MoonGreen

20/10/2024

This is Gladiolus venustus, a stunning little member of the winter rainfall South African Gladiolus.

In their fifth year from seed my G. venustus plants had finally put out their flowers in force after only one lonely bloom last year.

It is widely distributed across the interior of the winter rainfall areas of southern Africa where it is found in dry habitats on clay and sandstone slopes. It is summer dormant.

The primary pollinators are long tongued bees.

It can be confused with Gladiolus scullyi and it has been included in that species at one time but it is usually more colorful than that species which is usually greenish cream to yellow brown or beige and more highly scented.

20/02/2024

Empty cicada chrysalis seen in Du Toitskloof surrounds.

16/09/2023

Tritonia karooica seen in-situ about a half hours drive past Calvinia heading in the direction of Namibia. Habitat picture included.

09/05/2021

S A V E the date for our first ONLINE Kirstenbosch Plant Fair!
🌱🌸🍂🌼

Rejuvenate your garden, by joining Cape Town’s biggest plant fair, the Kirstenbosch Plant Fair – without leaving the comfort of your home. Choose from more than 10,000 indigenous plants on sale, online. This vast selection is offered to you at excellent prices and your involvement supports our plant conservation projects.

The theme for this year's special event? It’s never been more important to get out into nature, even if it’s simply the safe space provided by your garden. Therefore, the theme is "Gardening for Happiness!"

The plant fair is hosted online for just more than two weeks, from Saturday 22 May, ending on Sunday 6 June 2021.

For more information in the meantime, visit our website: www.botsoc-kirstenbosch.org.za and remember to share with your flora-loving friends.

Botanical Society of South Africa, Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, South African National Biodiversity Institute, What's on in Cape Town, CapeTownMagazine.com, Candide ZA, CapeNature, Custodians of Rare and Endangered Wildflowers (CREW), Notes from a Cape Town Botanist, Love Cape Town, Cape Town, Hello Cape Town Magazine, Cape Town Etc, PlantZAfrica, Cape Town Lately

27/01/2021

Interesting read so thought I'd share :-)

Nothofagus moorei, commonly known as Antarctic beech, is an important Gondwana relict of the rainforests of the southern hemisphere. It occurs in wet, fire-free areas at high altitude in eastern Australia.

08/01/2021

Tarantula hawk wasp (family Pompilidae) dragging a large female rain spider (Palystes superciliosus) off to lay eggs in her still alive but paralysed body, savage!

14/07/2020

Some shots of an Aloe ferox in flower in the garden.

In two of the images you can see a cape honey bee (Apis mellifera capensis) with bright orange pollen from the Aloe attached to it's pollen sacs.

12/07/2020

Interesting find in the garden today, a species of longhorn beetle belonging to the family Cerambycidae

This one was fairly large, measuring in at ±3.5cm and was fairly slow moving. Watching it go about it's day was fairly entertaining.

Adults in this family generally feed on pollen, nectar, leaves, roots and wood. Eggs are laid in a variety of dead and live wood where the larvae burrow into the wood and feed, for this reason some species are considered pests of timber.

16/06/2020

Lachenalia viridiflora, a member of the hyacinthaceae family, is one of our critically endangered Cape Bulbs and outside of cultivation are found in only a few fractured patches of intact habitat on the West Coast. Their habitat has been under heavy pressure from urban expansion and farming in the area.

The name viridiflora mean "green flowers". Luckily they are fairly common in cultivation. This pot full was grown from seed I obtained from Silver Hill Seeds a few years back.

This is one of my all time favourite flowers and the colour is a big factor in my love of the species.

31/05/2020

25/05/2020

19/05/2020

Ok so I decided to be brave today and get some shots of the wild hive of Cape Honey Bees (Apis mellifera capensis) that is out in my backyard.

They started the hive last spring on the outside but have now moved into the black box visible in the last image.

The outside is a lot more bee-free than in the warmer months and they were pretty docile given how late in the day it was already.