Why trees are messy

Nature is messy. Birds do unmentionable things in the bushes, lions don't have table-manners and trees drop leaves. A tree that does not drop leaves doesn't exist.

The leaves of evergreens are not immortal, no matter how much we might like them to be, and a few drop every day. In a way, they're actually more messy than deciduous trees, because deciduous trees do it all at once instead of bit by bit.

The best way to deal with fallen leaves, is not to deal with them at all. Leave them where they fall, and they'll improve the topsoil, keep weeds down and help to keep soil moist. If pathways need sweeping, collect the sweepings and distribute them over garden beds or compost them to make garden fertilizer.

Love your fallen leaves: they smell good and they do good things for your garden!

South Africa Plant World

Season's changing to mid summer and the newest blooms are out: Hypoxis setosa (African Potato) pictured here, never really seem to stop flowering. The Dais cotinifolia (pom pom tree) is in full bloom. Lovely sight, but they do need well-drained soil to grow.

Please note, I"m not allowed to say it ususally, but my blog seems to be the best place to tell you: I AM AN INDIGENOUS PLANT EXPERT. Hah!

Recent conversation with client:

She: It's indigenous, it's got a red flower it sounds like 'Canvas'

Me: Red? Canvas? You don't mean Cyrtanthus?

She: no, no, canvas!

This goes on for a while then:

She: Are you stupid?

Me: No, but you're not asking me for the right thing.

Carries on and ends in impasse.

Sudden midnight realisation: She meant Cannas!

Folks in case you don't know - cannas guzzle water and many of them are invasive weeds!

Plants and more

Funny how these seem to have gone out of fasion: Anisodontea

'Elegant Lady' is a super hybrid. Anisodontea capensis is great as a garden plant or for landscape rehabilitation. They're relatively short lived perennials, so just don't expect them to last forever! They like well-drained soil and lots of sun. Watch out for whitefly and root rot.

Plants, plants, plants and me

This is my blog: Lots more to come, and here's me!

Some good sites

Can I work out how to get website links onto my blog? Naaaahhh. Anyhow: if you love SA plants look into these: www.newplant,nursery.co.za .

http://www.safricanbulbs.org.za/Indigenous Bulb Association of South Africa
http://www.botanicalsociety.org.za/Welcome to the Botanical Society of South Africa
http://www.plantzafrica.com/The site for information about plants native to southern Africa and related topics.
www.museums.org.za/bioBiodiversity explorer - featuring the diversity of life we encounter in southern Africa
http://www.fernkloof.com/ Share the beauty of the plants, flowers, scenery and wildlife of Fernkloof Nature Reserve with us.
www.sanbi.org/ Home to Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens

http://www.flora.sanbi.org/ Here you will find three datasets:· Interactive Flora of Southern & Southern Tropical Africa· Trees of Southern Africa· Interactive Mesembs

Sympathy for the devil

Invader plants are one of the greatest threats to biodiversity worldwide - nevertheless, many people feel 'sorry' for all the plants that get destroyed. Killing is never pleasant, but we must be pragmatic: Do we really want monocltures of bluegums and Lantana instead of our own flora?
I even read a letter to the press where a lady was accusing botanists of 'selfishness'. Amazing how emotional the debate, which should be scientific, becomes!

Toxic treasures in the picture at left (Nephrolepis and Lantana).

Andrea's Garden

Indigenous plants. SA is the greatest! You've gotta believe it! Check out all the beauties!

There's always something new under the sun here in SA.

Take this Heichrysum on the left, OK it's common as muck, BUT don't you just love that foliage!

I'm a bit of a gardenng hypocrite really. I love my plants, but my garden's more interesting than beautiful. Guess that's why horticulture and landscaping are two different directions!

This Arctotis really stands out, only see how the petals fade from red to apricot - Juicy.

How's this for a ghastly name? 'Glottiphyllum'! Actually, the leaves do look a bit Glottal: (Pic below) The flowers are pretty big, and it takes the dryest conditions. Not your typical 'Vygie'!

I love plants that grow as easily as this one!