Trappieskop Spitskop Slangkop hiking among flowers

by Diana Studer

- gardening for biodiversity

in Cape Town, South Africa

Hiking among wildflowers

in the mountains

around Cape Town

Trappieskop view down to Fish Hoek beach from his last October hike. (Next year, I vow to get my flower photos sorted sooner) At the foot of the slope is the mouth of the Silvermine River, in theory a natural river from source to sea.

From Trappieskop looking down to Fish Hoek and the mouth of the Silvermine River

Liparia splendens in November was another first for me. Mountain or nodding dahlia (NOT related, it is pea family) but such an unexpectedly lush and full flower in our mediterranean landscape.

Liparia splendens in November

Middelmannetjie along the dirt track with deep blue Aristea africana and a low Aspalathus (rooibos or redbush tea sp.) For Gail at Clay and Limestone's Wildflower Wednesday.

Middelmannetjie in November
with blue Aristea and yellow Aspalathus

Spitskop flowers in Silvermine. Vivid blue Aristea africana. Roella ciliata with its collar of white, slate and navy. Blue and white Psoralea aphylla arching over the damp path. Blue African sky Salvia africana-caerulea. Bagworms on pelargonium. Lipstick pink bells of Erica amoena. Strawberries and cream Crassula fascicularis. Orchid with a frilled lip Acrolophia lamellate. Faded Protea acaulos (acaulos = no stem as it grows on the ground). Salmon Watsonia. Leucadendron female coneflower. Chunky white daisies Osmitopsis astericoides (camphor-scented leaves are used in traditional medicine) Yellow bunches of pea flowers for Aspalathus araneosa. Yellow Moraea fugax. Monkey beetles half buried in Cotula turbinata (spinning top). Orange bars on yellow Sebaea exacoides.

Spitskop flowers in November

From De Villiers reservoir he looked at Little Lion's Head and Karbonkelberg. A perspective I have never seen which confuses my sense of direction, driving past, those mountains are not arranged like that from the road!

De Villiers reservoir looking across
to Little Lion's Head and Karbonkelberg

Gold and russet opulence of Dilatris viscosa at Cecilia forest in November, as he hiked up Table Mountain, again. (And in mauve on the Groot Winterhoek mountain after fire flowers)

Dilatris viscosa at Cecilia Forest in November

We walked at Slangkop above the lighthouse and Kommetjie. Gold candles of Leucospermum conocarpodendron with red and silver flares of Mimetes fimbrifolius. Look at those proteas!

Slangkop proteas in November

I ducked down to try at catch delicate flowers NOT dancing in the breeze. Gladiolus carneus.

Gladiolus carneus in November

Slangkop flowers. Edible berries, I ate, I live, and I'm ashamed that I have forgotten what they are! Leucadendron salignum males with stamens and female cones. Quieter plain blue Roella amplexicaulis. Tussocks of white with silver leaves Syncarpha vestita. Woolly white seeds of wild rosemary Eriocephalus africanus. Orange spotted (blister?) beetle on Arctotis breviscapa. Salvia lanceolata dusky pink flowers followed by enduring colour in the bracts (add to garden list). Microdon (sounds like a drug for migraine) capitatus white head of orange-throated flowers. Microdon dubius spike of lemon yellow trumpets. Shimmering yellow Lampranthus (= bright flowers) stenus and mauve Lampranthus falciformis. Deepest purple spots on Pelargonium longifolium. Burgundy feathers on Pelargonium myrrifolium. Red eyes on Lapeirousia anceps. Moraea fugax (= fleeting) in blue.

Slangkop flowers in November

Happy Christmas! 2017 in gold and straw and white and silver. With embroidered medallions from my sister (Chrismons and Liberty's I Didn't Do It Cat) and my niece's zoo biscuits. Choirs of angels too. In the twenty years since we returned from Switzerland for the third time, my fingers have forgotten how to tie straw stars. I did make one fresh 'pink daisy' star.

Christmas tree 2017

We hike with U3A False Bay. His Curious and Adventurous are undeterred by our mediterranean summer. My Fynbos Rambles will start again March when the plants sense autumn's coolth and hopefully rain! But I have pictures to blog to bridge that gap.

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Pictures by Diana and Jürg Studer

of Elephant's Eye on False Bay

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