Wild Flowers of SA

[fevertree]

Aloes, Plumbago auriculata and the Kiepersol, Cussonia paniculata.
Also a great plant is the Cape Honey suckle, Tecomaria capensis

[fevertree]

Aloes are generally fine with frost. With heavy frost, you may need to protect the flower heads in the winter months, but the plant as a whole will be fine.
Also try the Strelitzia reginae, Crane Flower, also a magic indigenous plant that will survive on the Highveld ina sheltered spot.
Coral tree - Erythrina lysistemon is another good one

[bucky]

I have a large alloe bed , and i live on the east rand , the leaves tend to get burnt by the frost on there tips , but you can cut this off in spring , and it soon forms new leaves .
There are 4 worthwile indigenous nurserys in gauteng , if you
want , i can give you there names .
My whole garden is indigenous , the amount of birds , and unusual types i get is awesome , deidericks cuckoo feeding on caterpillars on my kiggelaria(wild peach) tree , sunbirds in the aloes and leonotis .Red billed wood hopoes , piet my vrou cuckoo (red chested cuckoo) , the list goes on .

I have even seen black eagles from my house (ok so suikerbosrand nature reserve is about 15km from me as the crow flies , so its cheating a bit i suppose )

Shady shrubs u can try are num nums - carrisa macrocarpa , but they need to go under a tree for frost , and grow hellish slowly , but the fruit are very nice .
Leonotis (wild dagga , and no it is not a drug) very hardy , and beautifull flowers in autumn,
Ill go thru my stuff and post some more names of plants that are hardy in the morning , i also have 2 dogs that tear around the garden destroying my work lol .

[bucky]

O.K. here goes .

A good website listing a good deal of "garden friendly" indigenous plants is - http://mweb.co.za/indigenousplants.htm

3 Indigenous nurserys in gauteng are as follows -
http://www.growwild.co.za/
http://www.rhn.co.za/
http://www.simplyindigenous.co.za/pages/home.htm
Also try witkoppen wildflower nursery - no website .

Also dont forget to visit skukuza nursery next time in the park , there is a nice bird hide just before it , and you can
have a very nice picninc at the nursery (no skottles) ,
do this on your last day so you can buy a few plants to take home .


Here are some medium sized shrubs that grow well in semi shade under trees, with morning sun if possible.

Dracaena aletriformis
Large leaved dragon tree
Lovely foliage form plant ,do not plant in afternoon or full sun , the leaves WILL burn and dry out.

Mackaya bella
Mackaya bella , forest bell bush
Great looking shade shrub , full of white bell shaped flowers in spring , must go under a evergreen tree to protect from frost.
This 1 is a must have .

Plectranthus ecklonii
Large spur-flower
Smaller shrub , purple flower spikes .


Here are some shrubs that will grow well with mixed times of shade .(most will tolerate more shade , but growth
will be slow)

Anisodontea scabrosa
Pink Mallow
This 1 is a must have , plant it anywhere , but not full sun all day.Full of pink flowers most of the year , bees and bumble bees love it , 1 of my wifes favourite shrubs .

Carissa Macrocarpa
amatangulu, num num , natal plum
Plant anywhere , even if you live at the coast on the beach ,
Makes a great security hedge.Fruits are loved by birds and humans alike , slow grower when young .

Hibiscus pedunculatus
pink hibiscus
Neesds to be planted under a tree for frost protection , needs a fair amount of sun .

Plumbago auriculata
plumbago
More of a creeper than a shrub , look out for the white version also .

Tecomaria capensis
cape honeysuckle
If you buy 1 go for the yellow flower colour , the others get untidy , and need constant pruning to keep neat , for some reason the yellow variety keeps neat .


Shrubs for full sun . frost hardy .

Diospyros lycioides
bloubos , blue bush
Largish shrub , super hardy highveld shrub , best planted for its fruits and if you have a hot/dry/frosty spot that you battle to get things growing in . female plants get full of fruit that will
bring louries/barbets/bullbulls etc etc in there droves late in summer .

Leonotis leonurus
Wild dagga
Not related to the canabis plant at all !
Beautifull whorles of white or orange flowers in autumn when little else is flowering , loved by nectar feeding birds such as sun birds , and is a good food source for them at this time of year before the aloes flower .
Severe frost may burn it black , but simply prune it to about 40~50 cm high in late september, and it will be 2m high by November (even if frost doesnt catch it , prune it down to ensure good flowering and keep it neat)


There are a lot more , but i have got all of these in my garden , and have choosen them above other ones to mention because of various aspects that make them "favourites" .

The biggest hassle you will have is planting under the jacarandas , because they give of some sort of secretion in there sap or leaves that drop , which makes the soil inhospitable for most other plants growing under them .

