The Sixth Day of Christmas

My six geese were - created of my spectrum of six colours last year. Apple green is from today, but the others are trawled from my archives. Blue, we have flowers yes, but above all, the overarching blue sky, speckled with  paragliders for the recent championship. Purple Streptocarpus. Vehement yellow crab/flower spider 'hiding' on a sadly departed Cape forget-me-not Anchusa capensis. Red bishop in stately full fig. Orange Strelitzia from a recent visit to Fairview for cheese, and bread, and 'Goats Do Roam'. 

Six colours, the spectrum of my life

I was sitting in church this morning thinking of Arch Toots description of South Africa as the  rainbow people of God. The fat cats are sitting on the gravy train with the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Mbeki’s promise of  a better life for all is stretched thin in an arch across the heavens – the poor are battling to survive.

Spirulino our house sparrow

Spirulino our Sylvester bird is a male house sparrow. Found at the recycling depot two years ago. Feisty little bird, who wears his black cock sparrow bib with pride and musters all the troops to BITE the monstrous hand that feeds him! Happy second birthday!

Just in case this is new to you – the 12 Days OF Christmas. Sung here by the Muppets. Or Bing Crosby and the Andrew Sisters.

I invite you to join me. My theme is simply to play with the numbers from one to twelve. Just one day or as many as you like. You are welcome to (write a new post or) trawl your archives for that post YOU love, that never got the exposure it deserved. A photo, WITH title/caption/words. Or only words for a change? You are also welcome to come back some time in the future and join in.  

Not just a comment? Give me a link to … Your spectrum gathered from your garden or the year that is past?

---~~0-0-0-0-0-0~~---

London Laura brings geese a-laying to life.
Beth in Wisconsin of PlantPostings has six-words-of-wisdom.
MyCapeGarden has the full dozen.

 Pictures and words by Diana of  Elephant's Eye 

- wildlife gardening in Porterville, near Cape Town in South Africa

(If you mouse over brown text, it turns shriek pink. Those are my links.) 

The Fifth Day of Christmas

I chose five big books as my five gold rings in 2011, they are still with me, still well used and well loved. Carolyn’s Shade Garden joined me last year with my-Thanksgiving-oak-forest. Last year the books were big in size. This year tends to dynamite in small packages AKA field guides (you won't notice that I've used poetic license to count today, I'm surrounded by books on all sides!)

INSECTS

Field guide to the insects of South Africa, by Mike Picker et al. 2004.

BIRDS

Birds of the South Western Cape, by Joy Frandsen. 1982.
SASOL birds of Southern Africa. Ian Sinclair et al. Second edition 1997.
Roberts' birds of Southern Africa. Fifth edition 1984.

FYNBOS on the mountains

Wild flowers of the Table Mountain National Park. South African Wild Flower Guide 12. 2006.
Guide to the flora of the Cape Peninsula. M.R. Levyns. 1966.
Restios of the fynbos, by Els D. Haaksma and H. Peter Linder. 2000.

WILD FLOWERS beyond Cape Town

Namaqualand and Clanwilliam. South African Wild Flower Guide 1. 1981.
West Coast. South African Wild Flower Guide 7. 1996.
Karoo. South African Wild Flower Guide 6. 1994.

Hottentots Holland to Hermanus. South African Wild Flower Guide 5. 1985.

Field guides for the Western Cape

I first ‘met’ Carl Larsson at IKEA, on greeting cards. Which I couldn’t bear to give away. I have had them perhaps for 30 years. Fascinated by the quality of the light, the detail, and the life so different to mine. I’m an IKEA fan, still very much a part of my life. Chairs, tables, bookshelves, vases!

Just in case this is new to you – the 12 Days OF Christmas. Sung here by the Muppets. Or Bing Crosby and the Andrew Sisters.

I invite you to join me. My theme is simply to play with the numbers from one to twelve. Just one day or as many as you like. You are welcome to (write a new post or) trawl your archives for that post YOU love, that never got the exposure it deserved. A photo, WITH title/caption/words. Or only words for a change? You are also welcome to come back some time in the future and join in.  

