Beautiful when it flowers and highly sought after for the traditional medicine trade, this member of the Hyacinth family is one of my favourite plants both in the wild and in our garden. Continue reading “From dormancy to delicate blue: ‘Scilla natalensis’ in the garden”
Usually I keep post-processing of an image to a minimum – confining myself to a bit of cropping, a bit of lightening/darkening and sharpening, and that is pretty much it. Continue reading “Experimental colour and light”
This strange fungus blooms occasionally on old wood on a small tree in our garden. For a few days only, it is thick and jelly-like before rapidly shriveling and drying. Continue reading “Ear today, gone tomorrow”
This gaudy grasshopper is spectacular enough on its own, but peeking over the petals of an agapanthus flower it made quite a show. Continue reading “Peek performance”
Plucky and petite, Southern Black Flycatchers are one of the most engaging of the uniformly black birds that visit our garden. Continue reading “Favourite garden birds: Southern Black Flycatcher”
The curves of the Calla Lily softened in the late afternoon sunlight. Continue reading “Calla curves”
Completely dormant in the winter, in the very early spring the leaves of the River Crinum emerge, forming a crown of long green straps. And then a green spear emerges rising to almost a metre in height as the buds start forming at the tip, eventually opening into white and pink lily-like flowers. Continue reading “In the pink in the spring: River Crinum”
Painted by the glow of the late afternoon sun, the reflective water illuminates a Sombre Greenbul at the garden birdbath. Continue reading “Sunbrushed”
I am sure I am not the only one to wonder why these barbets have been named for the black collar and not for their distinctive and bright red head – surely a little perverse? Continue reading “Black-collared Barbets: Duets and warfare in the garden”
