the plants are full of large flower heads.
There are two flower arrangements in hydrangeas. Mophead flowers are large round flowerheads resembling pom-poms or, as the name implies, the head of a mop. In contrast, lacecap flowers bear round, flat flowerheads with a center core of subdued, fertile flowers surrounded by outer rings of showy, sterile flowers.
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Hydrangea flowers are produced from early spring to late autumn; they grow in flowerheads (corymbs or panicles) at the ends of the stems. In many species, the flowerheads contain two types of flowers, small fertile flowers in the middle of the flowerhead, and large, sterile bract-like flowers in a ring around the edge of each flower-head.

 In this photo, the beautiful lilac, star-like, fertile little flowers are clearly seen in the centre of the flower. They start off as small three or 4-lobed little bubbles, opening up as the lovely little centre, star-shaped flowers.
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Hydranges are native to southern and eastern Asia (China, Japan, Korea, the Himalayas, and Indonesia) and the Americas.

Last summer I was devastated when I noticed that just about all of my Agapanthus praecox Blue had succumbed to rot due to too much rain and being in too much shade. I took them all out, saved what I could and moved them to a sunny spot. My efforts have been rewarded and some of them have just started flowering and it’s early days yet, but soon this flower will be thick with these lovely, lily-like flower spikes.
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Some species of Agapanthus are commonly known as lily of the Nile (or African lily in the UK), although they are not lilies at all. All of the species are native to Southern Africa (South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, Mozambique) though some have become naturalized in scattered places around the world (Australia, Great Britain, Mexico, Ethiopia, Jamaica, etc.)

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My first White Agapanthus ever! (Agapanthus africanus ‘Albus’)  It is bloomming where I only had blues last year. I doubt that there is a South African gardener alive that has not come across an agapanthus somewhere! They line our roads, and are in most gardens and parks, from the tall globular-headed ones to the ever-shrinking dwarf cultivars now available at garden centres. Most of the agapanthus that are grown are cultivars or hybrids of Agapanthus praecox.
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This evergreen species is indigenous to South Africa and comes from the winter rainfall Western Cape and all-year rainfall Eastern Cape and shed a few of their old outer leaves every year and replace them with new leaves from the apex of the growing shoot.

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Also known as “White Lily of the Nile” or “African Lily”, Agapanthus africanus ‘Albus’ are evergreen perennial with narrow, erect leaves and long-stemmed umbels of white, trumpet-shaped flowers in late summer. It makes a good container plant in colder areas or perennial color accent in outdoor beds where winters are more mild.
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Agapanthus africanus (African lily) is a native of the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. A. africanus is more difficult to grow in gardens than A. praecox, as they should be protected from severe frost.

One of my Geraniums has started acting weirdly, like she wants to be a Bonsai, so I've decided to accommodate her. I pruned off all excess branches, leaving just the three above and transplanted her into a shallow dish. From here on I will keep pruning, keeping to this desired shape and then transplant her into a nice Bonsai dish. She has the most gorgeous flowers, as you can see from the close-up below.

 

Yesterday I spotted the first flowers of the Acacia karroo high up in the utmost top branches of the tree. Soon all my Acacias will be covered in these beautiful little yellow pom-poms.

 Acacia karroo or Vachellia karroo, also known as the Sweet Thorn, is a species of Vachellia, native to southern Africa from southern Angola east to Mozambique, and south to South Africa. This beautiful indigenous tree grows to its greatest size when rainfall of 800-900mm is received but can grow and even thrive in very dry conditions such as the Karoo region of western South Africa. The requirement here is for deep soils that allow its roots to spread. Everywhere in its range, however, the tree is easily recognised by its distinctive long white paired thorns and coffee coloured bark, both of which are very attractive.

Summer is finally here! Take a deep breath. Summer is a simple reminder not to allow your leisurely summer visions to turn into frenzied schedules with no time for family connection. Create open-ended free time in your summer schedule, for gardening, spending time with friends and family in the garden and reap the fruits of your long hours of (enjoyable!) time tending to your garden.

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Spring - not yet...

It’s chilly again today, and grey,

but I have late-winter Nasturtiums still flowering.

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Weeping Anthericum (Chlorophytum saundersiae)

Afrikaans : Watergras

Wow! We've experienced the first REAL cold of the season, last night temperatures dropped to 3℃ and this morning the lawn was absolutely white, covered in frost. I feel like covering my garden in one huge frost cover to save the plants!

But here's the thing. Have you ever planted Weeping Anthericum (Chlorophytum saundersiae)? This lovely, but unpretentious, plant flowers as it gets colder and colder. The Weeping Anthirucum is a graceful grass-like plant with mases of starry white flowers on slender stalks above arching green leaves. The flowers are very recognisable as belonging to the Hen & Chicken family although without the little 'chickens' this genus is so famous for. It is native to the Eastern Cape of South Africa, occurring naturally on forest floors and grasslands. Very easily grown, coping with both sun and shade, dry and damp conditions and is also frost-hardy. this versatility has made it very popular as both garden plant and for mass landscapings.

This plant grows about 40cm high with a spread of 25cm and is a very well-behaved plant, needing little in the way of maintenance. It tends to look a bit untidy towards the end of winter so cut it back and it will soon sprout new green leaves. It seeds itself very easily and the bright green leaves of newly-seeded plants will often be found all over the garden. that's not a problem, simply lift and re-plant where you want them, or bag them and give them to friends! It also grows very easily from seed you can harvest and will flower within a year of being planted.

The Nasturtiums are also still flowering, so even in these coldest of days there's some beauty in the garden and something to be thankful for!

