Flowers in February

Christmas collage, January and now February. Went around the garden today. Once the rain had stopped, and the clouds were starting to part. The flowers are spangled with raindrops. The roses have eaten their belated dinner, and were nicely pushing thru bunches of burgundy leaves, and fat buds. But that one very hot day has left ‘frostbitten/sunburnt’ brown leaves.

Left – Dainty Bess twice, Elizabeth of Glamis, Help Kids

Centre – Karoo Rose, Elizabeth of Glamis in bud

Right – Maverick, Alec’s Red, Burning Sky, Chaim Soutine

There are some flowers on the roses, and more to come in autumn after kind rain this week. (Slowly learning that what the old camera called Macro, the new camera calls Supermacro. And what the new camera calls Macro, is driving us insane, because it WON’T focus. But sometimes the camera agrees with us, and we get a photo. Thank you!)

Top – 2 Pelargoniums, Bulbine, yellow Tecomaria, Lichen after rain, Pickerel weed

Centre – Dianthus, 3 Pelargoniums, blue sage, Ruttyspolia, Dimorphotheca jucunda

Bottom – yellow – Bietou = Chrysanthemoides monilifera, Kalanchoe

One of the miniatures is doing an – I’m not resting, I’m dead. Will need replacing. I will be posting less often for the next week or two. Busy in the garden.

Photos by Jurg and Diana,and words by Diana of Elephant's Eye

Da Vinci - walking in London

London Walks 

The Ungardener focussed on The Eye, but I focus on the chestnuts

People have long sensed the high strangeness of London. That the Monument and Nelson's column - can it be a coincidence that they're both 202 feet high? - cast significant shadows at the summer solstice; that a 1960 mural of Jean Cocteau in a hidden little London church suggests that he and Leonardo da Vinci were collaborators across the centuries - and that their religious beliefs were not nearly as orthodox as the history books would lead us to believe. Dan Brown's best-selling novel lifts the lid on some of these matters. As does Gerard de Sede's The Templars Are Among Us. "Heretical beliefs", the goddess mystery, sexual alchemy secrets, mastery over time itself, gateways where the human and divine worlds meet; a church that's allegedly denied its true roots. N.B. Get an Oyster Card for a short tube journey. The Mysterious London & the Da Vinci Code walk takes place every* Thursday at 2 pm. Meet Brian or Tom at TempleTube.

Thursday morning went to Liberty's where I was delighted to find Moleskin notebooks in delectable colours. One claimed as a holiday diary - reading back, I can relive the day. (Lunch in a church). We ate frequently here. Central, convenient, effortless to find, self service so it's quick, and they cater for Vegetarians. Crypt Cafe at St Martin-in-the-fields 

Today we start at Temple Underground station. That is Temple for the Knights Templar. Off to the Round Church.

Arch Toots

To King's College to see the Chapel. The advertising on the windows was testimonials from very famous past students. Arch Toots. We were in London just then for the Hampton Court Flower Show. Country bumpkins from South Africa, who knew?, they were launching two new roses, Desmond (red) and Leah (fragrant and gold) Tutu. And when we chose to go to Southwark Cathedral (the choir in Mr Bean?) who knew again?, that Arch Toots would be presiding at two baptisms. And that we would have lunch 'together' in the Refectory at the Cathedral.

So, back to the Round Church. Stained glass windows, from the Fifties, after the bombing in WW2. Also reamed glass, made with a scratched surface, so it lets the light in, but you are not distracted from worship, because the view out is obscured. Rather beautifully, which is distracting in its own way.

And Town Mouse asked for gardens. Somewhere on that Da Vinci route.

To Westminster. Parliament. Big Ben, is the name of the bell. Which is cracked.

Isaac Newton is buried in Westminster Abbey. And the pope in the Novel is the poet.

Nature and Nature's laws lay hid in night:
God said, "Let Newton be!" and all was light.
Epitaph written by the poet, Alexander Pope

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  Photos by Jurg (and Diana),

  and words by Diana of Elephant's Eye

Dragons and a damsel

The Ungardener is having fun exploring the possibilities of his new camera. Sometimes - why won't it do that? Why doesn't it focus? What on earth is it doing? And then he caught a blaze of dragonflies (Tx Wikipedia collective nouns), and a far more elusive and fragile damsel. But despite the name, these are all highly visible MALES.

TWO RED

Someone was enchanted by our red dragonflies. We have two sorts so far, and more in our book.

