Cape Town is one of the three major centers in South Africa. However, even though this is the case it's always been known to be a little more chilled than our northern and north-eastern counterparts. We're often referred to as "slaap stad" (sleep city), and we've been known to knock off at work a little early to cycle around the mountain, visit the beach or walk in the forests.

Lately however it seems that with the migration of hard-working Johannesburg residents to Cape Town that the city has started working longer and harder, and that we've started missing out on what our natural surroundings have to offer. With all the stress and strain our harder working regimen has brought we've started ignoring the natural rejuvenation that nature offers - and it's taking a toll on our minds and bodies.

This I'm guessing is the reason why over the past few years we've seen a huge increase in the number of day spas all over the city and suburbs... if only we had the time to make more use of them... if only we had the time to make use of our mountain, forests, and oceans!

A friend recently told me about the Durbanville Garden Club's up and coming expo and two days of open gardens that will be held on 30 and 31 October. The flowers in my photo are wild flowers and while pretty they pale in comparison to the beauty that awaits on these two days.

Next weekend you could sip tea and eat cake in the gardens, listen to green-thumbed enthusiasts talking about plants, participate in photography workshops, or simply walk around the gardens at your leisure.

Don't miss the outing, it'll be awesome and costs only R20 per person - here's a map. :)

Isn't it sneaky how supermarkets place the array of beautiful flowers in a position that forces you to look at them while waiting at the checkout? I can imagine that it must make it *very* difficult for woman to decide between the chocolates (also conveniently placed where you wait) and the flowers that they seem all to love.

Bunches of flowers bought in a supermarket in Cape Town generally cost between R50 and R80 (between 5 and 8 Euro). What would you pay for a similar bunch where you live?

As you by now know (perhaps due to the title of this article), the Protea is South Africa's national flower. It's perhaps easy to imagine why it's the case, (a) they are fantastically beautiful, and (b) there are huge numbers of them in many different species all over South Africa. Just take a look at the map on this page and click on the Western Cape. Click on the various coloured blocks representing areas and the species found there. Hectic hey!?

A couple of interesting points about the Protea are:

• The largest flowers grow up to 300mm in diameter!
• Once planted, don't ever think about moving the plant, or disturbing its roots. I now have 3 dead Proteas in my garden. :-(
• Most Protea species protect their seeds from rodents by using ants to carry seeds underground or by protecting them in cones that release the seed only during a bush fire. Some Proteas in fact encourage rodents to carry off their seed by dropping juicy fruit on the ground. They produce abundant seed for a short period, causing rodents to hoard the seed in nice damp places, often covered by a little soil. Rodents often end up not returning for the food, or simply not being able to find all of it! This naturally encourages germination, and voila, a new Protea bush erupts.