Not just a comment? Give me a link to your … five books?

---~~0~0~0~0~0~~---

Five painted ladies from London Laura @ patiopatch.
Holley in Texas has 12-gifts-from-the-garden.

Pictures and words by Diana of  Elephant's Eye 

- wildlife gardening in Porterville, near Cape Town in South Africa

(If you mouse over brown text, it turns shriek pink. Those are my links.) 

The Fourth Day of Christmas

We are four sisters. I am the youngest. Last year as my four calling birds.

Flowers on the rose bushes are a fleeting pleasure. Picked for the vase, or shedding petals, perhaps still wrapped in tight buds, or sulking after pruning. My roses are deliberately planted with shrubs trees and smalls to give constant interest. Each of the four beds themed around a colour and a 'season'. Autumn Fire. Summer Gold. Winter Chill. Spring Promise. Paradise and Roses. Commonorgarden plants, NOT from South Africa. From Canada Prunus nigra for plum foliage. From Mexico golden Mare's Tails. From the capital M Mediterranean Santolina for silver velvet. From North America Festuca glauca for blue leaves. Commonorgarden, as you and I both grow them.

Prunus nigra, mare's tail or Mexican feather grass
Santolina cotton lavender, Festuca glauca blue grass

The first four days of Christmas.

On the fourth day of Christmas

My green sensibilities are uneasy about how much data we stack up. Sometimes I trip over an abandoned blog - are they just going to stay on the web for the foreseeable future? Those photos you forgot to sort. Those links you were going to follow up. Those servers adding to global warming as they store data we forget was ever ours! Which is why I try hard to be a virtual minimalist, as I am an IRL hoarder. Easier to delete a virtual document, than throw away something with huge sentimental value!

Just in case this is new to you – the 12 Days OF Christmas. Sung here by the Muppets. Or Bing Crosby and the Andrew Sisters.

I invite you to join me. My theme is simply to play with the numbers from one to twelve. Just one day or as many as you like. You are welcome to (write a new post or) trawl your archives for that post YOU love, that never got the exposure it deserved. A photo, WITH title/caption/words. Or only words for a change? You are also welcome to come back some time in the future and join in.  

Not just a comment? Give me a link to your … four with sentimental value?

---~~0-0-0-0~~---

London Laura's PatioPatch has a photo of the intended colly bird(s).
The fourth ever post at Deb'sGarden in Alabama (the blue bridge lady!) 

Pictures and words by Diana of  Elephant's Eye 

- wildlife gardening in Porterville, near Cape Town in South Africa

(If you mouse over brown text, it turns shriek pink. Those are my links.) 

The Third Day of Christmas

My three French hens were faith, hope and love last year.  Grew out of a fascination with the symbols that fishermen’s wives knitted into Fairisle sweaters, to bring their men safe home from the sea. 

Three kilometres

We drove across to Koringberg, and the blogger reversed for this sign. African time. Jo'burg calls Cape Town, Slaapstad. A play on the Afrikaans Kaapstad. Time out. Time off. They holiday here over Christmas!  (3 km/h is 1.8 miles per hour ...) 

Staying with hope in textiles. Christmas is a time for children. Foundling, a rather pretty word, for a desperate mother who leaves her baby at the door, hoping her child will have a better life than she can offer. About an exhibition – a scrap of fabric cut from mama’s dress in her fervent hope that she will one day be able to reclaim her child.

Just in case this is new to you – the 12 Days OF Christmas. Sung here by the Muppets. Or Bing Crosby and the Andrew Sisters.

I invite you to join me. My theme is simply to play with the numbers from one to twelve. Just one day or as many as you like. You are welcome to (write a new post or) trawl your archives for that post YOU love, that never got the exposure it deserved. A photo, WITH title/caption/words. Or only words for a change? You are also welcome to come back some time in the future and join in.  

Not just a comment? Give me a link to your … three symbols of things that matter to you?

---~~0-0-0~~---

From Donna in NY State we have Three robin fledglings at gardenseyeview.
To Laura in London, who has a hen at her patiopatch.
Then to Beth in Wisconsin plantpostings mystical-story-about-three-crocus-bulbs.

