ABOUT MY GARDEN

Our garden has always been too large for me to maintain on my own. When I was younger, I had the stamina and strength to mow the lawns and prune the trees. No more! It was a relief when we had a swimming pool installed for not only has it provided a welcome relief from the summer heat, but it cut down on the expanse of lawn to mow!

It was an even greater relief to sub-divide our plot, which lopped off the section of the garden which I had, through necessity, allowed to revert to an indigenous jungle. As it is, the bottom terrace of our garden has always been my ‘wild’ or ‘secret’ garden. This is where the Natal fig tree dominates and other trees have seeded themselves. Birds and other creatures remain undisturbed here.

Our double-storey house used to stick out like a sore thumb and now, thirty four years later, it is barely visible from the street. That is how I like it.

We are surrounded by Pompon trees (mostly self-seeded) that are bursting into bloom now.

There is also a beautiful Cape chestnut tree, dog plums, white stinkwood and enormous Erythrina trees. Clivias thrive in the semi-shaded areas.

Aloes enjoy the sunny spots.

I used to lavish attention and water on a variety of flowering shrubs and bushes … alas, the ongoing drought put an end to that. We all need ‘frivolous’ splashes of colour though and so I hacked into the encroaching jungle to clear a small space where I could plant seeds and seedlings with varying degrees of success. The rest are grown in pots.

In the back garden the old lemon tree is barely surviving the drought.

My garden has become less ‘landscaped’ as I have grown older and our water supply has become less reliable. I don’t mind though: during the worst of the drought the lawns turned into dust-bowls and even the leaves on the evergreen trees shrivelled and dropped to the ground. Our garden looked skeletal. Indigenous trees bounce back after even a little rain. Look at it now: we are surrounded by greenery, enjoy a wide variety of birds, lizards, geckos, butterflies and beetles.

Our garden remains a happy place to be.

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THE SINGLE PEACH

They both loved peaches and were determined to grow their own. The man at the garden centre helpfully steered them away from varieties not suited to their soil and gave them careful instruction for planting the sapling of their choice. He also advised them where to position the tree in their still undeveloped garden.

Nicholas had followed the instructions to the letter. Mary teased him about the neatly square hole he had dug in the hard ground with considerable difficulty. They nurtured the tree along with their dream of the first harvest. As the months passed, they staked the tree to prevent the howling wind from bending it double. Later, they erected a wire frame around it – and with each passing month they eagerly watched it grow.

Over time their lawn became well established and both were pleased with their efforts to grow vegetables. Mary became adept at planting flower seedlings and kept the borders looking cheerfully bright. The peach tree continued looking healthy yet remained stubbornly barren.

At last, after three years of continued attention, Nicholas and Mary were overjoyed to see the peach tree covered with delicately beautiful pink blossoms. They were so delighted that they celebrated this spring show by opening a bottle of bubbly, which they sipped late one afternoon whilst sitting next to the tree.

It was with sadness and a deep sense of loss that Mary watched the strong wind scattering the fragile petals across the lawn as if they were confetti.

Several weeks later, Nicholas whooped with joy upon discovering a single peach beginning to swell amid the foliage. This time they toasted their good fortune by sipping at tall glasses filled with gin and tonic. They began to dream again.

Nicholas and Mary took to checking the progress of that single peach every day. It remained the only fruit on the tree and, to their immense gratification, was swelling in a most satisfactory manner. Eventually, the single peach began to sport a promising blush.

Their excitement mounted as they debated when the time would be right to pick it. Both nurtured a dream of biting into the warm sun-kissed peach and were determined to wait until that single peach felt ‘just right’ before plucking it from the tree. “We’ll do it together,” Mary said. Their mouths watered in anticipation of tasting their first home-grown, sun-ripened peach.

One afternoon Mary happened to glance out of the kitchen window in time to see their weekly gardener washing his hands at the outside tap after putting the lawnmower away. He wiped them on his overall trousers as he strode purposefully across the newly cut lawn.

Mary watched in horror as the gardener headed straight for the peach tree. She felt rooted to the floor as he plucked the single fruit with a firm tug of his hand. Feeling numb, she watched him bite into that precious sun-ripened peach warmed by the afternoon sun. She stared at the juice running down his chin and stifled a silent scream when he nonchalantly tossed the pip over his shoulder.

LARGE-LEAVED WILD BEGONIA

The formal name of the Large-leaved Wild Begonia is Begonia homonyma, a plant which is endemic to the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. How very fortunate I am to have a specimen still growing in my garden thirty-four years after my late mother found it while we were weeding what seemed like an impenetrable jungle! In the wild, these plants favour shady cliffs and forest banks in areas that are very dry during the winter.

Well, while we have been very dry for most of many years, this plant has plenty of shade and forest-like vegetation to surround it. Begonia homonyma is dormant in winter with only tubers remaining to sustain the growth – which would explain the odd panic I have experienced now and then when I thought it had finally succumbed! Male and female flowers grow on the same plant. The flowers have a bright splash of yellow at the centre.

Reference:

SMITH Gideon F., CROUCH, Neil R. and FIGUEIREDO E. 2017: Field Guide to Succulents in Southern Africa. Struik Nature.

NOVEMBER 2019 GARDEN BIRDS

The heat and drought continues unabated, yet I have been blessed with another bumper month of bird-watching in our garden. Delightful visitors are the Black-eyed Bulbuls (their new name, Dark-capped Bulbul, doesn’t trip off my tongue yet) that frequent both the nectar feeder and partake of the cut apples, although I have occasionally seen them hawking insects too. Here a pair of them are seeking some respite in the shade.

The Black-headed Oriole is always a welcome visitor to the nectar feeder. It swoops down now and then to feed on apples too.

