Grass Aloes in Tarlton

Watercolour sketch of a Grass Aloe - Maree©

Now is the time that, as soon as we've had our first veld-fires, these beautiful aloes will start flowering, covering the black landscape with their beautiful red flowers.

Grass Aloes are an appealing group of deciduous aloes. As the name implies, they grow mainly in grasslands subject to winter fires. They are able to survive both fire and frost during the cold dry months. Their leaves and colours resemble their habitat, making them difficult to find when not in flower. These largely miniature aloes have very attractive flowers, making them desirable, if difficult, plants to cultivate. Their growing pattern is closely related to the winter fire cycles of the veld, some species responding directly to burning and producing leaves, flowers and later seed after such events.

This well known grass aloe is commonly found along rocky ridges and rocky slopes on the Witwatersrand and Magaliesberg as well as in mountainous areas of the Northern Province and Mpumalanga. In years gone by it was even more prolific, but numbers have been greatly reduced due to development on the ridges and from harvesting by succulent collectors. A number of different forms are found throughout its distribution range.

The leaves are only slightly succulent, giving the plant a grass-like appearance when not in flower. The leaves are yellowish-green in colour, have numerous white dots on both surfaces, and small teeth along the leaf margins. The inflorescence is an un-branched raceme bearing large (40 mm long), pendulous flowers. The flowers are pinkish-orange in colour with green tips. Numerous brown, papery bracts are visible along the length of the scape.

The plants form dense clumps up to about 30cm high. The narrow fleshy leaves usually form a fan-shape and are borne on very short stems which branch at ground level. The leaves may occasionally form a rosette in older specimens. They are dull green or bluish-green with the upper surface distinctly channelled and the lower surface bearing numerous tuberculate white spots towards the base. The margins of the leaves are armed with soft white teeth.

Aloe verecunda is deciduous and loses all its leaves in winter which only reappear after the first rains in Spring. The plant has thick fleshy roots in which it stores water during the dry winter months.

Attractive dense heads of up to 20 peach-red to scarlet flowers are tubular and up to 30mm in length, becoming pendulous when open. The flowers produce nectar which attracts nectar-feeding Sun birds which in turn act as pollinators for the plant. A greenish-yellow form is also occasionally found

The name Aloe is derived from Alloeh, the Arabic name for this genus and verecunda means modest/chaste (Latin).

Food from trees - The Kei Apple

(Dovyalis caffra)

A bountiful crop of roundish, velvety, bright yellow fruits with thick succulent flesh carpeted the ground beneath a tree in the grounds of a hospital on the Cape Flats in the Western Province this past autumn. Unusual in this part of the world, the Kei-apple tree had done itself proud, yet no humans had discovered this rich source of food on their doorsteps.

It was there for the taking by the birds and, what they did not eat, fell to the ground to ferment, attracted fruit flies and rotted down, returning nutrients to the soil.

The tree, a Kei-apple, Dovyalis caffra, is well known all over the eastern parts of the country, common in open bush and wooded grassland, and often near termite mounds. It belongs to a cosmopolitan family, the Flacourtiaceae, which are all good, fruit-bearing shrubs or trees, very often armed with vicious spines, and its name derives from the Kei River where it grows in abundance as a thick, shiny, spiny shrub up to three metres in height. The branches are armed with straight, robust spines up to 7 cm long.

This year my trees also bore an abundance of fruit for the first time ever and I ascribe this to the fact that we get heavy frost here in Tarlton (South Africa). It has taken almost seven years for my trees to reach just over three meters tall and I was absolutely thrilled to have the fruit. Of course I had to try them but they really are too acidic, with a slight hint of sweetness, to enjoy on a full-time basis. And I'm therefore also not surprised at all that Torti, my Leopard Tortoise, did not touch any that had fallen on the floor. But they look really beautiful displayed in a dish!

Image credit - Tatters, Flickr

Some trees may grow to nine metres with a thick crown of green foliage; these large specimens are often less spiny as the tree has put its energy into its bulk, rather than into thorn production. The tree is known by a variety of other names: Dingaan’s apricot, wild apricot, wilde-appelkoos, appelkoosdoring, um- Qokolo (Xhosa and Zulu) amongst others. Although it is indigenous to warmer areas, it will survive mild frost, and long periods of drought. It grows well in poor soils. The Kei-apple makes a worthwhile addition to your garden as it serves a multitude of purposes, not least of which as a source of food for humans and animals alike.