Hope this lists helps you and other people in choosing some
great water wise indigenous plants .( I water once a week in summer , if there is less than 10mm of rain)[/url]

[Snoobab]

Thank you.
I think I saw a Snbird a few days ago. I don't know if they are a factor in our region.

Sunbirds love Wild Dagga plants.
One thing to remember about turning a garden into indigenous is you need to plant the indigenous tree/plants before you remove everything else you don't wont. I have seen people remove all exotics and them plant indigenous, your new garden take a few years to mature and by then all the birds have moved off to other more appealing places.

[Senyetse]

To revive an old topic, here's a (long) list of trees and shrubs growing in my garden to the west of JHB:

Note: * = indigenous to my area (Rocky highveld grassland)

Wild peach - Kiggelaria africana*
Common karee - Rhus lancea*
Mountain karee - Rhus leptodicyta*
Nana berry - Rhus dentata*
Common wild currant - Rhus pyroides*
White karee - Rhus pendulina
Red currant - Rhus chirendenisis
Forest bell - Mackaya bella
Cheesewood - Pittosporum viridiflorum*
Cape honeysucke - Tecomaria capenisis
Wild pear - Dombeya rotudifolia*
River bushwillow - Combretum erythrophyllum*
White stinkwood - Celtis africana*
Parsley tree - Heteromorpha arborescens*
September bush - Polygala myrtifolia
Purple broom - Polygala virgata
Acacia scweinfurthii
Paperbark thorn - Acacia sieberiana
Sweet thorn - Acacia karroo*
Common hook thorn - Acacia caffra*
Dogwood - Rhamnus pruidoides*
Bladder nut - Diospyros whyteana
Wild olive - Olea europea subsp. africana
Common Coral tree - Erythrina lysistemon
Bluebush - Diospyros lyciodes*
Puzzle bush - Ehretia rigida*
Blue kuni bush - Rhus glauca
African wattle - Peltophorum africanum*
Oldwood/ouhout - Leucosidea sericea
Plumbago - Plumbago auriculata
Camphor bush - Tarchonanthus camphoratus*
Bitou/Tick-berry bush - Chrysanthemoides monilifera
Silver mountain oak - Brachylaena rotundata*
Sagewood - Buddleja salviifolia*
Weeping sage - Buddleja salviifolia
Wild Apricot - Dovyalis zeyheri*
Blue Guarri - Euclea crispa[/] subsp. [i]crispa *
Cross berry - Grewia occidentalis var. occidentalis *
Tree Fuchsia - Halleria lucida *
Wild Elder - Nuxia congesta*
Jacket Plum - Pappea capensis*
Cape Gardenia - Rothmannia capensis *
Knobwood Zanthoxylum capense *
Buffalo Thorn Ziziphus mucronata*
Tree wistera Bolusanthus speciosus
Cabbage tree - Cussonia panuculata *
Mickey mouse bush - Ochna serrulata
Large Num-num - Carissa macrocarpa
Honeybells - Freylinia lanceolata
Blue Freylinia - Freylinia tropica
River star - Gomphostigma virgatum*
Curry Bush - Hypericum revolutum
Wild laburnum - Calpurnea aurea
Kruidjie-roer-my-nie - Melianthus comusus
Karoo sage Buddleja glomerata

Yes I do have a large garden

There are more - I'll add them as I remember...

Some were bought, some were grown by myself - I grow indigenous plants as a hobby

Here is alist of trees ocurring naturally in the Walter Sisulu Botanical Gardens in Roodepoort also in the west rand that I used as inspiration. One important thing to remember is that most of the trees found in the Highveld grow in areas protected from fire and frost such as kloofs. These trees will have to be protected in winter until they are about 1.5 - 2 m high. Others such as the common karee and common hook thorn are quite frost resistant.

[bentley]

Hi there all, I've got a garden with a few headaches.
Let me start from the top:
1. Lots of sunshine
2. Top soil about 200-300mm then there is stone(small stones that look like iron)
3. When watering seems to hold water(no drainage)

I need some advice as to how to fix the issue when coming to plants, could you shead some light on what plants(indigenous of course) would be able to grow in such circumstances ?
The plants must be able to handle frost in winter...
Please help

[Senyetse]

Hi bentley

I'll give you a few to start off with. Have a look at plantz africa for more information and pics.

Trees and shrubs:
River bushwillow Combretum erythrophyllum - this tree is quite popular in office parks. It is a largre tree so make sure there's enough space.
Weeping wattle Peltophorum africanum
Common karee - Rhus lancea
Common wild currant - Rhus pyroides
Bluebush - Diospyros lycioides

Aloes:
Veld aloe Aloe davyana
Mountain aloe Aloe marlothii

Bulbs:
Wild squill Scilla natalensis
Orange river lily Crinum bulbispermum
Sore eye flower Boophane disticha
Pineapple flower Eucomis autumnalis
Agapanthus Agapanthus campanulatus, Agapanthus caulescens, Agapanthus inapterus, Agapanthus praecox

Forbs:
Blue felicia bush Felicia amelloides
Twinspur Discia rigescens
Botterblom Gazania sp.
Carpet geranium Geranium incanum
Pincushion Scabiosa africana

All of these are obtainable from indigesnous nurseries (I can PM you a list of some if you like) and some you will find at normal nuseries. Remember to work in compost and some bonemeal.