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Cosmos flowers in South Africa

Every March and November respectively our countryside explodes with colour when pretty pink and white cosmos flowers bloom in early autumn and then again in late summer. They grow easily in the soil at the side of the roads disturbed by the road scrapers widening the verges.

Crawling among the cosmos, taller than me, next to the side of the road to try and get a good shot of these annual flowers was quite an experience. I almost fell in a rabbit hole, got black jacks all over my pants, walked straight through a huge Orb Web Spider’s web before I realised it and even disturbed a family of Partridges, who scared the daylights out of me as they all raucously took to the air!

Cosmos is a genus of about 20-26 species of annual and perennial plants in the famil Asteraceae, native to scrub and meadow areas in Mexico (where the bulk of the species occur), the southern United States (Arizona, Florida), Central America, South America, south toParaquay, and South Africa.

 

Cosmos in Mpumalanga, South Africa

They are herbaceous perennial plants growing 0.3-2 m tall. The leaves are simple, pinnate, or bipinnate, and arranged in opposite pairs.

 

White Cosmos in my garden

The flowers are produced in a capitulum with a ring of broad ray florets and a center of disc florets; flower color is very variable between the different species.

 

Cosmos next to a stream

Cosmos, along with many of our succulent and aloe species, have become regarded as indigenous in South Africa and bloom in various colours - white, pink, cerise and red - no yellow in South Africa. Having them in your garden ensures a wonderful display of colour during early autumn and summer.

It's against the law to pick the flowers next to the side of the road, but Cosmos seeds are now packaged and available at most nurseries. Growing them in the garden is easy and they make a wonderful country-style cut-flower arrangement.

Cosmos flowers is a favourite subject of, and has inspired, artists throughout the years and have been depicted on many a canvas.

 

 

Cosmos in my garden

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Kniphofia (Red Hot Pokers)

The Red-hot Pokers (Kniphofia) in my garden are in full bloom and I never noticed the baby Praying Mantis on this one until I up-loaded the photograph to my MAC. Upon closer inspection, I saw that many of the blooms had babies on them, Mother Praying Mantis has been busy! Praying mantises usually breed during the summer season and do not give birth but lay eggs that come out in a white froth. Each praying mantis egg case will hatch about 100-200 tiny mantises, all at once and when the babies hatch, they're entirely self-sufficient and on their own.

The name Kniphofia is a tongue twister (pronounced nee-FOF-ee-a) but these plants are easy to grow. Once established, these Red Hot Poker plants can also manage drought, although mine tend to grow better and bloom more profusely with supplemental water. Full sun is a must as they get very scraggly and hardly flower at all in shade.

Red Hot Pokers flourishing at the side of my wildlife pond where it over-flows.

These plants, which are native to Africa, produce spikes of upright, brightly-colored, red-to-orange flowers. This gives names such as "torch" and "red hot poker" to many of them. The flowers produce copious nectar while blooming and attract sap-suckers such as the Black Sunbird to my garden. Besides the flowers of my Aloe ferox, this seems to be their most popular feeding spot and every year I look forward to the Black Sunbird and his wife (Chalcomitra amethystina - Amethyst sunbird - Swartsuikerbekkie), who spend most of the day visiting from flower to flower.

Red-hot pokers are grown in temperate gardens around the world. Ranging in colour from reds, oranges through yellow to lime green and cream, numerous cultivars and hybrids have been developed from species originating in South Africa. Most species of Kniphofia are evergreen while a few are deciduous and sprout again in the early summer. They bear dense, erect spikes (elongated inflorescence with stalkless flowers) above the level of the leaves in either winter or summer depending on the species. The small, tubular flowers are produced in shades of red, orange, yellow and cream.

The flowers of some species of Kniphofia are reportedly used as a minor food and apparently taste like honey. K. parviflora is reported to have been made into a traditional snake repellent. K. rooperii and K. laxiflora are used traditionally as a medicine. An infusion of the roots is used to relieve or treat the symptoms of certain chest disorders.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

Some of my first Red Hot Pokers I planted way back in 2004

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Shasta daisies in the garden

Not much gardening has been happening over the past couple of weeks - raking up leaves, tending to the compost heap, neatening edges, nothing exciting.

I've got no Shasta daisies in my garden this year, but I've always had a patch somewhere. What happened? (Note to self: get some more Shastas). As a child I always admired the Shasta Daisies in my father’s garden. What I remember most was the dazzling brightness of the white blooms that always offset the bright colours of the dahlias, larkspur, gazanias, arctotis and zinnias that grew so prolifically under the African sun.

The simple white flowers with yellow button centres are a symbol of purity and are perfect for cutting. Easy to grow, they are a favourite for beginner flower gardeners and are effective when planted in small groups.

Crab Spiders seem to favour Shastas as their favorite while ambush-hunting their prey in flowers. These tiny spiders take on the colour of the flower they're sitting on and it's wonderful to come across a pure white or bright yellow little specimen on your flowers.

A white crab spider catching a butterfly on some Shasta daisies 

Yellow crab spider 

Until recently, Shasta Daisies were considered members of the Chrysanthemum family. But the daisies’ lack of fragrance and hairless stems caused them to be recently reclassified to Leucanthemum, the Sunflower family.

These Daisies like rich, fast draining soil, ample water and lots of sunshine. However, they are hardy and will tolerate poor soil conditions and partial shade. Work some old animal manure or compost into the soil to help promote abundant blooms. Picking often and cutting off dead flowers will extend their bloom period.

So do yourself a favour and get some of these easy-growing, sun-loving daisies for your garden and you'll always have an abundance of butterflies and ready-to-pick flowers for the vase.

Shasta daisies at my pond a couple of seasons ago 

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