Mayhem in Ariston

Tags

Bee, garden, Honeybee theft, storm damage, Tree

A huge storm came through last week. The wind blew hard and broke this Syringa tree virtually in half. It fell crushing  the perimeter fence.

this tree has suffered so much damage that I am afraid it is now firewood.

 

I was also devastated to find that we had a robber visit and steal our wild hive of Bees.

These wild bees had made their home in a Tyre which had being lying underneath a pile of wood. All that was left was this empty comb. They even took the brood-comb. 

Pride of India

Tags

beautiful flower, blood pressure control, Cape Town, flower, Flowers, folk lore, garden, herbal, Lagerstroemia speciosa, medium sized tree, plants, Pride of India, Tree

While installing a vegetable garden in Claremont, I noticed this Pride of India in full flower. What a stunning sight to see.

Lagerstroemia speciosa is a small to medium sized tree with smooth flaky bark.

It is a native to Southern tropical Asia. It is primarily grown as an ornamental.

Pride of India has a long history of folkloric medical applications that include blood pressure control, urinary dysfunctions (helps ease urination), cholesterol level control, treatment of diarrhea, facilitates bowel movement, diabetes and as an analgesic

Wordless Wednesday

Tags

art gift, art print, deviantart, dim twilight, environment, garden, nature, perfumed garden, photography, quotes, Tree

The hours I spend with you I look upon as sort of a perfumed garden, a dim twilight, and a fountain singing to it. You and you alone make me feel that I am alive. Other men it is said have seen angels, but I have seen thee and thou art enough.
George Edward Moore

 

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Wordless Wednesday

Tags

environment, garden, photography, Sprite, Tree, wordless Wednesday

Tree Sprite

Hitching a ride

Tags

Acacia, Bauhinia, Cape Lappet Moth, Cape Town, Celtis, Celtis africana, Combretum, environment, Eutricha capensis, garden, nature, Tree, trees, Trunk (botany)

Hitching a ride

This eye-catching caterpillar of the Cape Lappet Moth (Eutricha capensis) is usually found in large clusters on tree trunks of trees. Larvae congregate conspicuously on tree trunks, feeding on Acacia, white stinkwood (Celtis), bush willow (Combretum), Bauhinia and other trees in nature, and on trees such as mango, peach and the Brazilian Pepper in gardens.”

RELATED ARTICLES :

• http://scenicsouth.co.za/2012/09/hairy-caterpillars-that-congregate-on-peninsula-plants/
• http://aristonorganic.com/2013/07/24/caterpillar-2/

 

 

Arderne Gardens

Tags

Araucaria heterophylla, Arderne, Australasia, Cape Town, garden, Indian Ocean, national monument, nature, noah s ark, Norfolk Island, norfolk island pine, plants, Tree

A Tree is Planted

“In his cabin the ship’s Master was talking to a spare man with blue eyes, set in a serious face, who had come aboard. They were discussing the cargo of timber the ship had brought from beyond the Indian Ocean, but every now and then the visitor glanced away at a tiny tree growing in a pot on a shelf. It was about six inches high and the shape of a childs Noah’s Ark tree.  When the business was finished, the visitor, whose name was Ralph Henry Arderne, pointed to the tree and said, “would you tell me where that tree comes from?”

“It is a Norfolk Island Pine from Australasia.” the Captain replied. “I am taking it home to plant in my garden.”“Would you be willing to sell it to me?” Arderne asked. “I have recently bought a property, and am hoping to lay out a garden with trees and plants from as many parts of the world as I can, and I know the Norfolk Island Pine is a very handsome tree.”

“Well,” said the Captain at a venture, “I’ll take five pounds for it.”

That was a very large sum in 1847, but Arderne was so anxious to have it that he paid it without argument. … Arderne was not yet living on his new property, which had been part of the old Stellenberg estate; he was still busy clearing the ground and he was living in a house just opposite. … He had already planned the grounds and now he selected a spot that would be about half way between the site he had chosen for the house and the road from Cape Town to Wynberg, and more or less in the main part of the garden. … All through its life [the tree] was carefully nurtured, watched and measured, and it repaid this loving care by growing to a great height of over 140 feet, towering above all the trees around it ; it was said to have outgrown any other tree of its kind outside its native home.”

The Arderne Gardens, with its shady glades, romatic nooks, and Japanese-style ponds has, for generations, been a place for Capetonians to bring their children, take much cherished wedding photographs, and relax away from the increasing hubbub of city life.  The garden, thanks to the extraordinary interest and commitment of its founders, also has one of the most diverse and valuable collections of exotic trees in all of South Africa.  It now officially includes one of the largest trees in South Africa, the vast Moreton Bay Fig (or, Wedding Tree, as it is commonly called) and quite possibly the largest Aleppo Pine in the world.  These trees, along with four others, were proudly designated Champion Trees in 2008.

Cycads at the entrance

roots of the wedding tree

roots

suburbia peeping through the foliage

Dragonfly

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National Monument

 

The Wagon tree

Tags

Afrikaans, Cape Town, Flowers, garden, garden specimen, ornamental furniture, plants, protea, Protea nitida, South Africa, South African endemic plant, Tree, wheel rims

Protea nitida (commonly called Wagon tree, Waboom or Blousuikerbos) is a large, slow-growing Protea endemic to South Africa. It is one of the few Proteas that grow into trees, and the only one that has usable timber.

Uses and cultural aspects
Protea nitida has various common names relating to its historical uses. Baboons would climb up the trees to feed on the nectar of the flowers, or baboon sentries would use trees as lookouts, and therefore the plant was given the name bobbejaansuikerbos. Brandhout, the Afrikaans word for firewood, indicates another use. The name waboom originates from the use of the wood for wheel rims and brake blocks of wagons. Interestingly, the name waboom was first recorded in 1720 and has thus been used for far longer than its scientific name. The wood was popular for the manufacture of ornamental furniture. It also made excellent charcoal. The bark was used for tanning leather. The tannin-rich bark was used to prepare an infusion for treating diarrhea. The leaves were used for making ink. Either dry or fresh leaves were boiled up with a rusty iron nail and a piece of sugar candy. The resulting fluid (a decoction) is a fine blue-black, ideal for dyeing. These days, however, the greatest use for P. nitida is as a garden specimen.