[JenB]

I do have a number of large trees, some indigenous. I have a very large Monkey Acacia which is beautiful, but nothing grows underneath. I am trying to identify the other trees.
In front I also have a number of large old Jacarandas, again nothing grows underneath.

I have found that various types of cycads do well under trees.
Particularly Villosus and Ferox.
Even Stangeria eriopus does quite well (on the Highvelt) providing it is planted near a tap because it requires more water (just beware of frost!).
All the different types of clivias were "designed" to be planted in the bald patch under trees.
Amaryllis belladonna and various types of Haemanthus (paint brush) are also a shade loving plants and the flower displays are magnificient.
But they just seem to do better when planted under indigenous trees.

[Pieter Steyn]

I have thought about this posting for a long time. I even asked the Mods if there would be a problem if I start this thread and got their blessing.

The majority of flowers that I have noticed appear in Kruger as well as in other parts of South Africa. Especially in the area where I’m staying on the border of Gauteng and Mpumalanga.

It was with a shock that I realised that there are much more to nature as millions of people before me realised, when I walked on my small holding and in the veld nearby. In the small town Of Delmas I have noticed a variety of flowers in vlei lande and decided to walk with my camera and take pictures of the flowers. Whilst walking in the veld something happened to me and I realised that we as human beings are just a small part of God’s creation even though we rule the planet. Yet we are determined to destroy every aspect of nature with our own creations and call it development, pollution and dumping of waste in the veld. I have often said that our national flower is not the Protea but a plastic bag. Every where you go you see plastic bags hanging in tree’s as well as laying in there hundreds in the veld advertising the shops where it was bought.

I immediately must declare that I’m not an expert regarding wild flowers, and I must say that I have failed horribly with the identification of some of the flowers. Hopefully there will be some one on the forum that can help me with identification of these flowers and add some of there own pictures from the areas where they are staying or areas in the country that they have visited..

Photo,s taken In Kruger

I do believe that there is a red barberton Daisy to.

Photo,s taken near my home.

Commonly known as Cosmos. These flower can be seen next to the Gauteng roads from November to April.

White Cosmos



Light purple Cosmos



Cosmos Red



The people in the Cape province sees these flowers as flowers where the people from Gauteng see them as weed. Yet on a daily basis you will see them catting the flowers for their homes.

[Pieter Steyn]

Gerbera Ambigua
Family: Asteraceae (Daisy Family)
Pink or White Gerbera (Eng) Botterblom or Griekwateebossie (Afr.) Moarubetso (South Sotho) Ucabazane (Zulu)



Haplocarpha Scaposa
False Gerbera (Eng) Melktou (Afr) Khutsana (South Sotho) Isikhali (Xhosa)

[reinette]

A very interesting topic Pieter, thank you.
Here are some flowers we saw on the 4x4 route form Pella to Vioolsdrift. This was in August 2006. Unfortunately I can't ID them to their correct names.
This one you only see between boulders

These are common veld flowers found in namaqualand

[RosemaryH]

Hi reinette

Bearing in mind I am no expert at this, I may be able to help.

Your second pic (yellow flowers)
I would think they are Gazania lichtenteinii Yellow gazania found in arid gravelly and sandy flats habitat

The orange flowers might be Arctotis fastuosa Namaqualand arctotis found on sandy and gravel slopes.

The purple ones, although quite a tricky one, could possibly be Drosanthemum hispidum Roadside dew vygie.

Investigate them and see if you agree, might just steer you in the right direction. Hope I have been of some help.

Haven't come up with anything for your first pic, but it's rather impressive whatever it is. Will keep looking

[reinette]

Thanks Rosemary

Agree with you on last 3. Haven't got myself a veldflower guide yet, maybe not a bad idea to add it to my collection of books to take with when traveling.
I only have the Sasol First Field guide to Wild Flowers and there isn't to much to go on.

I just went through it I realized we have a few of these flowers in the garden, because it is shrubs I didn't think of mentioning it. Will take some pics of the ones in bloom and post it here.

[RosemaryH]

Glad I could be of some assistance

I have a copy of Photographic Guide to the Wildflowers of South Africa by Johan Manning which I find pretty helpful. It is divided into Grassland and Savannah, Fynbos and Namaqualand. Which is great, taking you straight to the correct area.

I look forward to the pic of the shrub when in bloom!!