My focus of late had been on flowers that emit a delightful fragrance. Although these ones do not occur naturally around here, but are indigenous to the Western Cape, the Podalyria calyptrate, also known as Sweetpea fits into this category.
It is fast growing and bears masses of pretty pink, sweetly scented flowers that show a close resemblance to the sweetpeas grown in gardens all over the world. The flowering period is usually from about September until December.
The plant has velvety silvery leaves which adds to the attractiveness of this plant.
Naturally, the flowers attract bees, butterflies and birds – a good reason for planting some of these bushes in one’s garden if one lives in the right area, for their natural habitat includes sandstone slopes, coastal streams and damp places.
Something Over Tea 
So pretty, Anne! And peas are good for the soil, what with their nitrogen-fixing nodules. I think if I visited the Cape I would be amazed at the plants….
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The Western Cape has a particularly rich variety of indigenous plants – the rest of the country doesn’t do too badly though 🙂
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This delightful plant looks so much more robust than our garden varieties
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They have to be tough to survive 🙂 🙂
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Pingback: PODALYRIA CALYPTRATA — Something Over Tea – ° BLOG ° Gabriele Romano
Although I can’t smell the flowers’ fragrances, I enjoy the photos. But your opening paragraph reminded me of something. When I was teaching writing, I told the students that I wanted them in one assignment to make me see what they saw and were describing, hear what they heard, smell what they smelled. The next class period, one student turned in an essay at the end of which he had attached a scratch-and-sniff sticker so I could smell what he was describing! Too bad you can’t do that with the flower photos in your blog! 🙂
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Wouldn’t that be marvellous!
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Lovely clusters of pink. And I agree with Derrick. They look much more robust than the garden varieties.
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We are blessed with a wide variety of indigenous flowers.
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Good looking and useful for pollinators, what could be better?
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You are right 🙂
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Sounds like my kind of plant. 🙂 Perfect for climates that can’t grow regular sweet peas because they are too warm.
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It is a favoured garden plant in the Western Cape.
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Thanks for the introduction to another fynbos beauty, Anne!
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These ones were spotted in the Bontebok National Park 🙂
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Lovely place that!
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