Mulch Love
The summer has brought with it an incredible display of the Natal Watsonia (Watsonia densiflora) transforming a section of grassland on the Westville campus of the University of KwaZulu-Natal into a burst of brilliant colour. Cultivation, urbanisation and invasive plants have destroyed almost all the grasslands in the Durban area, making this an incredibly rare … Read more
I’m not a huge fan of exotic plants and, in fact, am vehemently pro-indigenous. I do, however, have a soft spot for Hydrangeas, a familiar plant in most suburbs in South Africa. These come courtesy (and out the garden) of my housemate‘s mother and have been keeping me company while I’ve been working today. Anyone … Read more
Having lived in England, I am conscious of the amount and variety of bugs we have in Durban, especially in summer. But this one in particular caught my attention. I was sitting in my lounge one night and heard an unusual whining sound, like that of an animal. I looked around the house for the source of the sound and eventually found this large, luminous green insect, and manage to snap a few pics. Has anyone come across this bug and heard the weird noise it makes?
Here is another interesting plant I came upon in Kokstad. According to my friend’s son, it is called a ‘Fairy’s Castle’… I’m not sure if this is the botanical name 😉 but it is a very cool plant. Does anyone know what it is?
Niall wrote a post about the swallows that return to our house each year to roost. Here are a few snaps of the children they have bred. It was tough to get close to them as I think they were a bit more skittish (protective of the young) but you can clearly see one of the parents (the male I think) and the two babies, which are smaller and have fluffier breast feathers. It has been great to have them visiting! 🙂
