After flaking out thru a long hot summer. Gasping with relief when it turned cooler. Autumn is here at last. Then the heat wave struck. I wonder is there an expression like Indian Summer for this HEAT in autumn? The plants like my Dais cotonifolia tree, which likes a lot of water, crumpled to toast. Not long for this world.
Then came thunder, lightning struck, as the fires that fynbos is adapted to, raged again. The protea farm (Bees snow and proteas) up on the mountain, has gone up in smoke. Most of the planted shrubs have been destroyed. The houses have burnt too.
But last night the thunderstorm brought gentler, kinder, soaking rain. The fire is out. My Dais has revived.
 |
| March lilies |
For us in the South Western Cape a sign that winter will return is the March lilies bursting into bloom. In the North American style of Naked Ladies. First the pink flowers burst thru, standing tall and proud like a can can line up of frou frou skirts at the Folies Bergere. And some have darker deeper pink skirts, others are so pale as to be almost white.
 |
| Amaryllis belladonna |
With the benefit of winter rain, the big bulbs produce fleshy thick strap-shaped leaves like the Clivia. Building up reinforcements to see the plant thru the next summer’s aestivation rest (swirling ice cubes in a tall glass of something cold on the verandah!) till the cycle starts again.
 |
| March lily |
From the plantZafrica website ---
Large bulb. Scented flowers (bit fiercely so, if you park your nose IN the trumpet). Flowers face into the full sun. ‘Naked Lady’ – flowers before leaves – is called hysteranthy. Amaryllis was a beautiful Greek shepherdess. Belladonna = beautiful lady. Their natural habitat is a small dense group among rocks. Bulbs must be planted with their necks at soil level (which helps the gardener, ‘cos you can SEE where the dormant bulbs are lurking). Can be grown in pots. Tolerate quite arid conditions. Growing naturally in fynbos, they emerge abundantly after fire. Pollinated by hawk moths or carpenter bees.
‘The family Amaryllidaceae forms a large group of over sixty genera, which are mainly centred in the southern Africa with smaller distributions in Andean South America. Other genera that belong to this family that have horticultural importance and are found in southern Africa include Clivia, Crinum, Cyrthanthus, Nerine and Scadoxus. Hippeastrum, which some gardeners mistakenly call amaryllis, is a large South American genus. Other northern hemisphere genera include Narcissus (daffodils) and Leucojum’.
Snowdrop Peepers look this way!
The sunbirds also enjoy these flowers. Haven’t succeeded in capturing a photo of them ON the flower, so the next post, will bring the birds …
March-lilies-in-2011
March-lilies-in-2011
Photos and words by Diana of Elephant's Eye
I love reading about the different(to me) sort of change of seasons you have - autumn at last and welcoming the March lilies. Gorgeous flowers!
ReplyDeleteWoah..these are stunning beauties! Just gorgeous..I am in love! I always love seeing and discovering treasures here!Such a joyful flower! Have agreat day!!
ReplyDeleteKiki~
Dear Diana, What terrible storms you have been experiencing and how alarming the mountain fires with houses burning sound. I am so glad that all is well with your garden and that you have now benefitted from somewhat kinder rain.
ReplyDeleteThe Amaryllis you picture are truly magnificent. It is difficult for me to see them as something other than house plants around Christmas time.
Beautiful, just beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI had a hard time distinguishing between Amaryllis belladonna and Lycoris squamagera, until I read that A. Belladonna are tender African bulbs and L. squamagera are of asian origin and hardy to zone 5. Both are great in the garden. Both are commonly called 'naked ladies' here because the leaves grow in a different season to the blooms.
Beautiful photographs, they made me smile. The little cottage where we were married had hundreds of Naked Lady lilies blooming in August here in California. I love seeing these flowers. Here at least, they remind me that our anniversary is coming up!
ReplyDeleteHi Diana, I envy your cooler temps and RAIN! It is all hot & dry here. beautiful amaryllis! Wanted to let you know i referenced you in my blog, http://gringaenparaiso.blogspot.com/2010/03/wild-life.html
ReplyDeleteas inspiring my latest post. thank you :)
Liz
Curbstone - what fun that they remind you of your wedding! Love that!
ReplyDeleteLiz - Tx. Your national bird has a most glorious tail, worthy of a national emblem. Does he sing well?
What a pretty site! I'm going to add you to my reader. Thanks so much for stopping by my site.
ReplyDeleteHow funny! Mine just have the green leaves out, soon to go to sleep for the summer. I bet when mine are blooming, you'll have the leaves come up.
ReplyDeleteWow, what an amazing difference an ocean and several degrees of latitude make! I'd never pictured an amaryllis other than the ones we pot up at Christmas, how silly of me, and I was fascinated to imagine this pink beauty springing up en masse after fire has ravaged the landscape... and attracting birds! Thank you for sharing all of these wonders, Diana. :)
ReplyDelete(I do hope the people in the houses were safely evacuated.)
Meredith - the people are safe, but devastated.
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry to hear of the houses destroyed by fire, Diana. It's always a jolt to hear of such things happening. I am glad the people are safe. Houses can be replaced, people can't.
ReplyDeleteThe lilies are utterly glorious. Fun to think of you heading into autumn as we're finally flailing into spring.
Hi Diana--
ReplyDeleteIt's nice reading about Naked Ladies in their native habitat. I'm from the central coast of California, with the same Mediterranean climate, and have loved to pick these pink beauties since I was little (in fact, I just wrote about them recently as well, as they have been popping up in San Francisco gardens and dotting Bay Area hillsides).
Your blog is such a resource -- I dream of visiting other Mediterranean climates to study the flora, so I'm happy to have stumbled upon Elephant's Eye!