String collaboration for a cause
MY APOLOGIES for this month’s article only coming out today but I have been on a trip to the US visiting gardens on the east and west coasts.
The autumn colours have started and the countryside is a kaleidoscope of colours.
Back home, lovely rain has fallen and everything is looking new and healthy. Days are longer and warmer which is conducive to good growth.
I always like to select one plant that is in bloom for a particular month.
Coming home to see the river crinum ( Crinum macowanii) in full flower is a welcome sight. It belongs to the Amaryllidaceae family and is best known as the river lily or vlei lily as it is found growing in wet pans – so best grown in wet areas of your garden.
There are 22 species recognised in southern Africa, where they are widespread in the summer rainfall regions.
It is a spectacular, fragrant, pink-striped white lily which flowers in late spring and into summer. It is particularly fragrant at night and is pollinated by the hawk moth.
Crinum macowanii is a deciduous, summer growing bulb. The bulbs are 60mm-250mm in diameter, with perennial fleshy roots. The leaves are large, green, variable in size up to 1m long and 20mm-200mm wide. They are fleshy and strap-like with undulating margins. The flowers are bell shaped, large, sweetly scented, white with dark pink stripes, produced in umbels of five to 25 on the tips of a long stalk up to 1m tall. Flowering season is October to December.
Once pollinated it produces fruit capsules, irregularly shaped with up to 20 small seeds. Crinum macowanii is a widespread species from the Eastern Cape, KwaZuluNatal, Free State and through the other provinces north into countries from Angola to Mozambique and into East Africa. It grows in many habitats, such as vleis, mountain grasslands, flooded grasslands, deciduous forests along the coast, and in gravel, shale or sandy soils.
The seeds have a smooth, water repellent, greyish, corky surface that allows them to float for up to a month. This allows them to be dispersed by flowing water. The seeds contain a lot of water, so they can germinate quickly and without water. Often seeds start to germinate while still on the plant. This means they have to be sown as soon as they are ready as they cannot be stored for more than a week.
Crinum macowanii bulbs and leaves are used extensively in traditional medicine. Bulbs, which are poisonous, are used to treat kidney and bladder infections, tuberculosis, rashes, sores, boils and acne. Leaves are used as poultices and bandages.
Plant Crinum macowanii in full sun, fertile soil and it needs lots of water during the summer growing season but best grown around water. Dry the plants during winter when the plant goes into dormancy. If is it does get water, then the soil must drain well. It is a heavy feeder so make sure you feed it during the summer months and supply lots of compost. It is fast growing and long lived.
Propagation is by seed and removal of offsets. Crinums produce lots of seeds that germinate very easily. Place seeds on the top of a seedling tray with a well-drained growing medium as soon as they fall from the ripe fruits. They will germinate within a few days.
Once big enough, remove from the trays and plant in a well-drained medium with lots of compost. They will flower within three years.
This article is sponsored by Chris Dalzell Landscapes, specialising in landscaping, consultation and botanical expeditions. E-mail cgmdalzell@gmail.com EIGHT-TIME South African Music Award nominee Guy Buttery collaborates with The Odeion String Quartet in a one-night only evening of instrumental excellence on Monday at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre, with the Jes Foord Foundation benefiting from the collaboration.
Since 2011, Buttery, a top South African guitar player, has been working on a project that combines his virtuoso solo guitar playing and distinctly African musical voice with contemporary compositional techniques and arrangements combined with a string quartet.
Based in Bloemfontein, The Odeion String Quartet is the ultimate “mini-orchestra”. Creating a number of musical layers and colours, this collaboration stretches the possibilities of its known format and instrumentation.
Performing a “best-of” his collective works from the last 15 years along with new compositions unique to this project, Buttery reworks the guitar and string quartet presentation.
Coming off sold-out performances at this year’s National Arts Festival, a percentage of the profits raised from the concert will be donated to The Jes Foord Foundation, which assists rape survivors by providing free counselling and other services.
“We may be a small organisation that can’t change the world, but we work at changing one survivor’s life at a time,” said Foord, who established the foundation.
The funds will go directly to one of their main projects, such as free trauma counselling for anyone who has been sexually assaulted.
“We are grateful to Guy Buttery, the Odeion String Quartet and the production team of UKZN’s Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre for hosting a musical evening to help us raise funds,” said Foord.
“The foundation now offers counselling in both English and Zulu from various centres around the greater Durban area.
“We have experienced an increase in the number of calls from rape survivors seeking counselling which is saddening as the foundation continues to work towards no rape, but also encouraging as rape survivors are finding their voice to speak out,” says Foord.
Advance booking is through Computicket: www. computicket.com or call 0861915 8000, or from Shoprite Checkers Money Market counters.