Pictures and words by Diana of  Elephant's Eye 

- wildlife gardening in Porterville, near Cape Town in South Africa

(If you mouse over brown text, it turns shriek pink. Those are my links.) 

The Second Day of Christmas

My two turtle doves were two ostriches last year. If I look back at blog posts that stand out, search for an image of two devoted turtle doves – I see Barbie and the malachite sunbird baby she rescued. Little fellow has closed his eyes and is recouping his energy. Both of them are wearing big grins. Barbie at The Gardening Blog.

Walking the Road

On Christmas Day we walked along the Sea Point Promenade. Walking the Road is a temporary public art project by Marieke Prinsloo-Rowe for her Master Degree in Fine Art. BTW at her website, click The Story, then walk with us.


It is a great privilege to tell this story to my fellow South Africans as a homage to all who in their daily civilian life make the choice to "Walk the Road" and in so doing build a nation that is able to fly. The Little Girl in my fable-like interpretation thus represents a young South African democracy and the Dragonfly visualises a dream of freedom, equality and hope that we as a nation pursue. - Marieke Prinsloo-Rowe

Just in case this is new to you – the 12 Days OF Christmas. Sung here by the Muppets. Or Bing Crosby and the Andrew Sisters.

I invite you to join me. My theme is simply to play with the numbers from one to twelve. Just one day or as many as you like. You are welcome to (write a new post or) trawl your archives for that post YOU love, that never got the exposure it deserved. A photo, WITH title/caption/words. Or only words for a change? You are also welcome to come back some time in the future and join in.  

Not just a comment? Give me a link to your … Got a pair of … for me?

---~~0-0~~---

London based Laura of PatioPatch has!

Screenshot, with words by Diana of  Elephant's Eye 

- wildlife gardening in Porterville, near Cape Town in South Africa

(If you mouse over brown text, it turns shriek pink. Those are my links.) 

The First Day of Christmas

My partridge in a pear tree, was a whydah in a karee tree last year. This year he has captured a Cape White-Eye who is sharing our first crop of larger figs. One for the birds, one for us ... These sunbird/hummingbird sized creatures move very fast, by the time you click the shutter the bird has flown! They have to be all grown up, at 5 weeks, before that white eye ring appears. 

Cape White-Eye with figs

Do names matter? They do to me, I like to know what plants and animals are called. And oh how they matter to rockpaperlizard!

Just in case this is new to you – the 12 Days OF Christmas. Sung here by the Muppets. Or Bing Crosby and the Andrew Sisters.

I invite you to join me. My theme is simply to play with the numbers from one to twelve. Just one day or as many as you like. You are welcome to (write a new post or) trawl your archives for that post YOU love, that never got the exposure it deserved. A photo, WITH title/caption/words. Or only words for a change? You are also welcome to come back some time in the future and join in.  

Not just a comment? Give me a link to your bird in the hand? In a tree in your garden, a walk in the park, hiking in the mountains, down by the river, beside the seaside?

---~~0~~---

-----~~~~0~~~~-----

---~~0~~---

From Brian I have My-clan-is-eagle.
Laura of Patiopatch in London has One-of-Twelvetide.

Linda the Crafty Gardener in Ontario has all 12-birds-of-Christmas.
b_a_g, born again gardener in Greater London chose a year-end-review covering 12 months.

Picture by Jurg and words by Diana of  Elephant's Eye 

- wildlife gardening in Porterville, near Cape Town in South Africa

(If you mouse over brown text, it turns shriek pink. Those are my links.) 

Solstice wildflowers for Christmas

In South Africa the Christmas garden flower – what is picked in great bundles to arrange around the baby in a manger in our churches – is Agapanthus. Somewhat looked down on as commonorgarden, easy maintenance around office buildings. I love that colour and that the stalks stand high and Proudly South African. My version of the blue globes of Allium flowerheads.

Agapanthus sp.

Christmas-flowers 2010. 
Linking to Gail at ClayandLimestone for her Wildflower-Wednesdays in 2011.

Agapanthus sp.

Christmas-flowers-in-our-garden 2009. Sadly the Chironia  has gone.

