Natal Lily, with it’s lush, broad leaves loves growing in dappled shade. Flowers appear once these bulbs reach maturity after a few years and the leaves die down after flowering in drier areas.
Tag Archives: flowers
Crinum moorei. Featured plant at Towerkop Nursery.
Spider lily (Hymenocallas). Flowering now at Towerkop Nursery.
White spider lilies are a perennial bulb from central america. They like moist soil and are hardy and hassle-free. Divide them every so often to keep them flowering.
Agave potatorum. Flowering now at Towerkop Nursery.
Agave potatorum
Sadly this means the Mother plant will perish after flowering but it has produced numerous pups during it’s lifetime.
I had to protect this plant from afternoon direct sun in the Karoo, but otherwise this small, compact Agave is hassle-free to grow.
Agave potatorum is used to make a mexican wine called pulque.
It’s Jacaranda season !
This exotic tree is popular in South Africa but is no longer allowed to be planted here. This one flowering in Ladismith, Little Karoo.
Karoo gold (Rhigozum) flowering now in its natural habitat.
This spiney shrub blends in with the karoo scrub until it blooms profusely in the summer with bright yellow flowers, dotting the veld like bright gold nuggets.
Posted in ALL
Tagged Africa, flowers, Horticulture, Indigenous plants, Trees, water-wise
My Amaryllis flowered ! (Hippeastrum reginae).
This South African cultivar sends out leaves and scape at the same time after a season of vegetative growth. It can be grown in a pot or in the ground and it’s long lasting blooms are prized as cut flowers. They thrive when transplanted every few years.
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Tagged Africa, flowers, Horticulture, Indigenous plants, Plants, Spring
Today John the Farmer is saving seeds of Marigold !
Tagetes patula is native to Guatumala and Mexico. The flowers are used to add to poultry feed to intensify the color of egg yolk. The essential oil is used in perfumery. It is also used as a pesticide, grown alongside vegetables to fumigate for nematodes. It is used as a saffron-like spice.
The bright flowers of Marigold are also used in the festival of the Day of the Dead in Mexico. They are said to guide the spirits of the departed to their friends and loved ones.
Delosperma echinatum. Feature plant at Towerkop Nursery.
Low growing shrubby succulent with conspicuously hairy leaves and small yellow flowers.
The name Delosperma is derived from the greek for visible seed, in allusion to the fact that the capsules have no covering membranes so the seeds are exposed when the capsules are open.
The plant is from the mesemb family and is native to Southern Africa.
Arum Lily, Zantedeschia. Feature plant at Towerkop Nursery.
Arum lillies are native to Southern Africa but are cultivated world wide for their long lasting blooms.
It is dormant or evergreen depending on habitat or location. It remains evergreen under cultivation, given plenty of water in a free-draining substrate.
They make good bedding plants, spaced 15cm apart.
The tubers were boiled and fed to pigs, hence the Afrikaans name ‘Varkoor’.
The common white variety Zantedeschia aethiopica is medicinal. The warmed leaves used a poultice to treat sores, boils, insect bites, gout and rheumatism.
Happy Spring equinox !
You know spring has sprung when the Lampranthus are flowering..
Posted in FEATURED PLANTS
Tagged flowers, Indigenous plants, Plants, Spring, Succulents
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