The Fynbos Blog

This is what happened.  An explosion of new flowers arrived during a particularly busy time when I was doing a lot of travel.  It is still the case that every single time I go out on the mountain I see something new.  Which can get quite intimidating as it builds up.

It’s Thursday morning.  I have my Pilates class one hour from now.  I have uploaded all the photos and am going to post them all, with as many identified as possible and in no particular order.

As spring has arrived on the mountain we get huge changes in weather.  One day over 30 degrees and a howling South Easter doing its best to kill off the newly planted Salvias in the garden, the next 15 degrees, pouring with rain and we reach for a warm sweater and a fire in the evenings.  The moment the sun comes out it and the wind suck every little bit of moisture from the ground which becomes unrelentingly hard.  When we run the dogs charge off to the water points and woe betide Peter if he has forgotten to fill the puddle at Fox Pan on the South side of the farm.

Meanwhile I keep hoping for a quieter life, but have a call tonight to discuss a client who would like us in Stockholm before the end of the year.  That’ll be a break from the summer heat in Paarl!

Great spikes of Microdon dubius emerge in areas of heavy vegetation.  One thing I note as I record the flowers is that some plants seem to like a bit of space around them, others prefer to grow with their friends in close proximity.

One that likes a bit of space is the Pelargonium.  I always struggle with identifying these but I believe this one is probably Pelargonium capitatum.  This is one of the few plants that has survived my not very green fingers and grown from cuttings to thrive in the garden.

I can never resist a good picture of Seamus looking his best on his morning run.

I’ve looked in all the books and still haven’t been able to identify this blue flowering probably member of the pea family.

Helichrysum cymosum must be one of the commonest fynbos flowers of all and not less lovely for that.  The farm is covered with these yellow flowers that sit on soft grey foliage.

Another yellow flower, this one perched, in typical fynbos fashionb on a long spike.  Should not be too hard to identify but that will wait for another day.

This charming blue flower is common on the farm and goes by the name of Lady’s Hand because of the way the petals stand up like the fingers of a delicate hand waving.

I know I’ve seen this one in the book, but will have to come back to give it a name. These rather scruffy shrubs thrive in a particularly dry, north facing area which here in the Southern Hemisphere eans they get the full blast of the sun.  They have suddenly burst into flower.  They come in pink and in white and in close up the flowers are delightful.

There are a few more flowers to go but no time left.

To finish, last week we went for an evening run on a grey cloudy evening and no glorious sunset emerged – until, well after we were back, the hall was suddenly lit up by the most amazing pink light.  I went onto the balcony and took this photo, no filters, just this amazing sunset which lasted no more than five minutes.