Red Hot Poker on the Wild Side

The Latin name for the Red Hot Poker is Kniphofia and its also sometimes known as a Torch lily or Poker plant.  According to Wikipedia, it is a genus of plants in the family Xanthorrhoeaceae, subfamily Asphodeloideae, that includes 70 or more species native to Africa.  This specific one I found close to Schoenies.

Finding bracket fungus while out caching

On my way home this afternoon I stopped to pick up a few Geocaches and at one of the cache locations on Kragga Kamma Road I found this very distinctive bracket fungus growing on the back of the tree.  

Polypores are a group of fungi that form fruiting bodies with pores or tubes on the underside and is also called bracket or shelf fungi.  Their woody fruiting bodies are called conks and they inhabit tree trunks or branches consuming the wood.  They are the most important agents of wood decay and play a very significant role in nutrient cycling and carbon dioxide production of forest ecosystems.  Over one thousand polypore species have been described to science although a large part of the diversity is still unknown.  I have seen a lot of different types of bracket fungus ranging from bright orange to brown, yellow, cream and white, but this is the first time I've seen this specific one with the black on top.  A find for me just as significant as the Geocache located below them.

My air plants are flowering

I don't have big flowerbeds in my garden.  For that I just don't have enough time and green enough fingers.  I do have a few different plants and lots of succulents though and one of those I probably get most excited about when they flower is my air plants.   Air plants (Tillandsia) is a member of the Bromeliad family and is actually very easy to grow.  They don't need soil and you only need to water them slightly (like in with a spray bottle).  You can keep them both inside (in a well lit area) and outside although they don't always like to be in full sunlight all the time.  I have two types of air plants in my garden. The type in the picture flowers every year while the other type makes big clumps yet doesn't really flower other than a single light purple flower and not even every year.

Floradale Nursery's new premises

The Floradale Nursery that used to be on William Moffet recently moved into their new bigger and better premises on Circular Drive.  We stopped by for a look last weekend and wasn't disappointed.  In addition to a bigger shop and expansive outside display area of plants, pots, ornaments and other garden accessories, the popular The Rose Garden coffee shop also has a new space with both inside and outside seating.

Just for interest sake, Floradale is one of the oldest garden centres in South Africa and was established in East London in 1937. 

Sour fig or Ghaukum

Carpobrotus deliciosus (sour fig, perdevy, ghaukum, ghounavy ) is a fairly well know sight in this area.  They have purple, pink or white flowers, almost straight, green leaves and sweet fruits that make excellent sour fig preserve.  They grows on sand dunes and in rocky grassland along the southern and eastern coast of South Africa from Riversdale in the Western Cape through the Eastern Cape to KwaZulu-Natal.  This one was photographed in The Island Nature Reserve west of Port Elizabeth.

Old Man's Beard

I'm sure most people have seen the lichen generally referred to as Old Man's Beard.  One sees quite a lot of it in the Tsitsikamma forest, but in this case I found it on the Bushbuck Trail in The Island Nature Reserve.  Usnea is the generic and scientific name for several species of fruticose lichen in the family Parmeliaceae, that generally grow hanging from tree branches and resembling grey or greenish hair.  It is often referred to as Old Man's Beard, but also called Beard Lichen, Tree's Dandruff, Woman's Long Hair, or Tree Moss.  Usnea grows all over the world and like other lichens it is a symbiosis of a fungus and an alga.

Like other lichens, Old Man's Beard often grows on sick or dying trees due to the pre-existing loss of canopy leaves, allowing for greater photosynthesis by the lichen's algae.  It is very sensitive to air pollution, especially sulfur dioxide so if you see it you know that the air is clean and pure.  Where the air is unpolluted, they can grow to 10–20 cm long.

Everlastings

Everlasting flowers amongst the Fynbos on the hillside close to Cotswold

Prickly Pear Flower

The prickly pear season is usually around January to March but I was surprised to find a prickly pear plant with a flower in the Baakens Valley the other day.  Taking a close up photo I realised how my photography has stagnated lately.  Why stagnated?  Well, for one I can't remember when last I've taken any good macro pictures.  I also used to always be on the lookout for nice compositions and specifically for something interesting to put in the foreground of my photos of something bigger in the back.  I think I need some inspiration.

Grasses at St Peters

Wild grasses at St Peter's Church ruin in South End

Planting Spekboom

As most of the Addo Elephant National Park is made up of what used to be farmlands, big parts of the park consist of open fields.  Addo has embarked on a project where locals are used to plant spekboom on these fields to help and bring the natural bush back quicker.  Spekboom (sometimes referred to as elephant bush as the ellies love to eat them) is an indigenous succulent bush and grows very easily and quickly, making it the ideal plant for the park.  Because it contains so much water, it supplements the elephants' water intake which is one of the reasons its possible for Addo to have such a big concentration of these magnificent giants. 

A team of workers consist of three members.  The first guy uses a drill machine to drill a hole into the hard ground, the second guy puts the spekboom branches (which are harvested in designated areas and will form roots very quickly) while the third guy used a pole to close the hole and compact it again.  The fourth guy in the picture is the foreman who was on site when we visited.

Old Man's Beard

Old Man's Beard is a lichen that grows on trees and is normally on found where there is no air pollution present.  You find a lot of Old Man's Beard in the Tsitsikamma as well as on the game reserves close to Port Elizabeth, but you won't find it in the city itself.  On a recent half day hike through the Maitland Nature Reserve west of the city I spotted clumps of Old Man's Beard which shows that its possible to get right out into nature so close to home.

Conservatory interior

The interior of the newly refurbished and restored Pearson Conservatory in St Georges Park I posted about yesterday.  They have changed the garden setup a little bit from what it used to look like and even though the flowers and plants have only recently been planted it's looking beautiful.  And with all the lines and patterns in the building I know of a couple of photographers that would love photographing the building.

Bracket Fungus

I normaly walk around with one eye looking out for a nice landscape and my other one scanning the ground for the little things.  Mushrooms and fungi tends to often make for interesting photographs.  This bracket fungus presented itself on the trail in the Maitland Nature Reserve.

Bloomingdales

Its that time of the year when most of us actually dare to venture into the garden (often with a lot of persuasion from the wives) and do some work towards making the yard look a little bit prettier.  Port Elizabeth has a number of excellent nurseries where avid gardeners (and the rest of us) can get everything they need to spruce up around the house.  One of the bigger nurseries in town is Bloomingdales in Walmer where you will be able to find just about anything you want. Not just for the garden, but for the house as well.  Bloomingdales has a whole lifestyle village that was developed around the nursery which contains quite a number of little shops selling everything from interior decor to mohair to wines.

Maitland dune vygie

A vygie growing between the sandstone rocks on top of the Maitlands dune field