Fresh, ripe fruits are rich in Vitamin C and pectin and, following the example of the Pedi people who squeeze the juice onto their pap, they would make an excellent addition to a fruit salad and to muesli and yoghurt. Nature seems to know best when to give us the right foods to boost our immune systems in preparation for the onslaught of winter colds and ‘flu.

In addition, Egyptian scientists have also reportedly identified 15 different amino acids (the building blocks of proteins) in the fruit. Monkeys and baboons, antelope and birds recognise their health-giving qualities and devour them voraciously in the wild! Most people, however, consider the fruit too acid for eating out-of-hand, even when fully ripe.

So, cut the fruits in half, remove the peel and two rings of hairy seeds. Sprinkle with sugar and leave them to sit for a few hours before serving as a dessert, or adding to a fruit salad. The fruits can be cooked, but take only a few minutes of cooking before they turn into a sauce. Thicken this with a little crème fraiche and serve it over ice cream. Kei apples are more usually made into delicious jams and jellies or, when unripe, into pickles.

Kei-apple Jam

Because of the apples’ high level of acidity, no lemon juice need be added to the jam.

.

• 450 g Kei apples, halved, peeled, de-seeded and thinly sliced

• 450 g white sugar

• Grated zest of one lemon (be careful not to include the bitter white pith)

• 1 teaspoon ground (or 1 large stick) cinnamon

• 1 tablespoon raisins, a bay leaf, 2 cloves – optional extras

.

Pack the sliced fruit into a jar, stand it in a saucepan of boiling water and let the apples stew for about 15 minutes, or until they start to become tender. Put the apples into a clean, heavy-bottomed pot, add the sugar and the grated lemon zest. Do not add the cinnamon if using ground cinnamon, because it will tend to become viscous when boiled.

Hardiness: A subtropical shrub or tree, capable of surviving temperatures to 20F.

Growing Environment: Kei apple's are both drought and salt tolerant and are often used as coastal landscaping shrubs.

Propagation: Usually by seed.

Plants bear in 4-5 years from seed.

Uses: Fruits are often sprinkled with sugar and eaten fresh. They can also be used in a variety of desserts.

Native Range: Native to the Kei River region of Southwest Africa. The Kei Apple has adapted to subtropical regions throughout the world and is sometimes planted for ornamental purposes in Florida, California, and Southern Europe.

Source: Biophile Magazine, Issue 17

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New life

 

Even in mid-winter - New life…

each frond

leaf

petal

just filled

with potential

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Brave in the cold

how brave is the flower

that breaks through cold earth

in search of a sun who never

made any promises

never offered hope

or any kind of commitment

just a stray bit of warmth

a bold benevolent smile

and

just the right light

to make her

golden

- The Blue Muse

 .

It always amazes me how some flowers prefer to flower in winter - lucky us! Even the coldest days can be imbued with gorgeous colour! Some of my succulents are already flowering and this Cactus Echinopsis is decidedly early this year!

Camera : Fuji FinePix 2800Zoom

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June inspiration - Nature's beauty

All my life through, the new sights of Nature made me rejoice like a child. 

- Marie Curie 

Nature's beauty can be easily missed - Reading about nature is fine, but if a person walks in the woods and listens carefully, he can learn more than what is in books. John Muir said, "Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves."

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Olea Africana – Wild Olive

My Wild Olive (Olienhout in Afrikaans), planted in 2006 in my pond area, has suprised me with the most gorgeous little "olives" this year. The branches were so heavy that they looked like they were going to buckle under the weight of all the fruit! For weeks on end, this side of the garden was alive with the chatter and whistle of all the birds that flocked here to enjoy this bounty.

I also had a go at the fruit, why not? What's good enough for the birds, is good enough for me, right? It was mostly quite sweet with a slight acidic (sour) flavour and a tiny pip inside. I wonder how many new little Olive trees will be growing everywhere from the birds dispersing the seeds?

Sprays of tiny, lightly scented white to greenish flowers (October to February) are followed (March to July) by small, spherical, thinly fleshy fruits (either sweet or sour) which ripen purple-black.

This berry fruit is a favorite for fruit-eating birds, so look out for the Grey Lourie, Speckled and Red-faced Mousebirds, Redwinged and Pied Starlings, Rameron, African Green Pigeon and the Blackeyed Bulbul. Leaves are browsed by game and stock. This tree is an asset on farms and game farms, especially in very dry areas because it is extremely hardy and is an excellent fodder tree.

Olive leaf and olive leaf extracts (OLE), have anti-aging, immunostimulator, and antibiotic properties. A tea can be made from the leaves and I'm still scouring the internet to see if I can find a recipe. 

 Planted in 2006, my Wild Olive has grown to about 4m tall and 4m wide.

