1. home and garden

PAGE 8
www. mountainecho.co.za
Aloe maculate
Whew, it’s been an unusually hot dry
February so far – day after glorious day of
sunshine! While the bulb may be nature’s
perfect answer to turbulence and conditions
above ground, the succulent is how best
to deal with heat and lack of water!! And
GIANT’S CUP
CAFÉ & CRAFTS
Lovingly stocked with quality, fairly
priced novel crafts & gifts for whole
family. Honey, cheese , trout, our own
organic homemade fare - rich icecream, yoghurt, farm milk, jams,
Simone’s chocolate almond treats, Fair
Trade coffee,chocolate & tea. We
support small crafters. Breakfast, light
lunches, cakes. Nature trail. Good cycle
stop off. Cows hand-milked at 3pm.
Open 7.30am - 5pm daily. SANI PASS
ROAD 0337020330
INDIGENOUS
PLANT SALES
:Choose from a range of tree and shrub
species. Information provided and
orders taken. Russell Suchet
0839873071
CELL 0824938700 [email protected]
– the common soap aloe
one of the iconic succulent families are the
aloes which store water in their fleshy
leaves and never seem to wilt no matter
how hot or how dry (mind you, they do
suffer in severe frosts!) They also protect
themselves against animals seeking their
life-giving fluid by having a serious set of
thorns on their leaves! Cunning indeed!
Further north in the Drakensberg, from the
Vergelegen valley northwards, you will find
large “tree-like” aloes covering the slopes
(usually the north-facing slopes). These
are Aloe ferox and they fit our stereotypical
picture of an aloe. They are fairly tough,
but just not quite tough enough to live out
in the open on our southern Berg slopes,
that slightly lower temperature due to being
that tiny bit further south prevents them
from becoming established here. They can
be grown in gardens though, as long as
you can find them a reasonably protected,
sunny spot. Bob Mulder had a wonderful
tall specimen under the eaves of his
workshop in Underberg!
The small Aloe maculata, however, is a
different story. It also struggles to tolerate
serious frosts, but is found commonly in
the southern Berg. It avoids frosts by
growing on quite steep and often rocky
slopes where the danger of heavy frost is
reduced. It is a “ground” aloe, and
therefore doesn’t grow very tall. They can
remain very small in diameter in poor
conditions, but given a favourable location
in a protected spot in your garden, they
can grow to a diameter of 1m. It will grow
well in gardens and even if frosted, usually
grows back from the roots. It flowers any
time between July and October – those
specimens sending out late flowers are
usually more successful as early flowering
heads are often destroyed by frost even if
the aloe itself is not. It sends out a
flowering stalk, as do most aloes, with
branches of lovely red flowers. Surviving
flower heads are much loved by sunbirds
and will form packets of seed if left alone
after pollination. A garden location giving
some protection, such as in full sun against a
wall or rock feature is a good idea. They do also
reproduce vegetatively, so if your aloe is happy,
you’ll have a whole clump of them over a few
years! Aloe maculatas and over 30 other species
of indigenous trees and shrubs are available
from Indigenous Plant Sales at the Giants Cup
Café, 10km on the Sani Pass road. Open daily
7.30am to 5pm. Enjoy a coffee and delicious
scones with homemade jam and fresh farm cream
while you read our information booklet and
decide which plants your garden needs. Our
FEBRUARY/MARCH 2015
brand new Greenhouse is nearing completion
and this will allow us more space and better
viewing of a larger selection of plants. You
can also see what is on offer on our new
webpage at www.sanilodge.co.za and click on
the “Indigenous Plants” link. We will be
sending out newsletter emails periodically
about what is new and available, so drop us
an email at [email protected] if you wish
to join the mailing list.
Sani Wildflower Walk
The annual wild flower walk took place on
25th January. The landslide which occurred
shortly before this event meant that it would
be very difficult to get people to the top of
the Pass for their walk down. Everyone who
had booked was given the option to go to
the Look Out point on the Pass and walk down
from there.
Confusion reigned as Giant’s Cup Lodge
computer was down and the bookings were
being taken between Derick our treasurer and
Scholar from Russell’s, because Russell and
Simone had to be away taking their son to
the Cape to university. Dear Alta Small who
had done all the bookings for years came to
the rescue, and between Scholar and Alta all
was well. Bill Small and Alta had run this
project for Sani Wildlife for years and once
again thanks to Bill and Alta the day turned
out without too many snags!!!
Aldo Berruti whose input on the botany side
said the flowers were’nt very great. But it
seems the day was enjoyed by all who went
on the walk.
Garden Club Talk on
Herbs 18 March
The Himeville/ Underberg Garden Club will
meet on Wednesday 18th March 2015, at”
Cedar Gardens‘the home of Monica & Norman
Herring. Look out for the Garden sign on the
main road from Underberg to Himeville. Cedar
Gardens is in Polo Way, Underberg.
The guest speaker is Karin Makin of
Petersgate Herbs.Karin has a wonderful
knowledge of herbs. She will be speaking on
growing of Herbs and their cosmetic,
medicinal, culinary and organic uses.There
will be a range of Herbs for sale. Bring chairs
and hats for a lovely morning.
Meetings start promptly at 10am.
GARDENING TIPS FOR THE SOUTHERN
plant into trays of peatmoss and sand. Keep
DRAKENSBERG
FEBRUARY
Cut back your rambling roses because they are
over now. It is time to plant strawberries into a
mixture of lime, compost, manure and bone meal.
Winter flowering seed can be planted now, these
include pansies, violas, antirrhinums, stocks,
calenduals, phlox and poppies.
It is time to top dress your lawns with 2:3:2 (22)
to build up roots for the winter cold. Cut back all
perennials like shasta daisies, michaelmas daisies and achillea. Dig sweetpea trenches in a
north facing aspect about 50cm deep, then mix
the topsoil with manure, bonemeal, compost and
2:3:4: and put back into the trench. Soak your
sweetpeas seed overnight and then plant the
next day and remember to sprinkle snail bait on
top. Veggies that can be planted at this time of
the year are carrots, cabbage, brocolli, cauliflowers and brussel sprouts.
MARCH
Scatter namaqualand daisy seed now in full sun
in a north facing bed. Cut back Pride of India
hard if you want compact shrubs. Take cuttings
of impatiens, begonias and root in sandy soil
then keep in a sheltered place. Camellias, azaleas and rhododendrons are in bud now so you
need to mulch now and water well. You can plant
Iceland poppies, calendula, stocks and larkspur
seed now and pansy and violas plants now.
Primula malacoides should be coming up in a
thick mass. Cut squares with a sharp knife and
them damp and when large enough plant them
out. Vegetables to plant now are cabbages,
cauliflower, broccoli, broad beans, brussel
sprouts and spinach.
(Excerpts from Wendy Tarboton’s Garden
Guide for the Southern Drakensberg printed
in 2006)
Guy Wiggill was inducted as Chairman of Sani
Round table for 2015. Photo: Rowena Aldous
www,rowenaaldous.co.za
Himeville
61 Arbuckle Street
033 702-1019
[email protected]
should we not have stock we can source it within 24 hours or less in case of emergency