The KZN hills are flush with colour
January is a good flowering season for trees and shrubs, writes Chris Dalzell
WISHING you all a very happy 2017. It has been a very hot, wet summer which has brought relief to many parts of our country devastated by drought.
Sitting on my deck overlooking the Krantzkloof Nature Reserve, I am mesmerised by the red flowering bulb, the Inanda Lily ( Cyrtanthus sanguineus), that flowers in mid-January on the cliff faces.
This spectacular ornamental genus is the largest of the southern African members belonging to the family Amaryllidaceae, containing about 60 species. It is endemic to the southern and eastern parts of Africa and represented in all nine provinces of South Africa, with the most species growing in the Eastern Cape. The Inanda Lily shows its bright red trumpet flowers of nearly 60mm in diameter from November to December on the coast, and from January to early February in the higher regions of KwaZulu-Natal, like Kloof and Inanda.
The leaves are long and hang down over the edge of the cliffs they grow on, reaching 30cm in length.
I visited Doug Cooke at Izinyoni Nursery last week, and he has them growing in shallow pots, which is one way to grow this beautiful species. Do not grow them in deep pots because the roots tend to rot in the wet humid conditions of KZN. You can grow these bulbs from seed, which normally germinate after a week. They should flower in their third season from seed. Do not water the plants during the winter months until the rainy season, when the new roots appear. Best to use a well-drained medium of rotten leaf compost and river sand. Drainage is very important. Do not allow the roots to remain wet because they will rot.
Take time this coming week to visit the Krantzkloof Nature Reserve and see this beautiful bulb in flower. It won’t disappoint you.
It is always rewarding when you get a phone call from a reader who applies these ideas in their own gardens. This is the reason I write these articles, so you can use those ideas and hopefully improve your knowledge of plants and sort out any problems you may have in your garden.
This past week I was contacted by a lovely lady in Sydenham called Fadela Boomgaard. Her gardener had sprayed many of her shrubs with an insecticide but had mixed it incorrectly, resulting in the shrubs losing all their leaves. She was devastated because they were prized plants she had been growing for 30 years. I went to see her and, after inspecting the plants, realised they were not dead but had just shed their leaves as a defence mechanism.
The plants will recover and produce new leaves within a few months. But to see a garden that was so loved was a true inspiration and a reminder that, with some careful thought and by talking to other interested gardeners, you can create a garden you will enjoy for many years.
January is a good flowering season for many trees and shrubs. I wrote an article last year about the Pride of de Kaap, Bauhinia galpinii, which once again are in full bloom. When visiting Doug Cooke at Crocworld, he showed me a plant that is a cross between Bauhinia natalensis, a small white flower shrub, and the yellow flowering Bauhinia tomentosa. What a spectacular cross, made by Simon Woodley from Munster.
It grows into a compact shrub and flowers en masse with large, creamy yellow flowers. We are lucky in South Africa to have so many plant experts who offer their assistance to the public. The only way you are going to learn is to ask and that is why these articles are written. Please don’t feel guilty about asking for help. If I don’t know the answers, I will find out for you.
Happy gardening.
This article is sponsored by Chris Dalzell Landscapes, specialising in landscaping, consultation and botanical expeditions. If you have any questions please e-mail me at cgmdalzell@gmail.com