Small Scarlet

Small Scarlet dragonfly. This one has a very broad abdomen. Common in the summer. Found in pools (and streams). Range extends to equatorial Africa.

Red-veined Dropwing

Red-veined Dropwing dragonfly. Has black marks on the tip of the abdomen, not so visible as he is sky-pointing, and back-lit. Settle with their wings downwards and forwards, on reeds or grass. Making short forays for food, or, if male, to pursue intruders. Numerous in a wide variety of vegetation types. One of the most common dragonflies, with a very wide range that includes all of Africa and the Mediterranean.

March Bluetail

March Bluetail is a damselfly. The male is a brilliant blue with blue and white wing spots. The females may be pale green or orange (how am I supposed to keep up with that?!) Adults from October to June, often in a group. Found in slow flowing water (that would be the waterfall and the pump circulating the water). The most common and widespread damselfly in South Africa. Range extends to equatorial Africa and India.

2004 Field guide to Insects of South Africa by Mike Picker et al.

All the facts are from this book.

All the flippant asides are mine.

 

Photos by Jurg,

and words by Diana of Elephant's Eye

Will I still love this garden when I am 62?

Dozen for Diana was, way back then (I've only been blogging since June 2009), inspired by Gail at Clay and Limestone. She wrote one of those posts Could You Leave Your Garden? that touched a nerve. Especially for me, as I had just left my first garden. And was in transit to this one.


More recently Frances put her own, slightly melancholy What Will Happen to The Garden spin on the theme. And the most intriguing has been - when I'm gone, what will they see? At Lost in the Landscape Our Gardens After We're Gone Will they know there was a garden here? Town Mouse's Response. 

DOZEN FOR DIANA - ALL 12

Today Dozen for Diana is complete. For now. It is a virtual garden, that I will continue to tweak, until it becomes a reality. And in the spirit of  - a garden that is finished, is dead - then I will really get going on the tweaking.

The last plant is Plakkies, Cotyledon orbiculata. We also have 'Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer' with divided leaves, covered in a grey bloom (which is a built in sun shade). A sprawling, lolling succulent on the Karoo Koppie. A pioneer ground cover, and you can never have too many groundcovers, for there is ALWAYS more ground to cover. Always a bare patch, where something didn't make it …

Luscious, shimmering green leaves. With a graceful swirling shape, orbiculata meaning round circle. But what I like the most is the fragile burgundy border along the edge of leaves. If you get close enough the margin is delicately toothed. PlantZafrica says 'it will tolerate moderate frost, and is found on rocky outcrops in grassland fynbos and the Karoo'. It grows in our garden, both in full sun and in the dappled shade of trees.

And in winter, June to September, it has flowers, a burnt orange, touched with salmon. Nectar for the sunbirds (our 'hummers') since it has the slender trumpets of Aloe flowers.

Started life as one small plant from the Kirstenbosch annual plant sale. Planted as a focal point, and quickly reaching hip height, and claiming the path. Since then I have clipped bits, and spread them around. And clipped bits, and spread them around. And this bunch too,  will be harvested, and spread in March.

This is also ideal for a container. Sculptural, interesting leaves year round. Water wise - a little each week. And flowers. What more do you want? It has many traditional medicinal uses. The best known is as a cure for warts and corns. Any battered gardener's feet out there?

Photos by Jurg and Diana,
and words by Diana of Elephant's Eye

Who is Blotanical's Stuart?

WE'RE UP! WE'RE IN! WE'RE ON! WE'RE BACK!


There is a fascinating interview by Sue in Milan. Since Sue teaches English as a Foreign Language, it is good to know that she passes on her way with words. Interview with Stuart Robinson.

Or read Stuart's own 31st December post 'A year we had to have' on his own garden blog Gardening Tips 'n Ideas for some insight into who he is. Just got his vegetable garden going, but his kids come first and it is going to be a basketball court. That is just so sad for the gardener, but he is a father first. 

When I hooked in to Blotanical in June last year, I went, before I could fathom the system from Unranked where we all started. To 'Blotanical Number 1,200'. As the newest, you start at the bottom and work/fight your way up. We now have 1,899 bloggers at Blotanical (Click, when we can again, Blog Directory to check. In about five weeks we will be 2,000).


