Covering bare patches
plants to grow as they produce an abundance of seed, root very easily and any piece that breaks or falls off from the mother plant generally root where they fall.
They produce plantlets on the flowerhead that drop off and produce a new plant. Due to the ease of reproduction, the plant can be problematic and invasive in natural areas and often need to be removed and replanted. It is pollinated by bees attracted to the many flowers it produces in winter.
The easiest way to propagate this beautiful groundcover is by soft tip cuttings which can be done at any time of the year and which root very quickly in a well-drained medium. Within a few months, you will have an area covered in handsome round leaves that grow at the same height and in June/July will be covered in delicate pink flowers. They grow well in rockeries, hanging baskets, and as perennial container plants.
Other shade and semi-shade plants that do well with Crassula multicava include Portulacaria/
afra var. prostrata, Plectranthus saccatus, P. ciliatus, P. zuluensis, Asparagus densiflorus, A. kraussiana, Crassula spathulata, Impatiens hochstetteri, B. dregei and B. sutherlandii, Clivia miniata, C. gardenii, C. nobilis, Ledebouria petiolata and Gasteria spp.
As winter draws to a close and the days lengthen, you will notice new growth on many of your plants and new leaves on many of the deciduous trees.
This is a clear indication that spring is on its way. Many winter flowering shrubs would have finished flowering and it’s time to cut these plants back.
One tree that I have noticed that is pushing new flushes of leaves is Bridelia micrantha or Mitzeeri, with its golden leaves appearing through the forest canopy.
Most of the winter flowering Erythrina or coral trees are in full flower, which brightens the stark landscape with their red to orangescarlet flowers that attract many species of birds and monkeys, which
feed on the sweet nectar and flowers.
Leonotis leonoris, commonly known as wild dagga, are all but finished flowering and they need to be cut back to at least half their size. Remove any diseased or damaged branches and keep 3-5 thick stems for the next season’s growth.
Plants that flower into late July include:
Bulbine (fairy Crassula); (Coral tree)
Honeysuckle) (broad-leaved and and caffra (tree fuschia); (pigs ears) (Cape (Plumbago) (Chabaud’s Aloe) (bitter Aloe)
Happy gardening and happy lockdown.