The Biodiversity Showcase Garden revisited

Spring has sprung in the Biodiversity Garden at Green Point Park. Parts of the garden are awash with colour, such as the 'Hybrids and cultivars' display seen below.

I like the way the 'Invasive plants' display has turned out, with the rare and endangered Strawberry Spiderhead crowded out by statuesque invasives.

This is what the same planting looked like in December 2010. Notice how the coastal thicket in the background has effectively screened the lawn display - the thicket is now about 2m high.

The 'Shade Dome' is still looking stark and err... where is the shade? The fast-growing Forest Pea (Dipogon lignosus) which raced to the top and looked so promising last year, is now bare at the base, and looking untidy with a lot of dead material on the frame. The Wild Grape (Rhoicissus digitata) is the trust-worthy long-term solution, but growing very slowly. Too much competition, perhaps. I've asked the area around the base of the climbers to be cleared.

The Hedge display is looking good enough. The Confetti Bush (Coleonema album) and Grewia robusta are thriving, but unfortunately it's too wet for the grey Beach Sage (Salvia africana-lutea) which has died back in places. We will replace it with Rhus glauca (Blue Kuni-bush) which also has greyish leaves. 

One of the challenges of gardening in the Biodiversity Garden is the heavy clay soil and high water table. In fact the Green Point Park area used to be a seasonal wetland, and sailing regattas were held here! Clay soil dredged from the harbour (now the V&A Waterfront) was brought in to create sportfields and recreational amenities in the 1900s.

A life ring has been installed right in the framed view of the fish - what a pity. I understand safety comes first but aesthetically it's plain awful.

The frolicking fish don't mind at all...

Walk up Muizenberg Peak

A few Sundays ago we walked up Muizenberg Peak from Boyes Drive, above Lakeside. It is a short but stunning walk, offering 360 degree views of the Peninsula.

The weather was sunny-cloudy, with ever-changing light and lovely saturated colours. There was a sailing regatta on Zandvlei - from afar it looked like white confetti on the water.

After a short steep ascent, I looked back and found myself perfectly on axis with Main Rd. It runs like a straight stripe into the distance, connecting a string of southern suburbs, from Kenilworth to Lakeside.

From Muizenberg Peak, there is a layered view featuring water: Zandvlei in the foreground; Marina da Gama - a housing development built on the water in the 1970s; and the sewerage works in the far distance.

Looking south-west, with Noordhoek beach visible in the gap...

And looking south-east towards Simonstown...

The King Protea doing its regal thing in the fynbos.

Erica urna-viridis - a sticky green erica which is endemic to the Silvermine Mountains.

Beautiful views across False Bay, towards Hangklip.
And a last pic taken of the False Bay coast.

Up & Down Table Mountain

On Sunday a friend and I went up Table Mountain, while over 32 000 cyclists were making their way around the Peninsula on the Argus cycle tour. Luckily the road closures still permitted us to get to Camps Bay, the start of our walk.

The weather was perfect: wind still and cool. We walked up in the shade of Kasteelpoort, stopping a few times to catch our breath and take in the views. Once at the top, we went to the Valley of Isolation, which offers great views south down the length of the Peninsula. Below one can see the end of the Woodhead Dam, and Grootkop on the right.


After an early lunch on some comfy restios we climbed out of the Valley of Isolation, and turned left (west) on a little-used track going down Ark Valley. We were using Mike Lundy's walking guide, but missed an even less-used turnoff, so ended up right on the edge of the escarpment. Just then the clouds set in, swirling around us, offering partial glimpses of the world below.


Yikes - there were steep butresses and precipitous cliffs everywhere - were we really meant to go down here?


We decided to play if safe and went back to the route description and found a path which took us back to the Valley of the Red Gods. Along the way, in a damp kloof we came across this little cluster of blue disas.

Disa graminifolia

And then we started a spectacular descent known as Diagonal Route. The path starts at Barrier ravine, crosses Jubilee ravine and after a short traverse one dips into Porcupine ravine. It offers breath-taking views, but is quite exposed in places - not for those with a fear of heights.

And then the real downhill started: a steep descent on rock which looked like it would be a little stream in winter. Mike suggested that 'when one runs out of terra firma (in the ravine) one should look out for a path along a bushy ledge' - and we did just that, which took us around Porcupine buttress and back down to the Pipe Track.

Thanks Jana - that was a great walk.

Walk above Llandudno

Thursday afternoon we went for a sunset walk from Suikerbossie up Hout Bay corner to Llandudno Ravine. The views are spectacular - first over the Houtbay valley:


And once you've ascended Hout Bay corner, views over Little Lions Head and Llandudno. There are a few places where one has to scramble or climb - with the aid of stainless steel handles - so the Mickey dog needed some help.