This tree is found in a variety of habitats, mostly on the southern slopes of the Magaliesberg mountain range from the rocky areas exposed to all the weather elements, in the kloofs, right down to the river bank areas of the Magalies River but is widespread in Africa.

Olea europaea subsp. africana is a neatly shaped evergreen tree with a dense spreading crown (9 x 12m) of glossy grey-green to dark-green foliage. Leaves are grey-green to dark-green above and greyish below. The rough, grey bark sometimes peels off in strips. 
Propagate it from seed or from hardwood cuttings. Sow fresh seed in river sand. Treat cuttings with a rooting hormone. The slow-growing frost, drought and wind-resistant wild olive makes a good shade or screen plant in the home garden.

 HOW TO PLANT 
- Dig a hole slightly wider and deeper than the roots. (The bigger the better). The extra space below and at the sides will be in-filled; but, having been loosened, will help yhr roots establish.
- Square holes are better than round ones as the roots can go round in circles if unable to break out of a round hole (yes, seriously!)
- As it has an aggressive root system don’t plant near your house, a pool or other buildings.
- Although this step is not essential, it will grow better if you mix some compost and bone meal with the soil taken out of the hole. Also it would be a good idea to fill the hole a little so that the plant will be exactly the same height in the ground as it was at the nursery.
- If it is am planted too deep, the stem may rot; too shallow and the roots above ground will die.
- Before planting, remove from the plastic bag! lol!
- Put the tree in the hole and replace the soil, compost and bone meal mixture, firming it down all around. The roots must be immobilized, so it’s essential that it is not loose in the ground.
- Use the heel of your boot to firm the soil as you back-fill, but do not compact the soil so that it is like concrete, as this prevents water and air circulation, causing roots to die.
- Water and cover the soil with a good heap of mulch.

CARING FOR YOUR WILD OLIVE
- After planting, it is important to water at least once a week.
- It is better to give one good watering once a week rather than a little bit every day.
- Monitor to see if your tree looks thirsty (sagging limp leaves) and water if needed.
- Once planted, you can apply a general fertilizer around the base. (Culterra 5:1:5 is a good option).
- As your tree grows, it will require staking and pruning. Stake it against a straight wooden stick or pole, taking the strongest shoot up and pruning the bottom branches off.

Relax and watch your beautiful Olive grow approximately 800mm each year!

 ི♥ྀ *˚*¨*•.¸¸♥¸¸.•*¨*• ི♥ྀ •*

The Little Daisy (a sad story)

(My apologies for the rather lengthy story, but it is well worth the read!) 

Out in the country, close by the roadside, there was a country-house. Certainly you yourself have once seen it. 

Before it is a little garden with flowers and palings which are painted green. Close by it, by the ditch in the midst of the most beautiful green grass, grew a little daisy. 

The sun shone as warmly and as brightly upon it as on the great splendid garden flowers, and so it grew from hour to hour. 

One morning it stood in full bloom with its little shining white leaves spreading like rays round the little yellow sun in the centre. 

It never thought that no one would notice it down in the grass, and that it was a poor, despised floweret. It was very merry, and turned to the warm sun, looked up at it, and listened to the lark carolling high in the air.

The little daisy was as happy as if it were a great holiday, and yet it was only a Monday. All the children were at school. While they sat on their benches learning, it sat on its little green stalk, and learned also from the warm sun, and from all around, how good God is. 

And the daisy was very glad that everything that it silently felt was sung so loudly and charmingly by the lark. And the daisy looked up with a kind of respect to the happy bird who could sing and fly; but it was not at all sorrowful because it could not fly and sing also. 

“I can see and hear,” it thought; “the sun shines on me, and the forest kisses me. Oh, how richly have I been gifted.” 

Within the palings stood many stiff, aristocratic flowers – the less scent they had the more they flaunted. 

The peonies blew themselves out to be greater than the roses, but size will not do it. The tulips had the most splendid colours, and they knew that, and held themselves bolt upright that they might be seen more plainly. 

They did not notice the little daisy outside there, but the daisy looked at them the more and thought, “How rich and beautiful they are. Yes; the pretty bird flies across to them and visits them. I am glad that I stand so near them, for, at any rate, I can enjoy the sight of their splendour!” 

Just as she thought that – “keevit!” Down came flying the lark, but not down to the peonies and tulips – no, down into the grass to the lowly daisy, which started so with joy that it did not know what to think. 

The little bird danced round about it and sang, “Oh, how soft the grass is! And see what a lovely little flower, with gold in its heart and silver on its dress!” For the yellow point in the daisy looked like gold, and the little leaves around it shone silvery white. 

