Our False Bay garden in August

 by Diana Studer

- gardening for biodiversity

 in Cape Town, South Africa

 

A masked bee blowing nectar bubbles into the wind to evaporate the water for Through the Garden Gate with Sarah Down by the Sea in Dorset. Delighted to capture that moment! She is collecting pollen and nectar to feed her larvae - too small to carry pollen bags or excess water.

 

Masked bee blowing nectar bubbles into the wind

New plants from Fynbos LIFE new nursery in Muizenberg for lowland fynbos. My garden learning curve starts again. Much appreciate the informative labels.

 

Seven new lowland fynbos plants

Four lowland fynbos daisies.

 

Hymenolepis crithmifolia. Yellow daisy at Froggy Pond corner. Sandy, full sun.

 

Eriocephalus africanus. Edible wild rosemary in front of camphorbush. Grey to my grey leaves.

 

Trailing daisy Osteospermum fruticosum under lemon tree. Cape Flats Dune Strandveld. Mauve buds to white flowers. For butterflies.

 

Felicia filifolia in front of limy Karoo Buddleja. Strandveld and Renosterveld. Purple flowers in spring.

 

Lowland fynbos daisies

Cassine peragua peragua. Celastraceae. Forest and Strandveld thicket. Cape saffron. Planted in shady corner with Maid of the Forest. Wants rich moist soil.

 

Fine forest sedge Ficinia - waiting for a pot? Southern Afrotemperate Forest. Shade, rich moist soil please.

 

Banished sad Australian Plectranthus parviflorus to rain tank.

Replaced in large blue pot by Coleonema album. Strandveld. Buchu. Hope it has enough sun against the house wall.

 

Lowland fynbos

Pruning the front slice off the hedge, and the fiddlewood. I cut -- he takes the evidence for municipal composting.

 

Pruning, hedge left, fiddlewood right

That hedge should stop at the top of the palisade fence pillars. Zöe for scale.

 

Hedge with Zöe

Blue pots kindly filling and displaying themselves.

 

Blue pots

White Babiana. Garlic buchu. The original white species Freesia leichtlinii alba. Maidenhair fern enjoying winter. Spike of pregnant onion flowers. White pelargonium. Melianthus major bud. Edible banana conceding spring is coming and unfurling a new leaf. Way up high Strelitzia nicolai flower in white and blue.

 

White and green August flowers

Pink bells Dombeya. Pink and salmon (difficult colour to place) pelargoniums. Blue Felicia. Lavender. Garden violets flowering since I moved them to the sunny side. Ethereal Melasphaerula graminea will smother everything if you let it! Fat pink rose bud. Red pelargonium stops me in my track like a traffic light.

 

Blue and pink August flowers

Golden leaved Portulacaria afra. Chunky bells in green lime and white edging Albuca. Yellow Chasmanthe grow too tall for their strength (especially when the gardener drops fiddlewood branches on them). Hypochaeris left to feed the bees. Euryops and bietou Osteospermum moniliferum. Coral aloe is the third to keep the Karoo Koppie in bloom. Climbing aloe has a few last flowers. Hibiscus appreciates more sun after the carob was cut back.

 

Yellow and orange August flowers

I check with StatCounter which of my blog pictures have been downloaded. Then use Google Search by Image to see where they appear - which sometimes tricks me  onto a porn site. So convenient to click up my map of False Bay if someone glances at your computer screen! Also tried TinEye

 

Password hacked (and since changed!) for sextortion scam. (Thanks to Canva and LinkedIn data breaches)

Strong passwords

 

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