Clivia and Gerbera at home

by Diana Studer

- gardening for biodiversity

in Cape Town, South Africa

Walter Sisulu and Lowveld National Botanical Gardens last September

We bookended our September trip to Kruger with plants and three National Botanical Gardens for me. Next time I know to allow a full day at Walter Sisulu NBG at Roodepoort in Johannesburg (we enjoyed our shady lunch in the heart of the garden). Would like to have hiked the wider circuit beyond the irrigated green, but it was HOT! September was chosen to see animals at Kruger National Park, but the plants were gasping for summer rain in their drought.

This is where Clivia miniata comes from. Dappled shade in forests from subtropical Kwazulu-Natal to high altitude Swaziland. Well drained, rich soil.

Clivia miniata
at Walter Sisulu NBG in September

Tambuki thorn. Shrub from Queenstown in the Eastern Cape. Erythrina acanthocarpa

Erythrina acanthocarpa in September

This garden is famous for the pair of Verreaux’s Eagles which nest near the waterfall. In the heart of a large city, the old and new partners and the chicks are closely monitored on social media. The garden is irrigated with limited available water from that stream.

Walter Sisulu NBG waterfall

My Mackaya bella have died, needed a more forest microclimate.

Mackaya bella in September

Walter Sisulu for whom the garden is named.

Walter Sisulu

Barberton daisies Gerbera jamesonii are from Mpumalanga, Gauteng and Limpopo grassland. Interwoven with bark - lime green eye is fever tree Vachellia xanthophloea. 'Fever' trees were blamed for malaria, as they grow in swamps, with mosquitoes. Horizontal rings for Pappea capensis (in my garden too). Commiphora harveyi flaking copperstem. The fourth with its cork squares is?

Gerbera jamesonii at Lowveld NBG in September

Lowveld NBG (as opposed to the Highveld of Jo'burg) is in Mbombela / Nelspruit. Striped buds of Crinum lilies. Vervet monkey. Terracotta Bauhinia galpinii - Pride of De Kaap (NOT Cape Town, but a valley south of Nelspruit). Sabie star, Impala lily,  Adenium multiflorum looks like a scaled down baobab. Euphorbia ingens and Euphorbia tirucalli. African dog rose Xylotheca kraussiana. Frightening preying mantis eats unattended small children. Hypericum revolutum favours stream banks and forest margins.

Lowveld NBG flowers in September

Streams of flowing water carving thru the rocks. (I would also have liked more time to explore the rocky mountain scenery up north, next time - but the bitter cold in Haenertsburg reduced the effective range of our battery that day). On the ridge, spirit of place architecture for Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature. Staghorn fern along the aerial walkway in the African Rain Forest. Raised high after the first attempt was trashed by resident hippos.

Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature and Lowveld NBG African Rain Forest

Here too a rich selection of Clivia miniata

Clivia miniata Lowveld NBG in September

I was disappointed by the Pretoria National Botanical Garden. Very hot and dry and seething with people in festive traditional clothes to celebrate Heritage Week. Ndebele painting on the wall. A non-fynbos pincushion Leucospermum saxosum.

Leucospermum saxosum
at Pretoria NBG in September

Wild jasmine? Lush in the deep valley. Buddleja salviifolia arching over the path above the valley. Haenertsburg is famous for its (planted) cherry blossom - which explains the wedding guests at our hotel. A random daisy. Vivid russet mushroom ears.

Haenertsburg grassland with cherry blossom in September

1 Yellow BMW i3 to the Limpopo River in Kruger Park

2 Cape Town to the Limpopo River - the journey up

3 Pilgrim's Rest to Cape Town - heading home

4 Elephants and friends at Kruger Park

I invite you to join us at Elephant's Eye on False Bay. Please subscribe as you prefer

via Feedly,

or Bloglovin,

Email with Feedburner,

or Facebook 

Pictures by Diana Studer

of Elephant's Eye on False Bay

Teal blue text is my links.

To read comments if you are in email or a Reader,

first click thru to the blog)

Thanks for comments that add value. Maybe start a new thread of discussion? BTW your comment won't appear until I've read it. No Google account? Just use Anonymous, but do leave a link to your own blog. I would return the visit, if I could...

I welcome comments on posts from the last 2 months.