Hairy Fleabane

Don’t you wish that flowers would grow more like weeds? We wouldn’t ever have to water the beds or feed the flowers. Until I discovered my awesome weed-popper (which makes weeding more like a game) I really think I may have had more weeds than grass.

The Hairy Fleabane, shown in this photo, is a very common variety in Cape Town. The long stems and furry heads can be seen covering many people’s lawns in spring, making them look more like country fields – which I guess for some has its own appeal.

The interesting thing is that according to weedsience.org there’s a particular strain of Hairy Fleabane in the Breede Valley that has become resistant to herbicide. So it would seem to me that the only real solution is in fact my awesome weed-popper. Perhaps I should go into the weed-popper business.

Water Lily

The flower above is commonly known as a water lily, but to the botanists among you it’s more likely known as a member of the Nymphaeaceae family, possibly either the Nymphaea Alba (White Water Lily) or the Nymphaea Capensis (Cape Blue Water Lily). What makes it difficult for me to decide is that the only references I’ve found so far to water lilies in the Western Cape talk about the Capensis, and yet this flower looks yellowish – a lot like the Alba. But the Alba is apparently found in the northern hemisphere, in places like England and North America.

That aside, I discovered an online store that sells what appears to be dried Nymphaea Alba. One can apparently use the dried flower to make a tea that, according to them, has the following effect: “White Lotus is both narcotic and euphoric. Like Blue Lotus, the plant is said to increase sexual arousal and enjoyment.”

Now, while the name Nymphaea appears to support this, I’m keen for someone to (at their own risk ) get some and give it a go. If you have tried the tea, then please do leave a comment below and let us know if you experienced any effects!

A big white door

Often when I see an old object like this door I wonder what history it has seen. Isn’t it interesting to consider all the people that may have turned and pulled on the door knob? Don’t you curiously consider what led it to be removed from its doorway and left lying on this grassy patch?

On a completely different subject… notice the Nasturtium flowers to the left? It was the weirdest thing ever when I discovered one day that Kerry-Anne likes putting these into salad! I guess they do act as a beautiful garnish… but for her it’s not only about the decorative appeal – she enjoys the taste too! I wouldn’t be surprised if next I find her picking daisies for a quick stir-fry!

Kristo Pienaar Environmental Education Centre

The building in the foreground is the Kristo Pienaar Environmental Education Centre, and at the bottom of the pathway you can see the main gate of the Tygerberg Nature Reserve.

Kristo Pienaar was a well-known (and popular) South African botanist, probably most famous for encouraging South African gardeners to make use of indigenous plants in their gardens. He was a multi-talented man, though – some of the best South African reference books on gardening were written by him, he was a university professor, he presented Veld Fokus on SABC’s 50/50 (a TV programme that covered all sorts of ecology-related topics) for a few years, and he was even the mayor of Bellville at one stage!

He died in 1996, at the age of 73.

Houses of Welgemoed

Welgemoed is a wealthy suburb of Cape Town, just on “the other side” of Tygerberg Hill, facing the Boland Mountains. If you were to stand on top of Table Mountain, overlooking the City Bowl, and allow your gaze to extend further, over the city, then Tygerberg Hill is the hill that you would see in the distance, about 20km from Table Mountain, and Welgemoed is just on the other side of that hill.

We took a drive around the suburb, and the strange thing was how isolated everyone seemed to be. High walls barricaded each propery, and it felt like people were peering from their windows suspiciously when we stopped our car to look around.

The property in the photo seemed different. Firstly, there were no large walls to be seen, only fences, and secondly, there is far more open space around this house than other houses in the area. Also, the abundant trees, garden and green rolling hills seem to give the home less of a densely-packed suburban feeling.

Last grapes of the season

On 31 October of last year, I posted a photo of the first super-tiny bunch of grapes to start growing on the vine covering our patio. This bunch is one of the fully adult, yet relatively small, bunches of grapes to materialise from the baby-bunches that I photographed in October.

I tasted a couple of the grapes, and while not harshly bitter, they’re not exactly the sweetest, largest, or juiciest that I’ve ever tasted. Perhaps next year’s harvest will be more palatable – although best I don’t leave it to chance. If you have any tips for for producing a harvest of large, lush, and sweet grapes, I’m all ears.

Greenhouse at Montebello

This is the greenhouse at the Montebello Design Centre (have a look at yesterday’s post to see the signpost that points visitors here). It’s apparently one of the oldest greenhouses in South Africa, and is now home to a nursery.

Do click on the photo to enlarge it so that you can see all the tiny treasures filling the greenhouse.

Stodels Nursery

My parents have shopped at Stodels Nursery forever. Robert Stodel, a horticulturist originally from Holland, discovered the local demand for flower bulbs more than 40 years ago. After selling bulbs door-to-door and even at the Parade in Cape Town, Robert opened the first Stodels Nursery in Kenilworth in 1968, later expanding by opening a second shop in Bellville (close to where we live) in 1973.

Since I was born only the year after, I guess it’s fair for me to say that Stodels has been around forever. The earliest memory that I have of the nursery is of my parents buying a small Plane tree (also known in North America as a Sycamore tree). That tree is now a huge (and I mean huge) tree directly in front of their house.

So, needless to say, Stodels is still a thriving nursery, with a little restaurant and an assortment of farmyard animals for kids to touch and play with. It’s still a fun place to shop, though every time Kerry-Anne mentions visiting Stodels my heart sinks just a little… good plants don’t come cheap.