Indigenous Gardening Magic Getting Started in Muizenberg
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INDIGENOUS GARDENING MAGIC GETTING STARTED IN MUIZENBERG This is hard! Not the gardening, but the putting together of a short list of plants to get you going. I’m assuming sandy soil in a more or less typical suburban garden situation. The main issues are: How much sun? All day? Quite tough. Morning? Wonderful! Afternoon? Quite hot. How much wind? It’s the summer south easter that blasts Muizenberg plants with salt! Sun and wind together usually add up to quite dry! Naturally damp is less common. FOR SUNNY, DRY, FAIRLY WINDY PLACES Tall shrubs or small trees Tarchonanthus camphoratus Camphor bush Camphor scent, provides birds’ nesting material, medicinal Buddleja saligna False olive Honey scented flowers, attracts butterflies and chameleons Rhus glauca Taaibos Grey-green paddle-shaped leaves and edible berries Medium to big shrubs Leonotis leonurus Lion’s ears Orange tubular flowers attract sunbirds, medicinal Salvia africana-lutea Beach sage Brown flowers and seeds attract birds, culinary and medicinal Metalasia muricata Blombos Honey scented white flowers, makes a pleasant tea Eriocephalus africanus Wild rosemary Aromatic, provides nesting material, culinary and medicinal Chrysanthemoides monilifera Bush tick berry Extremely vigorous pioneer, edible berries attract birds Smaller shrubs Chrysanthemoides incana Grey bietou Much smaller plant, edible berries attract birds Lessertia frutescens (Sutherlandia) Cancer bush Red tubular flowers, pretty seed pods, medicinal Pelargonium cucullatum Hooded pelargonium Lovely purple flowers Pelargonium capitatum Furry pelargonium Pink flowers even in beachfront conditions, medicinal Pelargonium betulinum Maagpynbossie More purple flowers, medicinal Leonotis species Wild dagga Similar to leonotis leonurus, but much smaller For sunny, dry, fairly windy places Bulbs Watsonia tabularis/meriana etc Watsonia Tough bulbs of the mountainside and flats, edible corms Amaryllis belladona March lily Scented pink to white flower umbels, medicinal, very toxic Brunsvigia orientalis Candelabra Pinkish-red umbel of flowers Succulents Cotyledon orbiculata Pigs’ ears Tubular flowers attract sunbirds, medicinal Various Mesembryanthemaceae Vygies Bright jewel flowers in a wide spectrum of colours Euphorbia marlothiana Medusa’s head Vulnerable to extinction due to urban development Ground covers Carpobrotus species Sour figs Yellow or purple flowers, edible fruit, medicinal Also mesembryanthemaceae, pelargonium capitatum Scramblers/Climbers Solanum americanum/africanum Dronk-bessie Mauve-flowered, with slightly succulent leaves Cissampelos capensis Dawidjie wortel Tough, slow-growing, delicate-looking medicinal plant FOR SUNNY, DAMP, FAIRLY WINDY PLACES Tall shrubs or small trees As above, provided it’s not water-logged dampness Medium to big shrubs Leonotis leonurus, provided it’s not water-logged Senecio halimifolius Tobacco bush An excellent pioneer plant and wind break, loves wet Plechostachys serpyllifolia Kooigoed Silver-grey aromatic foliage repels insects Passerina paludosa Gonnabos Likes marshy areas, on the brink of extinction Smaller shrubs Orphium frutescens Teeringbos Pink flowers in summer Chondropetalum nudum Thatching reed A restio, grows up to 1m high Bulbs Ferraria crispa Spider lily Intriguing multi-coloured frilly flowers Gladiolus augustus Pypie Grows in clumps of thatching reed in wet areas Zantedeschia aethiopica Arum lily Needs a little wind shelter from bushes etc. Haemanthus sanguineus Common paintbrush Grows in damp areas on local mountain slopes For sunny, damp, fairly windy places Succulents Succulent plants are specifically adapted to cope with little or very sporadic water. They do not normally enjoy dampness. Ground covers Geranium incanum Cape geranium Delicate, lacy ground cover, medicinal FOR SUNNY RELATIVELY WIND-SHELTERED PLACES Tall shrubs or small trees Olea europaea subsp africana Wild olive Edible fruits attract birds, important medicinal plant Aloe plicatilis Fan aloe Western Cape, but not a Peninsula special, magical uses Protea repens Common sugarbush “Ice-cream-cone protea”, culinary and medicinal uses Dodonaea angustifolia Sand olive Tough and wind resistant, but not fond of salt, medicinal Medium to big shrubs Leucadendron levisanus Cape flats conebush Once abundant on the Cape Flats, now close to extinction Thamnochortus spicigerus Thatching reed/grass The suburb Grassy Park is named after this plant. Salvia africana-caerulea Blue sage Sage-scented, has culinary and medicinal