What to buy at the Kirstenbosch Indigenous Plant Sale

Avery Avenue was once Sand Plain Fynbos. If anyone is looking for some waterwise, locally indigenous plants to buy at the Kirstenbosch Plant Sale on 20-21 March, the following is a list of plants that would have grown on our sandy soil. They still occur naturally on the Sand Plain Fynbos remnant of Meadowridge Common. It was compiled by Fiona Watson of the Friends of Meadowridge Common. (See http://meadowridgecommon.blogspot.com/)

Above: Geranium incanum.

Adenogramma glomerata MOLLUGINACEAE
Amaryllis belladonna AMARYLLIDACEAE March Lily
Androcymbium eucomoides COLCHICACEAE
Arctotheca calendula ASTERACEAE Cape Weed
Aristea dichotoma IRIDACEAE
Aspalathus callosa FABACEAE
Aspalathus retroflexa subsp bicolor FABACEAE
Aspalathus spinosa FABACEAE
Asparagus asparagoides ASPARAGACEAE
Asparagus capensis ASPARAGACEAE
Asparagus rubicundus ASPARAGACEAE
Avena fatua POACEAE
Babiana ambigua IRIDACEAE
Babiana villosula IRIDACEAE
Baeometra uniflora COLCHICACEAE
Briza maxima POACEAE
Caesia contorta HEMEROCALLIDACEAE
Carpanthia pomeridiana AIZOACEAE
Carpobrotus edulis AIZOACEAE
Carpobrotus sp. AIZOACEAE
Centella tridentata APIACEAE
Chrysanthemoides monolifera ASTERACEAE
Cliffortia falcata ROSACEAE
Cliffortia obcordata ROSACEAE
Cliffortia polygonifolia ROSACEAE
Conicosia pugioniformis AIZOACEAE
Corycium orobanchoides ORCHIDACEAE
Cotula turbinate ASTERACEAE
Crassula decumbens CRASSULACEAE
Cyanella hyacinthoides TECOPHILACEAE
Cynodon dactylon POACEAE
Diastella proteoides PROTEACEAE
Dimorphotheca pluvialis ASTERACEAE
Diosma oppositifolia RUTACEAE
Disa bracteata ORCHIDACEAE
Dischisma capitatum SCROPHULARIACEAE
Doreanthus bellidiformis AIZOACEAE
Drosera trinervia DROSERACEAE
Ehrhartia calcyna POACEAE
Elegia nuda RESTIONACEAE
Empodium plicatum HYPOXIDACEAE
Eragrostis curvula POACEAE
Erica muscosa ERICACEAE
Erica subdivaricata ERICACEAE
Eriocephalus africanus (introduced) ASTERACEAE
Geissorhiza aspera IRIDACEAE
Geissorhiza imbricate IRIDACEAE
Geissorhiza tenella IRIDACEAE
Geranium incanum GERANIACEAE
Gethyllis afra AMARYLLIDACEAE Kukumakranka
Gnidia juniperifolia THYMELACEAE
Helichrysum indicum ASTERACEAE
Heliophila africana BRASSICACEAE
Hermannia cuneifolia MALVACEAE
Hermannia hyssopifolia MALVACEAE
Holothrix villosa ORCHIDACEAE
Ixia dubia IRIDACEAE
Lachenalia reflexa HYACINTHACEAE Cape Hyacinth
Lachnaea uniflora THYMELACEAE
Laguros ovatus POACEAE
Lampranthus emarginatus AIZOACEAE
Lampranthus reptans AIZOACEAE
Lampranthus stenus AIZOACEAE
Lapeirousia corymbosa IRIDACEAE
Leucadendron salignum PROTEACEAE
Lobelia erinus CAMPANULACEAE
Metalasia densa ASTERACEAE
Microcodon glomeratum CAMPANULACEAE
Monopsis debilis CAMPANULACEAE
Monopsis lutea CAMPANULACEAE
Moraea collina IRIDACEAE
Moraea elsiae IRIDACEAE
Moraea flaccid IRIDACEAE
Moraea fugax IRIDACEAE
Moraea lugubris IRIDACEAE
Moraea tripetala IRIDACEAE
Moraea viscaria IRIDACEAE
Morella quercifolia MYRICACEAE
Nylandtia spinosa POLYGALACEAE
Ornithogalum imbricatum HYACINTHACEAE
Otholobium virgatum FABACEAE
Othonna filicaulis ASTERACEAE
Oxalis caprina OXALIDACEAE
Oxalis luteola OXALIDACEAE
Oxalis obtusa OXALIDACEAE
Oxalis pes caprae OXALIDACEAE
Oxalis purpurea OXALIDACEAE
Oxalis versicolor OXALIDACEAE
Passerina corymbosa THYMELACEAE
Pelargonium capitatum GERANIACEAE
Pelargonium cucullatum GERANIACEAE
Pelargonium myrrhifolium GERANIACEAE
Pelargonium triste GERANIACEAE
Petalacte coronata ASTERACEAE
Phylica imberbis RHAMNACEAE
Protea scolymocephala PROTEACEAE
Psoralea pinnata FABACEAE
Pterygodium catholicum ORCHIDACEAE
Restio quinquefarius RESTIONACEAE
Rhus lucida ANACARDIACEAE
Romulea flava IRIDACEAE
Romulea hirsute IRIDACEAE
Romulea obscura IRIDACEAE
Romulea rosea IRIDACEAE
Romulea rosea v.australis IRIDACEAE
Romulea triflora IRIDACEAE
Rumex cordatus POLYGONACEAE
Rumex lativalvis POLYGONACEAE
Rushchia geminiflora AIZOACEAE
Salvia chamelaeagnea LAMIACEAE
Satyrium odorum ORCHIDACEAE
Senecio burchelli ASTERACEAE
Senecio elegans ASTERACEAE
Senecio littoreus ASTERACEAE
Sparaxis bulbifera IRIDACEAE
Spiloxene capensis HYPOXIDACEAE
Staberoha distachyos RESTIONACEAE
Struthiola ciliata THYMELACEAE
Struthiola dodecandra THYMELACEAE
Tetragonia fructicosa AIZOACEAE
Thamnochortus fruticosus RESTIONACEAE
Thamnochortus obtusus RESTIONACEAE
Tortilis arvensis APIACEAE
Trachyandra ciliate ASPHODELACEAE
Trachyandra revolute ASPHODELACEAE
Tribolium uniolae POACEAE
Triglochin bulbosa JUNCAGINACEAE
Tripteris clandestina ASTERACEAE
Ursinia anthemoides ASTERACEAE
Wachendorfia paniculata HAEMODORACEAE
Wahlenbergia capensis CAMPANULACEAE
Willdenowia sulcata RESTIONACEAE
Wurmbea monopetala COLCHICACEAE
Zantedeschia aethiopica ARACEAE