Agapanthus

The abiding impression in the garden now is blue or purple. The blue sage is a haze of flowers, echoing the colour of the sky, a vivid or a stormy blue depending on the falling light.

Blue sage

My pompom tree Dais cotonifolia is an odd shape, but it has been touch and go. This is the first Christmas that it is living up to its promise of covered in pink pompoms. The thirsty in summer tree is revelling in the autumnal La Nina weather this December.

Dais cotonifolia

Diminutive architectural blue spires around the pond are Plectranthus neochilus a tough aromatic groundcover. Easy to spread with cuttings in autumn (March to May). The other sweep of blue is Plumbago in a range of very soft sky blues which fade on camera.

Plectranthus neochilus
Plumbago

Dietes wild iris with bedhead this morning as it promised the afternoon’s rain. Filigree burgundy marking in the throat of Mackaya bella, its trumpet flowers arranged as one arm of a candelabra.

Mackaya bella, Dietes

Amongst the long since faded lime yellow Oxalis, this pink with easy to recognise large leaves, appeared in my pots. The scabious begins to bloom again. Purple Dimorphotheca jucunda has the first, slightly bedraggled flowers. We have aloes and pelargoniums which dance to a different colour theme, but they are scattered and less visible amongst all the blue.

Oxalis, Scabiosa
Dimorphotheca jucunda, unknown succulent species

On the verandah in the shade, perched on the hub of an old wooden wheel (memories of Voortrekker women crossing the mountains barefoot) is my deeply purple Streptocarpus. The camera sees blue, and the Ungardener says – take the photos in the sun, as he always prompts me.

Streptocarpus in shade

Grumble. I take the pot to Paradise and Roses and park it next to the golden Mare’s Tail grass for a temporary photo op. Now the colour sings true to life, even on the camera.

Streptocarpus in sun

Yesterday the summer solstice. We would expect to be grateful for days getting shorter to help us thru the brutal heat of January and February. But it is chilly, quite grey and gently raining. Tomorrow the sun will shine. We live in an era called  Anthropocene.  Global weirding. And a frustrating end to COP17. Youth delegate Anjali Appadurai says - Stand with Africa. Get it done!

  

I was asked how I ID our wild flowers. If I have a rough idea, I’ll use PlantZAfrica for the species. Kristo Pienaar's book is my second choice. Then I have a row of  wild flower guides from the Botanical Society of South Africa.

I wish you, my readers, a happy Christmas. Enjoy a break from work and time with your friends and family. May our New Year be peaceful and green. 

Pictures and words by Diana of  Elephant's Eye 

- wildlife gardening in Porterville, near Cape Town in South Africa

(If you mouse over brown text, it turns shriek pink. Those are my links.) 

The Twelve Days of Christmas

Last year I wrote daily posts for the 12 Days OF Christmas. I used my ‘write a loaf then cut off slices’ method of blogging and the words poured out. Then I scheduled the posts. This year I will link back to the original posts for new readers, but have locked the comments there. It was a blog experiment. More posts equal more visitors, but only up to a point. It taught me two posts a week is right for me, and my readers. Since I write longer posts, daily is not worth the extra effort, my readership averaged out to the usual. Last year the 12 Days drew 52 daily visitors. This year I have gained a few more readers, we'll see. 

On the 12th, 11th, 10th, 9th Day of Christmas

Strange how in blogland looking back a year is a bit like remembering people you went to school with. Some have slipped away, and vanished without a trace. We miss you, and hope you are well, happy and busy with good things.

Last year I was joined on

Day 1 by Yard Art – a chicken in a maple  (her latest post, is Christmas in July…

Day 5 by Carolyn’s Shade Gardens – five native red oaks (wonder how they've grown?) And Barbara in Mannheim – who read five non-gardening books in winter (she too was last seen harvesting tomatoes in August …

Day 7 – Yard Art returned - Snow White and the seven ...

Day 9 – I had 9 snowdrops and a quote from Carolyn in my post.