How happy was the little daisy – one can conceive how happy! The bird kissed it with his beak, sang to it, and then flew up again into the blue air. 

A quarter of an hour passed, at least, before the daisy could recover itself. Half ashamed, but inwardly rejoiced, it looked at the other flowers in the garden, for they had seen the honour and happiness it had gained, and must understand what a joy it was. 

But the tulips stood up twice as stiff as before. They looked quite peaky in the face, and quite red, for they were vexed. 

The peonies were quite wrong-headed. It was well they could not speak, or the daisy would have received a good scolding. The poor little flower could see very well that they were not in a good humour, and that hurt it. 

At this moment there came into the garden a girl with a great sharp, shiny knife. She went straight up to the tulips and cut off one after another of them.

“Oh!” sighed the daisy, “that is dreadful! Now it is all over with them!” 

Then the girl went away with the tulips. The daisy was glad to stand out in the grass and be only a poor little flower. It felt very grateful. When the sun went down, it folded its leaves and went to sleep. It dreamed all night long about the sun and the pretty little bird. 

The next morning, when the flower again happily stretched out all its white leaves like little arms toward the light and air, it recognized the voice of the bird, but the song he was singing sounded mournfully. 

Yes, the poor lark had reason to be sad. He had been caught, and now sat in a cage close by the open window. 

He sang of free and happy roaming. He sang of the young green corn in the fields. He sang of the glorious journey he might make on his wings high through the air. 

The poor lark was not in good spirits, for there he sat, a prisoner in a cage. 

The little daisy wished very much to help him. But what was it to do? Yes, that was difficult to make out. 

The daisy quite forgot how everything was so beautiful around, how warm the sun shone, and how splendidly white its own leaves were. 

Ah! it could only think of the imprisoned bird, and how it was powerless to do anything for him. 

Just then two little boys came out of the garden. One of them carried in his hand the knife which the little girl had used to cut off tulips. The boys went straight up to the little daisy, which could not at all make out what they wanted. 

“Here we may cut a capital piece of turf for the lark,” said one of the boys; and he began to cut off a square patch round about the daisy, so that the flower remained standing in its piece of grass. 

“Tear off the flower!” said the other boy, and the daisy trembled with fear, for to be torn off would be to lose its life; and now it wanted particularly to live, as it was to be given with the piece of turf to the captive lark.

“No; let it stay,” said the other boy; “it makes such a nice ornament.” 

And so it remained, and was put into the lark’s cage. But the poor bird complained aloud of his lost liberty, and beat his wings against the wires of his prison; and the little daisy could not speak – could say no consoling word to him, gladly as it would have done so. And thus the whole morning passed. 

 “Here is no water,” said the captive lark. “They are all gone out, and have forgotten to give me anything to drink. My throat is dry and burning. It is like fire and ice within me, and the air is so close. Oh, I must die! I must leave the warm sunshine, the fresh green, and all the splendour that God has created!” 

And then he thrust his beak into the cool turf to refresh himself a little with it. Then the bird’s eye fell upon the daisy, and he nodded to it and kissed it with his beak, and said: 

“You also must wither in here, poor little flower. They have given you to me with the little patch of green grass on which you grow, instead of the whole world which was mine out there! Every little blade of grass shall be a great tree for me, and every one of your fragrant leaves a great flower. Ah, you only tell me how much I have lost!” 

“If I could only comfort him!” thought the daisy. 

It could not stir a leaf; but the scent which streamed forth from its delicate leaves was far stronger than is generally found in these flowers; the bird also noticed that, and, though he was fainting with thirst, and in his pain plucked up the green blades of grass, he did not touch the flower. 

The evening came on, and yet nobody appeared to bring the poor bird a drop of water. Then he stretched out his pretty wings and beat the air frantically with them; his song changed to a mournful piping, his little head sank down toward the flower, and the bird’s heart broke with want and yearning. Then the flower could not fold its leaves, as it had done on the previous evening, and sleep; it drooped, sorrowful and sick, toward the earth. 

Not till the next morn did the boys come; and when they found the dead bird they wept – wept many tears, and dug him a neat grave, which they adorned with leaves and flowers. 

The bird’s corpse was put into a pretty red box, for he was to be royally buried – the poor bird! While he was alive and sang they forgot him, and let him sit in his cage and suffer want; but now that he was dead he had adornment and many tears. 

But the patch of turf with the daisy on it was thrown out into the high-road; no one thought of the flower that had felt the most for the little bird, and would have been so glad to console him. 

- From A Celebration of Women Writers 

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