Early summer and spring past

The last note I wrote was in winter. Now spring in the Western Cape has come and gone and with it some of the wonderful geophytes (bulbs etc.) that will go dormant over the summer. I had the particular delight to find and photograph numerous rare geophytes, listed in the South Africa Red List of plants, during the spring. Some of these beautiful but fragile ephemeral species are Gladiolus meliusculus, Babiana stricta, Babiana angustifolia, Geissorhiza lewisii, Lachenalia contaminata, Moraea calcicola and Watsonia humilis which are illustrated here. Sadly the habitat of all these species in the Western Cape is under severe threat from agriculture, urbanisation, road building and alien invasive species. Efforts are being made to 'rescue' them from the sites where I found them but their true original habitat will in most cases be lost.

Now we move into summer with the South Easter beginning to dominate the wind patterns. A few cold fronts continue to bring sprinklings of welcome rain to the Western Cape but the landscape is gradually drying out as summer approaches and the days get warmer and longer.

Canary Creeper

May has come and gone and so has the flowering of the magnificent Canary Creeper (Senecio tamoides) in our garden. This vigorous creeper was grown from a cutting and has made itself at home climbing in a viburnum tree over our swimming pool. I waited in anticipation at the beginning of May for the flowers to open and so they did, in a glorious yellow cascade over the pool. The flowers lasted for about a month but now as winter draws on and the weather gets colder and wetter the seeds have set and the bright, cheerful yellow has gone until next year. 

Mizpah

Spent the past weekend at Mizpah in the Kogelberg attending a mens' retreat led by Fr. Richard Rohr OFM. The teaching by Richard was really meaningful. Also enjoyed relaxing and some landscape photography using a polarizing filter. Here is a view of the Palmiet River with the Groenlandberg in the background.

Winter is upon us in the Western Cape and it is the season for the fynbos vegetation to really come alive. Some of the jewels in the crown of the Cape Floral Kingdom found in the Kogelberg Biosphere reserve are irresistible photographic subjects. In June 2009 I photographed Saltera sarcocolla (one of my favourite fynbos species) a member of the Cape endemic family Penaeaceae, as well as the stunningly beautiful Mimetes capitulatus (Proteaceae) endemic to the Kogelberg, Groenlandberg, Paardeberg (Kleinmond) and Klein River Mountains. I will be returning to see and maybe photograph these species again this weekend in cool, cloudy conditions.