Because it takes time to Pick Posts, I recently sorted my Faves. If you 'play Blotanical' you are still among My 62 Faved Blogs. I DID read about 20 new posts every day at My Faved Blogs Posts. If you 'don't play' and don't even know I picked you, you are now among the 21 blogs I follow on Google Reader. This is quicker and easier, as it only shows The Words and The Pictures - no music, wall paper, side bar, comments, blog roll, widgets (you all do realise that is half the reason WHY Blotanical is slow?!). Just The Words and The Pictures. MUCH, much quicker. (Actually, it is so quick, that the fun is halved)


With a week of down time at Blotanical, I have been confined to my Google Reader list, and clicking thru Comments and Blog Rolls. Withdrawal symptoms have forced me to dig into the possibilities here. I can make folders. One for Non-players, who will stay in the Reader. And a new one hopefully titled Return to Blotanical.


And if Blotanical is still down, maybe I'll get around to making a third file for the 'headache city' (not MY words) blogs with white/pale letters on a black/dark background. And the ones I would like to read, but there is too much animation and flim flam making them slow too load. Google sorts that out for me, how kind. Any migraine/tired eyes, you could try this.


Still stuck in withdrawal. I am collecting the posts that give the 'I am not alone in this' feeling!


Teza with his over a thousand Blotanists. Typical plants, we've almost DOUBLED, while you weren't looking! And what? You'd convinced yourself you weren't an addict like the rest of us?

Meredith at Victory Garden Redux who is twitting the Twits who tweet, while 'retweeting' Stuart's Twitter. (Currently he says '14 hours ago' almost back. And Jan at Thanks For Today says she picked, at our 5am! And Edith has, 10 minutes ago, Faved my blog. Remember that?! Blotanical must have BEEN up briefly, and now down again. Thanks Jan and Edith) Tweet-tweet If this blog is on your list, remember Meredith is in the throes of moving to a self hosted blog address The Enchanted Earth.


Gippsland Gardener was posting a message as Blotanical went down. Thinks she's broken something. SIGH!!!


Leave a comment if withdrawal symptoms have driven you to blog about it while you wait, and click again again, just to check. Surely it is back now???!!!

Words by Diana of Elephant's Eye

What do you do when you are in London?

This is in answer to my niece Alice

The Ungardener is hyperactive, can't sit still or he falls asleep. I like to learn something. See something I would miss if it wasn't pointed out to me. Understand something I can only know if it is explained to me. My roots are in London. My mother was born there. I read, talk, write and think in English. And to me, that means London. It is many years since we were last there, and it will be many years till we go again. The retired tour guide likes to plan, I like to see what comes up.

What we always do is go on as many London Walks as possible. He checked the web and printed out all the possible interesting walks for when we would be there. This was one of the two we walked in July last year.

First we had lunch, in a church, as one does in London. St Mary le Bow. Bow Bell? And a very quick look in the church, before the walk started.

Crucifix at St Mary le Bow

This is the blurb from the website London Walks Timetable  

LONDON'S SECRET VILLAGE - Monday afternoon. Meet Jean at St Paul's Tube
The ancient, hidden village of Clerkenwell clings to a hillside barely a stone's throw away from St. Paul's Cathedral. Its very name - the clerks", or students", spring - is redolent of antiquity; and indeed this tiny hamlet serves up brimming draughts from the deep well of its history. Mystery plays and plague pits; riots and rookeries; bodysnatching and bombing; jousting and jesters; bloodshed and burnings; monks, murder, and medicine: Clerkenwell has a tale or two to tell. Tracing its narrow alleyways and ancient squares, we take in here a Norman church; there a magnificent Tudor gateway; round that corner venerable Charterhouse, London's only surviving mediaeval monastic complex; let alone Hercule Poirot's London flat.


Our first stop was at Postman's Hill, where tired feet rested after a day of delivering letters. Just another of London's green squares, that you might rush thru on your way somewhere. Or pause to rest if you had time? But against the far wall, under a wooden overhang. Lots of glazed ceramic tiles, each with a story to tell. About people who lost their lives, saving the life of another. (One day we'll have time to go back and read them, all?!)

My life for yours

Even London's old hospitals have names redolent of history. This would be a little church, with a statue of St Bartholomew. Bart's hospital?

St. Bartholomew

A gloriously ornate building, garnished with technicoloured dragons. Smithsfield meat market. Once WAS a field.

Smithsfield

Art Nouveau detail on Fox and Anchor pub across the square from Hercule Poirot's Art Deco flat.

Stone detailing 

Then we headed off to Nicola Jane. Only in London (or at least a big First World city) do I find a shop with mastectomy bras. Instead of the usual rude, unspoken - None of Our Customers have had Breast Cancer.

Elephant!

On the way we saw your average, typical London animal on a weather vane.

