letting nature back in

I was worried about moving from a wet summer/dry winter region to the Mediterranean climate of the Western Cape and learning to adapt to its wet winters. But here we are and experiencing what neighbours tell us is the worst Cape winter for years.

And they are right. It was reported in a recent newspaper article that the rainfall in the Western Cape so far this year is the highest for 47 years. The exceptional rain has brought flooding and hardship to many areas.

The rain sometimes arrives suddenly in sporadic squalls, but at other times it sets in quite steadily often accompanied by buffeting winds

Much of the garden has been waterlogged and our lettuces may not recover from being frequently drowned

This photo does not really show the flailing leaves of trees and shrubs in the gusting wind, but the waterlogged ground beneath a stand of old eucalyptus trees at the edge of the village is plain to see

In the past few weeks we have had little sunshine, so the winter has not encouraged much exploring of our new neighbourhood. But last week we had two sunny days and I took the opportunity to photograph in our garden some flowers that seem impervious to the wind and the rain.

There are not many indigenous plants in the garden, but currently in flower are tall succulents known as pig’s ear (Cotyledon orbiculate). Popular as garden plants these succulents occur naturally across much of southern Africa, especially in rocky outcrops in grassland, fynbos and karoo regions.

Long stalks carry clusters of tubular flowers. The flowers are usually a dusty orange but a yellow form also occurs

A member of the Crassulaceae family, the genus Cotyledon is represented by ten species in South Africa. There are five varieties of Cotyledon orbiculate. Leaf size and shape are variable and the colour may differ from shades of green to silvery grey.

In some regions and in some varieties the leaves may be edged to a greater to lesser extent in red

Various insect pollinators are attracted to the flowers and I have seen double-collared sunbirds visiting flowers in our garden.

The tubular shaped flowers look to be most inviting to pollinators

The flowers have a rather different aspect when viewed from below

So far, the plants, with their surprisingly long-lasting flowers, seem to be surviving the exceptionally wet conditions

Tubular bells swinging in the wind

Sources:

Harris, Shireen. 2004. Cotyledon orbiculata. PlantZAfrica. South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI). http://pza.sanbi.org/cotyledon-orbiculata

Van Dieman, Ethan & Engel, Kristen. 2023. Western Cape: Rainfall this year is breaking records in SA’s ‘most disaster-prone’ province. Daily Maverick, 27 June. https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-06-27-western-cape-rainfall-this-year-is-breaking-records-in-sas-most-disaster-prone-province/