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.