Much to our surprise we came across a Himalayan Tar - obviously one which the rangers missed out during the relocation programme a few years ago. It was a male, and totally unafraid of our presence. Min gepla. I didn't know whether to look at the tar or the bird of prey sitting on the rock above!


I noticed the tar browsed a few leaves of the Wild Camphor, Tarconanthus camphoratus. So much for the plant producing aromatics and secondary compounds as a defence against animals!


Once we rounded the corner we were on the exposed west side. I noticed a distinct increase in succulents (Cotyledon, mesembs and Tylecodon grandiflora, in flower) and some shrubs, notably Coleonema, were looking stressed, with yellow leaves, all rolled up. March is a tough month for fynbos.



I made a bee-line for the shade in Lekkerwater Gulley, where we enjoyed a sunset drink of water and some fruit. I'd love to go back and continue to Judas Peak next time, returning via Myburgh Ravine.

Looking back along Eureka Face towards Karbonkelberg and beyond.

Looking in the other direction, towards Oudekraal are steep slopes clothed in fynbos, as far as the eye can see, with a totally unspoilt coastline. It is wild and inaccessible - untamed Nature.

Peter Slingsby, who has created such an informative map series of the Peninsula, writes:
These very very empty slopes - perhaps the least frequented parts of the whole of the Cape Peninsula - are mostly private property and not conserved as part of the National Park.

May we hope that this truly untracked wilderness within the City boundary remains forever for future generations as a tiny glimpse of this whole Peninsula as it was before 1652.

I feel incredibly fortunate to live in a City with such natural beauty and biodiversity - right on our doorstep.

April Fool in February?

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Surprise! the April Fool is coming into flower in the Biodiversity Garden.
Haemanthus coccineus is a member of the Amaryllis family. In winter it produces two big flat leaves and then goes completely dormant during summer, with nothing showing above the ground. In autumn a spectacular flower appears - like magic! After flowering, fleshy seeds are produced and the flower stalk eventually collapses, so the ripe seeds are released in early winter - just in time for the rains.


These bulbs were rescued by the City of Cape Town Biodiversity Management Branch from a development site on the Cape Flats. They spent some time at the old abatoir in Maitland (which is where the Biodiversity Dept is based), and the hundred-odd bulbs were then donated to the Biodiversity Garden.

Signs of creativity in the Khoikhoi fire hearth display: red and yellow ochre... looks like they had fun!

A walk up Cecilia Ridge

A few weeks ago I felt like a long view and some solitude, so I parked at Cecilia Forest and headed up Cecilia Ridge. It's an easy way up the montain with lovely views over the City.

Crassula coccinea - Klipblom

Protea speciosa - since I saw it at Silvermine for the first time, I'm seeing it everywhere. Funny that. The white hairs on the leaf margins seem distinctive.



And then I made a short detour to the De Villiers dam, which is looking rather surreal in its half-empty state. Ghostly white sandstone rocks.

The water is a beautiful tea colour, on account of the phenols and tannins found in fynbos. These chemicals leach out of decomposing plant matter in seeps and streams, giving the water its characteristic brown colour. Having grown up in the Cape, I will always associate pristine mountain streams with brown water.

Then Mickey and I headed down the mountain, on the jeep track.

These miserable Knysna Yellowwood trees were planted decades ago - presumably by foresters. Podocarpus falcatus is not local to our area and is locally invasive in the lower forest, growing like hairs on a dog's back. They are displacing local forest species, including our local yellowwood, Podocarpus latifolius.

I find it extremely irritating and embarrassing that Table Mountain National Park does nothing about their removal, not to mention the thousands of other invasive aliens - and this is supposed to be a World Heritage Site!


I like pine forests because they are incredibly silent - the needles absorb any sound underfoot and they are almost devoid of wildlife, except for the odd bird of prey. All the forests on Table Mnt are being systematically felled - soon there will be none left.

I am a great biodiversity fan and support the removal of aliens (including pines) on high mountain slopes. But to remove every single tree and bit of shade on the urban edge, in areas which are highly transformed and have little conservation value anyway - in the name of CONSERVATION - is ridiculous.

There has been a huge public outcry in Cape Town about the wholesale removal of these forests in recreational areas - to absolutely no avail. The managers at Table Mnt NP reign supreme. Unfortunately this kind of hard-core fanaticism does not win support for Cape biodiversity - on the contrary, it alienates people.

So better enjoy the forests while they last!