uses Aloe succotrina Western Cape aloe Orange-red flowers on multi-stemmed plants attract sunbirds Aloe commixta Peninsula aloe Yellow flowers on rambling, scrambling stems Psoralea pinnata Fountain bush Enjoys damp conditions, medicinal and magical uses Polygala myrtifolia (and other P spp) Butterfly bush Flower prolifically, various medicinal and magical uses Coleonema album/pulchellum Confetti bush Lemon-scented “buchu” with deodorant properties Smaller shrubs Serruria foeniculacea Rondevlei spiderhead Thought to have been extinct, the species was rescued Erica verticillata Pink-flowered erica, rescued from extinction in the wild Scabiosa africana/columbaria Cape scabious Pink (afr) or white (col) flowers, medicinal and cosmetic uses Felicia fruticosa Bush felicia Rounded, densely branched shrub with mauve flowers Diastella divaricata Peninsula silk puff The smallest of the proteas at around 500 mm For sunny relatively wind-sheltered places Bulbs Gladiolus carinatus Blou Afrikaner Sweet-scented Cape flats speciality, almost picked to death Haemanthus pubescens Poeierkwas Summer deciduous, flowers March/April Succulents Vygies, crassulas, and many others Ground covers Gazanias and many others - avoid “garden hybrids” Scramblers Dipogon lignosis Cape sweet pea Covers ugly fences and dead stumps with mauve flowers FOR SHADY WIND-SHELTERED AREAS Tall shrubs or small trees Local kloof species do well, being trimmed by the Muizenberg wind once they emerge above sheltering buildings, etc. Halleria lucida Tree fuchsia Streamside tree that is a paradise for all birds, magical uses Curtisia dentata Assegai tree A streamsider, threatened because of its magical uses Diospyros whyteana Bladder nut A forest edge and under-canopy tree, medicinal uses Podocarpus latifolius Real yellowwood A slow-growing forest species, medicinal uses Medium to big shrubs Psoraleas, coleonemas, aloe commixta and others from the list above will tolerate shade or partial shade quite well. Smaller shrubs Chironia baccifera Christmas berry Masses of pink flowers followed by red berries, medicinal Bulbs Gladiolus cunonius Lepelblom Spoon-shaped flowers among bushes in dry areas Chasmanthe aethiopica Suurkanol Orange-red tubular flowers, edible corm Haemanthus coccineus April Fool Red-flowered, large bulbs with “velskoen” leaves Nerine sarniensis Guernsey lily It’s indigenous and local, don’t be misled by the name Ornithogalum thyrsoides Chincerinchee It enjoys damp partial shade and sandy soil Succulents Most succulents prefer sun. Ground covers Commelina africana Yellow wandering jew Often grows near streams, medicinal and magical uses Scramblers Many tolerate shade. All will climb towards the light. Asparagus asparagoides Cape Smilax Delicate climber with scented white flowers and red berries FOR SHADY AREAS FACING THE SALTY SOUTH-EASTER This is where the trouble really starts! Lots of plants cope with salt wind if they have sun. Lots of plants cope with shade, if they don’t get burnt by the wind. Shade and exposure to salt wind are a problem for almost everything. If you have local species coping with these conditions, please let everyone know! Tall shrubs or small trees Brachylaena discolour Coastal silver oak A sprawling tree from the eastern cape coastal bush Medium to big shrubs Carissa macrocarpa Num-num An eastern seaboard fruit and security plant Smaller shrubs I haven’t found any! Bulbs Zantedeschia aethiopica Arum lily The leaves acclimatise if the wind is not too fierce Clivia miniata Clivia Grows in some Muizenberg gardens, not in others, not local Herbaceous plants Sansevieria aethiopica Mother in law’s tongue Survives almost anything, from sun to indoor planting Ground covers Plectranthus aliciae Madagascar spurflower An experimental planting is surviving, indigenous but not local BOOKS YOU COULD FIND USEFUL For gardening technique Fast and Easy Waterwise Gardens - Coastal Zone Glenn Ashton, Ekogaia Publishing, 2005 For Cape Flats specials Rondevlei Nature Reserve Plant Guide Dalton Gibbs, City of Cape Town Nature Conservation, 2004 For Mountainside specials Common Wild Flowers of Table Mountain and Silvermine Clarke, Mackenzie & Merry, Struik Nature, 2013 WHERE YOU MIGHT FIND PLANTS FROM THIS LIST Cape Flats Fynbos Nursery Neil Major [email protected] Dr Boomslang Neil Dreyersmith [email protected] Good Hope Nursery Gael Gray [email protected] Harry Goemans [email protected] FEED-BACK - Let me know how you get on with indigenous gardening magic in Muizenberg MID Environmental Upliftment Portfolio Director: Elizabeth Milne 021 788 9121 [email protected] April 2014 .