And the habitual PS. I had a 'Playing Blotanical' post written for today. But we can't. Play. Blotanical. Now. Will also have to revise my words according to new rules?!

Photos by Jurg,
and words by Diana of Elephant's Eye

Wagtails and a frog

We have frogs. I said FROGS!! There are enchanting little clicking reed frogs, usually start up around 4 in the afternoon. A gentle little murmur in the background, very soothing and reassuring. The woodwinds. Sadly we only see them when Chocolat has found them, and I don't like to post sad pictures of the (walking) wounded. If you have a cat … you can fill in the dots for yourself.


Then after dark the real frogs get chirruping. A little louder, but still a restful noise, a lulling lullaby. The string quartet. We do like our frogs. A good noise, the sound of the sea rolling peacefully in, and out, or a river flowing by.

This frog was photographed at night 

We think it is the Cape River Frog - Amietia fuscigula. Passmore and Carruthers in S A Frogs say - 'In large still bodies of water. Males usually call from deep water, supporting themselves on floating vegetation'.


But we also have something the Afrikaans calls a brulpadda and we call a raucous toad. And lives up to every nuance of his name. The cannon shots of the 1812 Overture. We have seen one sitting just outside our bedroom window, where he can make full use of the resounding echo reverberating off the walls and the rainwater tank. Bit like trying to sleep while a toddler bangs pot lids together, just  NEXT  TO  YOUR  EAR!!!  In May we will have been in this house 3 years, and this is the first time the frogs have been  DEAFENING.  In desperation, we sometimes have to close one window. But the heavy metal, rock concerts are reserved for full moon nights. We did want the wildlife to be friendly, and use the pond to survive and thrive.


The Ungardener is attached to his new camera. Sweating blood at first, because it wouldn't focus. (Watch this space, day by day, the pictures are coming together. From - WHY won't it FOCUS to …)

       

Wagtails and a Cape Laughing Dove with Canon 130 mm zoom

The wagtails came. First a pair who were here each evening. Then a youngster, who later came alone, with a limp, and has subsequently not been seen. This was the best we could achieve with the Canon and a simple zoom.

Wagtail with Fuji 400 mm zoom

The other evening I saw the parents again, coming for their usual evening bathe. And called the Ungardener to try out the new zoom on the Fuji.

Wagtails two

Then called him again, for now there were FOUR! I think it might have been the first time the youngsters came to the beach. First I heard much lively chattering, then went to see what all the excitement was about?!

Wagtail kids at the beach!

PS Blotanical is still down. I am adding my Faved blogs to Google Reader, but getting out of the knack of leaving comments, or receiving them. The vanilla version on Google Reader is also, over days, somehow disappointing. Your blogs don't LOOK as I remember them. No Comments, or header, or side-bar. Come back Blotanical, we miss you. 

Photos by Jurg,
and words by Diana of Elephant's Eye

Number 10 is Papyrus

(This was Number 10 of Dozen for Diana, originally published on 8th February. 

But the text is gone! I have restored the pictures. And written FRESH text.)

COLLAGE Dozen for Diana 10

Click on the tag 'Dozen for Diana' if you missed the first 9 I chose. 
All suited to our Mediterranean climate. And growing here in our garden.

The Ungardener loves his pond. We have bulrushes, and Cyperus (which my father once dug up from a stream near Camps Bay) in the boggy Plum and Apple Creeks. Sedges and reeds gifted us by the birds that visit. The arum lily, which will keep its arrow head shaped leaves year round, if it is in a damp place. In the wild, it goes dormant thru the summer heat. 

Beautiful blue pickerel weed, a passalong, which turns out to be an invasive alien. So we hack it back, and the bits are mulched into the rest of the garden. We thought that vigorous growth would keep Chocolat off the island and give the frogs a chance. HA! He just finds another place to sail across That Little Ditch! Yellow Louisiana iris. And a pink water lily, I wanted the blue which grew wild in farm dams, but they only had pink, when I went to the nursery in Hout Bay with my mother. This lily flourished in the tiny pond in the last garden, and in the baby baths while we were renting for a year. Then sulked here, until we cleared the mass of Kariba weed. Now we have flars again!!

Red-veined  Dropwing (still learning to use the new camera)

We garden for wildlife, so we have learnt since last time, to build the pond with gently sloping sides. Access for (thirsty cats) bathing birds and lizards. I am fascinated to read about Northern gardeners working to keep unfrozen water available to their birds. Speaking of water - the weather man is in! Chocolat says it is raining, and is curled up on my bed. And I can hear the glorious sound of water flowing into the rainwater tanks.

