Summer's end

Autumn struck with a vengeance this year. I say 'with a vengeance', because it's more like winter! We're having extremely cold days, like 20℃, where are the balmy 24℃ and 25℃ temperatures? This will probably be the last cutting of the lawn that Chrissie does this season, already the grass is turning yellow in patches. We were lucky to have good rains this past summer, so all the plants are strong and healthy and ready for the winter.

It was a good flowering season for the Red Hot Pokers (Kniphofia), attracting lots of bees, butterflies and sunbirds.

A Geranium sharing a pot with some Senecio Blue chalk succulents

The Hydrangea blooms were also exceptional this summer

After all that rain, the Sword Ferns spread like wild fire 

The last of the succulents left in my garden. All those in pots went to a good home (more about that later)

I always love it when these Leafy Foliose Lichens appear after good rains

The weather patterns are really peculiar lately and I just hope this coming winter won't be too severe, I feel heavy frost looming deep in my bones. But here's the thing - I might not experience winter in my garden this year as we are in the process of selling our smallholding. There is an offer in place and if that goes through, we will be moving down to Ballito on the North Coast (KwaZulu Natal). And of course I will keep you up-to-date on the progress of the (possible) big move.

Miracles happen after the rain

After the first thunderstorm of the season - and an orb in the left-hand top corner of the photo?!
(Read more here about Orbs)

After an extremely cold and harsh winter, we seemed to skip spring and headed straight into above 30°C temperatures. My garden was absolutely devastated by the extreme frost we experienced and then suffered from heat exhaustion no matter how much I watered. Then, to top it, I sat without internet for ages, unable to get to my blogs except for some viewing via my phone or tablet.

But at last we've had our first rains of the season, my internet is back on, things are back to normal and my garden is smiling! So am I, with the rain came the relief of cooler temperatures and at last it's a joy to spend time in the garden.

After the first thunderstorm of just 15mm rain, just about all signs of the devastation of my lawn have disappeared. Just before winter I sprinkled a generous layer of LAN (a nitrogen rich fertilizer which encourages fast leaf growth, ideal for citrus trees and lawns) so hopefully I'll see the benefits this season. Already we have to mow the lawn twice a week in some places.

Just before the rain the hosepipe was Chrissie and I's constant companion! I don't have an automatic irrigation system for two reasons - I should have installed one BEFORE the garden  got established and, number two, I just love "washing" my garden by hand, it's the time when I relax and meditate and also see all sorts of things that have to be done in the garden.

My Phormiums tenax are thriving after all the rain. Phormium, also known as New Zealand flax or Flax lily but are not related to Flax, is a genus of two plant species in the Xanthorrhoeaceae family. One species is endemic to New Zealand and the other is native to New Zealand. The tough, sword-shaped leaves grow up to three metres long and up to 125 mm wide and the rigid flower stalks can be up to five metres long, projecting high above the foliage. Mine have never flowered in 10 years, probably due to the cold we experience here.

Artemis and the girls enjoying a late-afternoon snack of flying ants (termites on the wing!). I do have a problem with termites in my lawn. At the onset of winter and during winter they cause large, empty patches as they take the grass down to their nests to stock up for winter and I've given up trying to fight them. The only  way termites can be killed is with a contact poison so, unless you can actually get the poison right down into EVERY nest, it's a useless exercise. Using poison above ground (and I do not use any chemical poisons) is dangerous to wildlife and serves no purpose for eradicating termites.

Here's the difference between "flying ants" and "winged termites :

Winged termites have a straight waist and straight antennae. Their wings are equal in size and are shed soon after they emerge from their nest, or swarm. Winged termites usually swarm in the early spring when it is warm and rainy.

Flying ants have pinched waists and bent antennae and are often mistaken for swarming termites. They have two sets of wings, one larger than the other. Depending on their species, flying ants may swarm at different times of the year.

Despite the fact that these Echinopsis cacti are drought tolerant, mine seem to thrive with extra water and seemed to have doubled in size since the rain!

Protected from the frost every winter, my Echeveria glauca absolutely thrive on water in the summer, producing huge rosettes and the most beautiful flowers.

The Geraniums had just started budding, but after that first shower, they all burst into bloom simultaneously!

My Sword ferns (Polystichum munitum, I think!) were all frosted dead but after being cut down at the end of winter, the sprang back to life and will soon be filling this area gain.

While they are most commonly found growing in moist wooded areas, sword ferns are quickly becoming popular in the home garden as well. You’ll find the young fronds, or fiddleheads, appearing in early spring from their underground rhizomes with most plants eventually reaching four to six feet long. In addition to spreading through rhizomes, sword ferns will also reproduce via spores that are found along the backside of the fronds. These spores appear as brown spots, which are clustered together in groups. These ferns are native to western North America.

With quite a few early blooms for the season, it looks like my Hydrangeas will be doing well this summer.

After moving all my Kniphofia (Red Hot Pokers) from the shade to this sunny spot, I already have the first blooms of the season and soon my garden will be filled with the tjeeps and chirps, of the Amethyst Sunbird (Black Sunbird) and his wife, who are regular visitors during the summer. Last year I was lucky enough to catch a few shots of these little busy bodies that never sit still long enough for a photographic session! Here is one of the paintings I did of a female feeding on a Kniphofia flower :

While the male is metallic black with the most gorgeous iridescent amethyst throat, the female in contrast is a dull brown with spots under her throat and abdomen.

Kniphofia at my wildlife pond, thriving on lots of water from the over-flow area.

 Kniphofia at the pond and Aloe marlothii, which just survived the winter beautifully.

Planting Nasturtiums next to Kniphofia (both sun- and water-loving plants) provides a beautiful contrast of spiky and round.

Still a bit stark-looking after the winter, hopefully my pathway will soon be filled with Marigolds and Nasturtiums again. both seeded extremely well last summer, so I'm holding thumbs!

Aeoniums and some Echeverias thriving in the dappled sun next to a pathway.

Recently I managed to get hold of a piece of Vygie (Mesembryanthemum) and it's taken nicely here in its temporary home. As soon as it is well-established, I will make a little rock garden, something I've been wanting to do for years, and once again be the proud owner of some beautiful, flowering Mesembryanthemums!

"I hear the sound.  And as I look out the window I see it.
Rain.
Falling wet and grey.
Nourishment for trees and plants that grow.
The watering of the Earth.
And I’m thankful!"

Let the rain kiss you. Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops. Let the rain sing you a lullaby.

~ Langston Hughes

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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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