Mulch ado about nothing

In the December issue of Veld & Flora there was a really interesting letter from Tony Rebelo, SANBI botanist, about the use of compost and mulch in gardens with sandy soil like the Cape Flats sand that we have in Avery Ave. It has always bothered me that people around here spend so much time watering, composting and mulching and bemoaning our poor, "water repellant oil soil" as they try to create the perfect English garden complete with rolling green lawn and roses. Surely we should be developing a waterwise, Cape Flats garden using some of the thousands of mind-bogglingly beautiful fynbos plants that grew here before the land was developed. There is so much that thrives in this soil with no need to provide extra water or compost. Just look at this beautiful little Veltheimia bracteata or winter forest lily, that comes up every year in the shade of our large Cape May or Cape confetti Coleonema album bushes - one of our local fynbos indigenous buchus.

Tony writes:

"Mulching is being promoted extensively as a solution to gardening problems. And yet I wonder if it is not the cause of many gardeners being unable to grow many Fynbos plants. I have heard of people who used to have great Erica and Buchu collections, and now cannot grow them any more. Even at Kirstenbosch, many species that used to be grown in profusion can no longer be grown in the Protea and Erica beds.
I suspect that part of the problem is the tendency to use mulch. Although mulch has many positive effects, some of these are in fact also negative. It suppresses weeds! But at the same time it suppresses spring annuals. If I expect nice displays of annuals daisies or heliophilas, I wont get them with a mulch – bare soil is essential. Mulch also contains many bacteria that help maintain the soil: among these are pathogens that affect susceptible plants. And mulch, unless purchased from a reputable dealer, also contains slugs, millipedes and other denizens of tiny seedlings."

So why don't fynbos plants like mulch?
Tony says it is because fynbos plants evolved with fire, and after a fire the soil is sterilized and there are no pathogens or animals to eat the seeds. All the seedlings grow in a sterile medium, and it may take years for pathogens to build up, by which time the plants have set seed and the next generation is safely stored in the seedbank. Add mulch, and suddenly there is a moist layer that helps the growth and spread of pathogens, such as Phytophothora root rot, a fatal problem to many indigenous plants.
Tony's garden is on Cape Flats sand. The good news is that our soil is actually self-mulching in effect!

"Every summer as it dries out the soil becomes hydrophobic. Bacteria effectively coat the grains with oily secretions which stops any water from being lost from the soil. Water loss – the main reason given for using mulches – is thus effectively provided by nature free of charge. This sealing layer lasts all summer until the heavy autumn rains wash out the oils and allow the soils to soak up the winter rains. Where new plants have been planted, keeping the soil wet by watering the plants prevents the sealing layer from forming allowing water penetration into the soil only around the new plants.

Don’t expect any nurseryman to agree with this - it is provided by nature for free –it cannot be sold at a profit like mulch!

I have no problems with growing ericas and buchus: I don’t use woody mulch, but rely on nature to provide the sealant effect for me. The soil provides no home for slugs and pests, nor does it assist with the spread of pathogens by not providing a warm moist covering during summer when most Fynbos plants are dormant anyway. Sure some sand does blow around and into my swimming pool. But it is a small price to pay for seeing ericas, buchus and proteas flowering in profusion, not to mention the spring annuals that abound. Of course mulch is needed in European-style gardens and for forest species. But anyone on the Cape Flats who wants to have an indigenous, waterwise garden and who uses mulch is wasting their money!"

A buchu bush in full flower.