This Bronze Mannikin is perched on a branch with its beak agape while it waits for a turn at the seed feeder – mostly dominated by Southern Masked Weavers and Streaky-headed Seedeaters. Although they are said to eat fruit and nectar, I have not observed them doing either in our garden.

The Common Fiscal is a regular visitor – quite happy to inspect my breakfast or what we are having to eat with our mid-morning tea – and is often the first to inspect what has been placed on the feeding tray. There are two: one without a ring and this one that has been ringed. Checking through my archived photographs, the latter has been seen in our garden over a couple of years and must be resident near here. Both have been collecting fruit and flying off to what I presume is a nest in a neighbouring garden.

As much as we often malign Common Starlings in this country, they can be amusing to watch. They tend to perch on the telephone wire above the feeding area to assess the availability of food then come down straight, akin to the landing of a helicopter, to guzzle whatever is there as quickly as possible. This one appears to be voicing its dissatisfaction that a pair of Redwinged Starlings beat it to the apple.

I have mentioned before how important it is to provide water for the birds to drink and bathe in during this hot and dry period. This Laughing Dove is making its way to one of the bird baths, with very little water in it – I filled it up after taking this photograph. The bird baths get filled twice, and sometimes even three times a day of late.

There is a saga attached to the Lesser-striped Swallows which I will relate in another post.

The daily sound of the squeaky ‘kweek, kweek, kweek’ notes emanating from the Red-throated Wryneck has been frustrating as this bird has been so difficult to locate! I used the binoculars and managed to get a better photograph of this warbler-like bird from an upstairs window yesterday – see how well it blends into the lichen-covered branches of the Tipuana tree.

I cannot resist showing you this picture of a Red-winged Starling about to tuck into an apple.

The Speckled Mousebirds are going to bag a post of their own soon. Meanwhile, this one is waiting for an opportunity to eat the apples on the tray below. Note how well it too blends into its surroundings.

My November bird list is:

African Green Pigeon
Amethyst Sunbird
Barthroated Apalis
Blackcollared Barbet
Blackeyed Bulbul
Blackheaded Oriole
Bokmakierie
Bronze Manikin
Cape Glossy Starling
Cape Robin-chat
Cape Turtle Dove
Cape Wagtail
Cape Weaver
Cape White-eye
Cattle Egret
Common Fiscal
Common Starling
Crowned Hornbill
Diederik Cuckoo
Forktailed Drongo
Greater Double-collared Sunbird
Green Woodhoopoe
Greyheaded Sparrow
Hadeda Ibis
Hoopoe
Klaas’ Cuckoo
Knysna Turaco
Laughing Dove
Lesser-striped Swallow
Olive Thrush
Paradise Flycatcher
Pied Crow
Red-chested Cuckoo
Redeyed Dove
Red-fronted Tinkerbird
Red-necked Spurfowl
Red-throated Wryneck
Redwinged Starling
Sombre Bulbul
Southern Masked Weaver
Southern Red Bishop
Speckled Mousebird
Speckled Pigeon
Streakyheaded Seedeater
Thickbilled Weaver
Village Weaver
Whiterumped Swift
Yellow-billed Kite

FEBRUARY 2018 GARDEN BIRDS

The delightful news was going to be that the long-suffering pair of Lesserstriped Swallows finally finished rebuilding their mud nest during the first week of February. A bit late in the season for breeding, I thought, however that instinct to procreate must be hard-wired into them. Sadly, the nest fell down only a week later. Such have been their ups and downs that I am unable to tell whether or not they have raised any chicks this summer.

Meanwhile, the Whiterumped Swifts that moved into the snug nest the swallows left intact last year have bred successfully. As they tend to flit into the nest after dark and leave before sunrise, it is only the lack of their mess under the nest that suggests they now have migration on their minds. This picture of a young Whiterumped Swift was taken near Brits last year.

I welcome the sound – and sight – of African Green Pigeons and Redwinged Starlings feasting on the first figs of the season. They are joined by Speckled Mousebirds, Cape White-eyes, Common Starlings and the Knysna Turaco amongst others. The Knysna Turaco regularly flits about the branches of the large Natal fig tree chasing one bird after another, as if to establish its right to be there.

The sound of Redfronted Tinkerbirds fill the air akin to a conference of tinkers beating their pots at different times – they are not at all easy to spot, especially since the trees have responded to the rain this month by ‘bushing out’ their foliage. A single Yellowfronted Canary made a brief appearance a few days ago.

We have also had exceptional views of the local Gymnogene (African Harrier-Hawk) flying very low over the garden for several days in a row. On one occasion a plucky pair of Forktailed Drongos mobbed it. I have already devoted a post to the Spotted Thickknee seen this month – a wonderful sighting that was!

My February bird list is:

African Green Pigeon
African Harrier-Hawk (Gymnogene)
Barthroated Apalis
Barn Swallow
Black Crow (Cape)
Black Sunbird (Amethyst)
Blackcollared Barbet
Blackeyed Bulbul
Blackheaded Oriole
Black Saw-wing
Bronze Manikin
Cape Robin (Cape Robin-chat)
Cape Turtle Dove
Cape Weaver
Cape White-eye
Cattle Egret
Common Shrike (Fiscal)
Common Starling
Forktailed Drongo
Greater Double-collared Sunbird
Greyheaded Sparrow
Hadeda Ibis
Hoopoe
Klaas’ Cuckoo
Knysna Turaco
Laughing Dove
Lesserstriped Swallow
Olive Thrush
Pied Crow
Pintailed Whydah
Redbilled Woodhoopoe
Redeyed Dove
Redfronted Tinkerbird
Redwinged Starling
Rock Pigeon (Speckled)
Sacred Ibis
Speckled Mousebird
Spotted Thickknee
Village Weaver
Whiterumped Swift
Yellowfronted Canary