Day 12 – Adrian from the Chicago Wilderness is now quieter on the blog, as she walks the walk on the wild side – 12 gardening sites from EcologicalGardening ending with Mr Brown Thumb (garden page) on G+,  who is now Ramon Gonsalez IRL on G+.
And to close Carolyn sent me a bunch of 12 Christmas roses!

On the 8th, 7th, 6th, 5th Day of Christmas

Just in case this is new to you – the 12 Days OF Christmas. We are now in Advent, which leads up to Christmas. The only day where I have a tenuous link to Christmas is the third, for which I chose faith, hope and love. A brass anchor, a Celtic knotted cross and a heart-shaped leaf. You may choose three of anything!

I invite you to join me. My theme is simply to play with the numbers from one to twelve. Just one day or as many as you like. You are welcome to (write a new post or) trawl your archives for that post YOU love, that never got the exposure it deserved. A photo, WITH title/caption/words. Or ONLY words for a change? I'm going with blogging lite - a photo, a link, a few words. You will always be welcome to come back some time in the future and join in. As I plot this in November, my old 12 Days posts are drawing visits ahead of Advent. 

On the 4th, 3rd, 2nd, First Day of Christmas

To begin – for the 26th of December, we choose our bird in a tree. The partridge in a pear tree familiar from Christmas cards, wrapping paper, and the song! Sung here by the Muppets. Or Bing Crosby and the Andrew Sisters. Neither partridges nor pear trees in my garden – so I choose Our Lil Cuss in the karee tree - his son, as I write, is rounding up and seeing off the sparrows who DARE to eat at Spirulino’s! 

---~~~0~~~---

PS My words/lyrics for the Twelve Days last year.
PPS If you have an archived post (Bernie?) leave a link in a comment, and I will add you to my post for that day.
PPPS Lesson Learnt in the Last year. 1. If you start a meme, send an invitation ahead, so bloggers have TIME to join in. Thank you for playing along with me!

---~~~0~~~---

In South Africa ...
Christine at  The Gardening Blog has risen to the challenge. All 12 days and her new lyrics!
Barbie (also) at The Gardening Blog has a unique Fifth Day!
In the USA ...
Lea in Mississippi at Lea's menagerie shares my Garden for Wildlife!
New Hampshire Garden Notes has captured 4 bees sharing a single flower!

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

- wildlife gardening in Porterville, near Cape Town in South Africa

(If you mouse over brown text, it turns shriek pink. Those are my links.) 

Foreign flowers in December for once were Blotanists

I am a week early for Bloom Day, but I have other plans for next Friday’s post. Today I am putting December’s memories of foreign exotic commonorgarden flowers on the blog. Hooking in to the memes of Gesine at Seepferds-Garten and Carol at MayDreams. November was the rose’s month of glory, but today the next buds are unfurling in waves. Yesterday was overcast and it almost rained, about half a millimetre. Kind weather for the rose petals – which are not doing their usual – It’s summer! If you don’t pick us and bring us in out of the sun, we’ll just shrizzle up to toasted hasbeens!!

Tropical Sunset at Paradise and Roses
(the camera always lies, but I love this view of our garden!)

Whenever we go to Cape Town to see my mother and have lunch with the family, I harvest what I can. What is neither full-blown and about to shed petals, nor so tightly furled that once picked, the bud will never open. This Tropical Sunset was just right.

Sheila's Perfume

They have been fed their December portion of certified organic from Talborne (which we pay for in full, NOT sponsored!). But the summer’s beginning heat means that the flowers of Sheila’s Perfume are not quite as full and lush as the last round.

Burning Sky against Canadian Prunus nigra

Burning Sky seems to be happy to make another full house with bunches of buds coming thru on each stalk.

Dainty Bess

Dainty Bess with her five fragile single petals, has the spirit of the wild dog rose (NOT wild here). Each flower only survives one day of sun and afternoon breeze.

Helpkids, Chaim Soutine, Dainty Bess
Pearl of Bedfordview
Great North, Courvoisier

Helpkids has just the one dark flower. Chaim Soutine has been rescued from the embrace of Melianthus. The tall flower stalks had gone to seed, so I pretended I was Jack Frost and cut back hard. Time and space for someone else to shine now. Dainty Bess and Pearl of Bedfordview butterfly across their bushes. Courvoisier massed with flowers. Great North is trying hard this year. She has flowers, but she is still dwarfed by the blue sage. Paradise and Roses.

