Let’s face it: it’s one of those questions our children and grandchildren will probably ask us, and their children will probably ask them - and it would be rather nice to know what to say. The geology behind Table Mountain is something we don’t often engage
Have you ever thought it a little strange to hear hikers recounting beautiful ‘fields of Cape Snow’ in the middle of the Cape summer? Syncarpha vestita is indeed our very own form of ‘Cape Snow’ when, between the months of November and January,1 our mountainsides
Perhaps the most brilliant feature of pelargoniums is their aromatic scent. Sweet rose, citrus and peppermint are just some of the fragrances you’re likely to get a whiff of while walking through the fynbos with any of these bright, evergreen shrubs are around. Commonly known as
‘We’re almost out of wood’, was the utterance from around the fire, followed by an anxious hush. Temperatures on the mountainside had plummeted when the sun set, and the embers were our only real source of heat. As we sought to hatch a plan as
If Serruria doesn’t sound familiar to you, then the infinitely more romantic ‘blushing bride’ might. The Serruria genus (part of the Proteaceae family) boasts 55 species,1 of which the exquisite Serruria florida or blushing bride, is one. Doting gentlemen and blushing brides The name ‘blushing bride’ is
Happy holidays! Think about your favourite thing to do over the festive season; then think about how you might be able to make it a little ‘greener’ this year. The planet needs some time-out too. Here are a few ideas to get us all started…
A couple of months back, on a rainy-day hike in the Elgin area, I was lucky to put my foot down next to an exquisite flower called the Brown Afrikaner (Gladiolus maculatus). The buttercup-yellow and maroon-speckled treasure had popped up right in the middle of
Like fireworks in the fynbos, once a year when spring arrives, thousands of vygies erupt in an explosive carnival of colour. Bees, butterflies and insects are drawn to the ‘bright lights’, as clusters of pink, purple, yellow, orange, red and white blossoms pop up across
The concept of nature as a shared resource is seldom heartily embraced like it is in Elgin’s Groenlandberg Conservancy. Built around a patchwork of various, private tracts of land, this growing movement is the result of a collective of forward-thinking landowners with shared values in
I defy you not to love Ericas. One of the most exquisite plant genera in the Cape Floral Kingdom, and also the largest, the Erica genus is made up 860 species worldwide, and we are extraordinarily lucky to have 760 of those species here in