But my theme here is to choose just one. We had true papyrus in the last garden. Beautiful big flower heads, but if it hadn't been confined to a small precast concrete pond, it would have taken over the garden! Luckily there is also a dwarf papyrus. Had one. Lost it. And we went from nursery to nursery looking for a replacement. No joy. No dwarf papyrus. But one day my beloved Ungardener came home with a plant. You found it!!

Look back to when you first moved to your new garden, 

if you knew then, what you know now. What loves your climate and soil. 

What is the first plant that goes into the new pond in the new garden? 

There IS a wildlife pond in your garden? 

(Sadly I have left your comments attached to '11 - Phyllis' 

but I do appreciate your response) 

Photos by Jurg and Diana,
words by Diana of Elephant's Eye

How much traffic does Blotanical bring you?

While Blotanical is down - moving to a new server - take the opportunity to follow your stats.


See for yourself, for your blog, how many visitors cannot read your blog?!


Hang in there. We are looking forward to Blotanical Mark 2.

Blotanical down!

Hi blotanists. #Blotanical may be down for a few days as we sort out some issues and migrate to a new server. Please pass this message on.about 1 hour ago from web
2 pm Cape Town local time 15th February. This is Stuart's Tweet, for those like me, who think twittering is for the birds. But it is the only way to fend off withdrawal and keep in touch while Blotanical is down!
http://twitter.com/bussogardener  link for tweeters.

Dozen for Diana 11 - Phyllis van Heerden

This garden has over 30 rose bushes. The first garden was on a mountain slope above Camps Bay - west facing into the sun, prevailing South-Easter which once tore the roof off our neighbour's house. Now we have heavy clay, summer heat, and in winter it Rains. The next garden will be sand, salt sea breezes - not suitable for roses. We will concentrate on the endangered indigenous plants.


I am imagining that townhouse/courtyard garden. No lawn! Somewhere to sit with a tiny pond. And we welcome birds, bugs and all.

COLLAGE First 11 of Dozen for Diana

Since this is a virtual garden I can and will, keep tweaking my choice of only 12 plants. For now we have a focal point/informal hedge (Dusty Miller), a small tree (Trimeria), a variegated groundcover (Plectranthus madagascariensis), colourful groundcover daisies (Dimorhpotheca jucunda), white arum lily (Zantedeschia aethiopica), a scented pelargonium (name unknown, from my mother’s garden), one of our restios (Thamnochortus sp.), a flowering, succulent groundcover (Bulbine), a blue sage bush and finally dwarf papyrus in the wildlife pond. They are all happy with the long hot summer and wet winter of a Mediterranean climate. Double points if they are from South Africa. Third, got to have something special – beautiful foliage, flowers to pick, fragrance, wildlife friendly, edible, pioneer. These plants are all now growing in this, our second garden.


What did I dig up, or take cuttings, when we left the first garden for this one? What will I take when we move to the third garden? Since it is my list, first, the plants must appeal to me. Earn their place in my garden. And I will water worthy plants through the summer, but the plant has really got to earn my sweat and exhaustion.

I would like to be able to pick a posy for the house. Meet Mrs. Van Heerden, Phyllis to her friends, who get close enough to see her enchanting freckles. This is a natural hybrid between two of our indigenous shrubs, Ruttya and Ruspolia, so the Latin is X Ruttyruspolia. It was originally found in the wild by Mrs v H. Acanthaceae family, with Barleria, Hypoestes and Mackaya also in our garden. (Ah so, Acanthus mollis, Bear's Breeches, on my wish list, grows in our neighbour's garden!)

When we left Camps Bay I took cuttings of everything on principle. I did once choose it, with much deliberation, for good reason. Although this plant was a sad little straggly knee high bush, from which I could barely harvest four tiny cuttings with a few ratty leaves. Once we planted the pink roses, four ratty little cuttings went into the ground. Waiting hopefully for the promised pink flowers.

But with the benefit of the food and water the roses got, Phyllis said happily - I like it here, and began to G-R-O-W. Oh er?! Check the book. For Teza, who doesn't like flowers, unless they are blue. The luminous green leaves, with ruffled edges, have their own charm. She promises to be a huge shrub, covered with spikes of flowers. (Think azalea bush …) 3 of the 4 were moved across to the raised 'Woodland Walk' around and behind the waterfall. And the fourth is with the roses at the front door.

The flowering shrub you LOVE, happy in your soil and climate?

Photos by Jurg and Diana and written by Diana of  Elephant's Eye