Dusty Miller

Dusty Miller flower

My signature plant Dusty Miller has flowers that leave me feeling ambiguous. A soft fluffy mauve gentle version of a Scottish thistle. Rather a lovely flower if you take time to look at it. For the vase too. But, the flower stalks SOAR UP and flop over. Morning after the night beforeish. Most of them get harvested. Ideally I should take cuttings and start again every three years.

Figs

When we see starlings investigating the fig trees, then it is time to nip out quick and see if any figs are yallery green and soft enough for us to eat. If you blink, you miss it, and the birds are in heaven in our wildlife garden.

Once were a guru Blotanist or a BlotSprout – and you have been wondering. Has Stuart (also on Google+ ) sold Blotanical or given up on us? He is rolling out Version2 for February with a blog to follow. I am intrigued to see which familiar and which new garden blogs will come on board. Without my Blotanists this would be a Once Was a Garden Blog ...

Pictures and words by Diana of  Elephant's Eye 

- wildlife gardening in Porterville, near Cape Town in South Africa

(If you mouse over brown text, it turns shriek pink. Those are my links.) 

Pushed Out of Paradise and Roses

I have gathered and sorted pictures of the roses from the end of October to today. From bud to glory to ‘the last rose of summer’ as the next buds develop. Four of these roses we inherited. As we laid out our new garden they were stranded half way down the driveway. Against a new concrete panel wall, they faced into the full force of the afternoon sun. My two legs of the grey watering system whined louder and louder. He extended the two beds between the garage and the front door, making space for these roses. Not so far to walk, and they make a gracious welcome home. Now they have recovered from transplanting, we can see what we have. Some beauties, mostly nameless!

Pushed Out of Paradise and Roses

There is no theme here. Simply what was surplus to requirements or needed cutting back elsewhere in the garden. For some mysterious reason these beds are the most lush in our garden. It is the afternoon sun side of the house, but the giant/Spanish reeds and our neighbour’s tree seem to throw the right amount of kind shade.

Anna's Red bed

'Anna's Red' is nameless

The first of our nameless roses is three plants of Anna’s Red. At the end of October there were lots of flowers and they keep coming. None today, but there are always buds. Now, that tall flowering stem has been cut back to match her sisters. The plant prefers to grow about knee high. Heady rich perfume.

Pushed Out of Paradise and Roses
looking from the garage towards the front door

Across the path are the other nameless varieties, with Black Prince (an old Cape rose), and Perfume Passion (one I chose myself).

Perfume Passion

Perfume Passion was chosen to be fragrant. I asked for a low bush for the corner, but she grows and grows – most of the flowers are kindly at grateful nose height.

'Anna's fuchsia' is nameless

A slender ethereal bush, with such deep pink flowers that they rest on red. Perhaps Schiaparelli pink? And nameless.

Black Prince
an old Cape rose

Black Prince came with his name. This is an old Cape rose courtesy of Gwen Fagan's book and Jack at SequoiaGardens. My heritage rose. A very tall and stately prince, but a scholar with his books, rather than the women’s rugby team Perfume Passion. As I imagine Bulgarian attar of roses might smell, dizzying.

'Anna's apricot' is nameless

This one was always thoughtful, but I watered and fed it. Now it has settled after transplanting, I am amazed and delighted by glorious blended peach and yellow flowers. Fading to a rich golden yellow.

These beds were planted in 2007, the roses added in 2009. November 2010.  

Looking from the front door
at Agapanthus and figs

We’ve had morning tea with my roses. As you head home, this is the path from the front door and out into the World Wide Web. My Agapanthus was a bud on Guy Fawkes Day, now I delight in my three commonorgarden flowers! And we have figs plumping up.

Pictures and words by Diana of  Elephant's Eye 

- wildlife gardening in Porterville, near Cape Town in South Africa

(If you mouse over brown text, it turns shriek pink. Those are my links.)