September Darling Wildflower show, Great Southern Bioblitz, back to our False Bay garden

 by Diana Studer

- gardening for biodiversity

 in Cape Town, South Africa

 

We last went to Darling in 2018.

 

Swartland Granite Renosterveld - renoster means rhino and they had fun with a metal rhino and his lady covered in renosterbos (another Daisy).

 

Rhinos for Renosterveld

A day trip for Darling Wildflower Show. Prickles on Heterorhachis aculeata (endemic and Vulnerable). Nemesia strumosa (endemic) is HUGE compared to our local species. Common name Groen goggas ( = green bugs) is an orchid.

 

Darling Wildflower Show 2024

On to the wild flowers we came for at Tienie Versfeld Nature Reserve - named for Marthinus “Oom Tienie” Versfeld who donated the land. Wind turbines - I had to hold the flowers still. Moraea tripetala in sky blue. Heliophila africana.

 

Blue flowers and wind turbines

Renosterveld is famous for bulbs, both variety and quantity for a thriving porcupine population. Blue sequins Geissorhiza aspera. Lachenalia. Wachendorfia multiflora, the pink not yellow species. Halo winecup Geissorhiza radians (Endangered). Chink - my mother used to send these tight buds to Granma in London. White Sparaxis bulbifera.

 

Bulbs from Darling

Also famous for rocking the daisies. Marsh buttons Cotula coronopifolia near the dam. Orange Arctotis acaulis. Gazania the ultimate orange daisy.

 

Daisies from Darling

Pauridia canaliculata with a brown eye (endemic and Endangered), and little person SWIMming in pollen. Gaudy grasshopper not waiting for a photo! Yellow pea waiting to be named on iNaturalist. Bulbinella. Hermannia pinnata yellow twirly bells.

 

Yellow flowers swimming in pollen

Orchid Pterygodium orobanchioides - we brought one from our Porterville garden.

Hebenstretia has an orange eye, with the dam behind. Pelargonium triste. Lobostemon.

 

Darling flowers in soft colours

Romulea tabularis is named for Table Mountain. Best seen as a 'floating island' (the Peninsula) from across the bay. Here with lenticular cloud as we drove home - not quite enough in the battery, so we stopped for a quick top up at Century City.

 

Romulea tabularis
with That Table

8 C this October morning with snow on Jonkershoek mountains near Stellenbosch yesterday! Fragrances from funky to delicious in our garden. Blue Coleus neochilus. Long legs is a 'cosmopolitan cellar spider' travelling the world. Agathosma collina. Arum lily is simple self-striped perfection. Coleonema album. Freesia leichtlinii.

 

White garden flowers in September

Yellow Clivia has one flower this year. Gladiolus tristis prefers marshy. Albuca taking over this bed. Knowltonia vesicatoria, toothed trifoliate leaves, 'anemone' flowers, then green and black berries - makes for an interesting shady pot. Spanish bluebells two flowers this year, perhaps they need more sun, lots of leaves. Pink pelargoniums in one of 3 patterns.

 

Yellow garden flowers in September

Winter warmth in flowers for Through the Garden Gate Down by the Sea in Dorset with Sarah. Flamboyant pink, smouldering salmon and flaming red pelargoniums. Nasturtiums in all the tones from yellow to russet. Dusky pink Veltheimia. Coral begonia.

 

Winter warmth in September garden flowers

Garden year month by month here, back to November 2014.

 

Zoe with her little black African wildcat toes, Thomas with his serious winter boots. As I write the sun is shining and back to 20 C inside.

 

Zoe and Thomas

Some flowers are still nameless as iNaturalist is engrossed in the Great Southern Bioblitz. Led by Melbourne, then Pondoland with almost 2 thousand species. We continue to 'name that' till 7 October - 1287 for me so far and that is HOURS a day!!

 

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Pictures by Diana Studer

of Elephant's Eye on False Bay

 

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