Sundowner & celebration

On Saturay, 16th October, we held a sundowner in the Biodiversity Garden to thank all the people who had contributed to the garden. Guest of honour was John Roff and his wife Jo who had come from Pietermartizburg for the occasion. John co-wrote and conceptualised the interpretation in the garden. There were artists, plant growers, landscapers and the engineers who designed the shade dome (more about them in a future post). It was a perfect windless summer evening, and people lingered until the last light.



Lovely to see the dome working as a central hub of activity. Pat Holmes, the City's Biodiversity Management department, is seen here chatting to Neil Major, (Cape Flats Fynbos Nursery).

It was a bit strange seeing people walking and standing on the mosaic - we've been dodging it for months during the construction phase. The mosaic is an artistic interpretation of the cell, the basic building block of all biodiversity - as an icon it could not have been better chosen.



Lovely too to see people sitting on low seat walls and congregating on the viewing deck - our design is working!




The evening light was soft and beautiful, the lakes perfect mirrors...



I have to confess I am in love with the space which has been created. The lakes create a wonderful sense of openess, there are elements of surprise and magic.



After sunset it was twilight, the hour which owls and other animals go about their business. And time for us to go home.

Kalkbay Mountains

Last Saturday we went for a walk from Boyes Drive (Trappieskop parking) towards Cave Peak. Our route took us up, past the slabs, and then there's a scrambly bit near the top where we had to shove/hoist the dogs up the cliffs. Mickey jumped up like a klipspringer.


View towards Fish Hoek with Trappieskop in the foreground.

Leucadendron strobilinum (a Table Mnt endemic) looking fresh with spring foliage.

Leucospermum conocarpodendron

I've always wondered what these caterpillars are - often seen swarming on a tree. Turns out it's the larva of the Cape Lappet (Pachypasa capensis), a rather uninteresting looking moth. Wish I knew more about its biology.

Table Mountain walk

Friday we went up Nursery Ravine, took the path along the edge of the Table and down Cecilia Ridge. The light was dramatic, with clouds and occasional sun.

We stepped over fairy rings...


Qu'est-ce que c'est? Isolepis ludwigii perhaps?

Juncus lomatophyllum in habitat

Adenandra growing out of rock on Cecilia Ridge

A striking red form of Passerina sp. And then this:

Fynbos at its best - just a few years after a fire, in spring splendour. A tapestry of soft pinks, salmons, greys and greens. It's breathtaking!
It inspires me to paint - to try and capture this palette of colours, this moment in the season. Because in a few weeks those soft pink shoots will harden off and become leathery green leaves, and in a few years this will be a dense stand of Protea coronata - a tall rather shabby species of Protea with green flowers. Beautiful in its own way, but unlikely to be the subject of a photo essay. Unless...? Maybe.

Friday Walk

Last Friday I went for a walk with a friend up Constantia corner. It's one my favourite haunts: there's a moment when you see just grasses and restios and sandstone rocks and no sign of habitation. It's wonderful - real soul food.





Along the way we passed clumps of Syncarpha speciosissima - Cape Everlasting - and just had to stop and marvel...




For a moment I was lost in a world of papery bracts...

Further along we passed Camel rock - can you see it?

Then past the dam...

Leucadendron coniferum

How I love this city which has such jewels on its doorstep!

Unsung heroes

I think few people understand how much planning and work went into making the Biodiversity garden, but believe me to transform bare, unshaped earth from this (April 2010) ....


to this (September 2010) takes a lot of sweat and hard work. I'm thinking especially of the guys who were working on site in rain, wind and sunshine, doing the physical labour - they deserve a big thank you and have left a lasting legacy in the Park .


Urban Landscape Solutions have been responsible for the landscape installation in the Green Point Park, including the Biodiversity Garden. It was a challenging project involving special soils, over 300 plant species, different kinds of mulches and the installation of various artworks, and they did well.


For the first 6 months Sean was the supervisor on site, seen here one misty morning, planting the pond edge. His team did most of the site preparation - the levelling, shaping, topsoil installation, trenching for irrigation lines, digging of compost. The civils work (paths, lake, shade dome) was only completed in May 2010, so we ended up doing most of the planting in July and August.

Here is Tim - current leader of the team and champion do'er. Since the day he joined, the project flowed and things got done. Thanks to his leadership, drive and attention to detail, everything was planted and shipshape for the official launch on 10 September.

The Landscape BOQ indicates that we planted over 1250 trees (in 10 kg bags or larger) and 25 000 shrubs, bulbs and groundcovers. We planted in sections: first the wetland, then all thicket areas, and last the various display beds. In total about 5800 m2 of planting. For each display I packed out and positioned the plants, and then the guys planted.

Wanda and some of this team.

Nomu

Prins. He did a lot of the fiddly specialist work and now he's now doing the maintenance. Fantastic guy - I think of him as the Garden's main man.

Patterson - now doing maintenance with Prins.
He's a star weeder and has a wonderful smile.

Nomu

Brown

A big thank you to ALL those who contributed to the Biodiversity Garden!

Kirstenbosch visit

Today a group of staff, interns and volunteers from Kirstenbosch came to visit the Biodiversity garden. A happy day for me, because there's always new things to learn from them.

Above: (middle) Trevor Adams (chief propagator), Cherise Viljoen (head of the Plant production nursery)

The light was beautiful, everything fresh after the rain.



One can count on Adam Harrower for interesting botanical finds, and he did spot something unusual... growing wild in the lawn!


A pretty little purple flower - Monopsis simplex




In the wetland area Gladiolus angustus is flowering prolifically - growing sommer in composted soil, no special treatment and looking fabulous. Why is it not widely available in nurseries, I wonder?


Anyway it's thanks to Neil Major (grower, Cape Flats Fynbos Nursery) that we were able to source these plants. Hopefully Gladiolus angustus will find its way into the general trade soon and more people will be able to enjoy this gem. Really I'm no purist, but I do think we should celebrate our local biodiversity and have more of it available. Don't you think?