Durban – We are now heading for the best time of the year for gardening in Durban, as the heat finally abates.
The morning and evening light make the most of the lovely colours in the landscape of autumn foliage and the grasses turning brown.
I was walking through the Krantzkloof Nature reserve this weekend with my wife’s family from New Zealand, and on many occasions we just sat and watched the butterflies dancing from plant to plant, delicately touching each one to see if that was its food plant to lay its eggs.
The growing season will slow, but we can look forward to those plants that flower in winter. Mother’s Day in May always reminds me of a tree that produces flower spikes in early April, and by early May is in full bloom. It lines many well-known streets in Durban, in particular Innes, Florida and Musgrave roads. It is native to Madagascar and was planted to replace the Flamboyant trees that were removed many years ago. Colvillea racemosa, also known by its common name Colville’s Glory, was named after Sir Charles Colville, the ex-Governor of Mauritius. It belongs to the legume family, which produces long wooden seed pods in late winter. It is grown throughout the tropics, but sadly is no longer found in many nurseries in South Africa. You need to visit some of the old gardens in Durban to find this tree. It does attract lots of bees, so for those of you allergic, be careful.
In my garden in Kloof I have a large shrub that is very fragrant at night called Dombeya burgessiae, or the pink wild Pear, with its hanging, pinkish-white flowers. It needs to be on top of a wall so you can look up and see the flowers as they hang in bunches from the shrub.
As evening approaches it gives off a very sweet fragrance that scents the house and outside living space. It can grow to look untidy, but once it has finished flowering, it is best to cut it back to about a third of its size. This also encourages new growth for flowering the following season. Flowering along the highways to Kloof and Hillcrest and found in the grasslands is a bulb called Gladiolus dalenii, with its striking orange flower spike standing above the grasslands.
This bulb is an indicator that winter is on its way, and is known as the Natal Lily or African Gladiolus. These bulbs will flower for the next few weeks before going into dormancy for the winter. Visit your nursery and buy some of these bulbs for your garden.
Autumn is also the time to look at making changes to your garden. Gardens are a changing landscape which need to be nurtured and added to or changed.
It is interesting to see new houses being built all over Durban. A new house is the ideal time to either get the help of a landscaper to design and develop your garden or, if you are able, design your own garden, and make sure you do it properly from day one. It is sad to see people spend so much money on building their houses and then not to provide funds to develop their gardens.
Gardens enhance the price of your property, but also provide beauty to the surrounding landscape. Why pave your entire garden when you could install a garden that will be beautiful and provide a haven for birds and butterflies?
Set aside a budget to buy the right plants. It concerns me to see how many people buy the wrong plants for their gardens, which down the line creates problems.
Select plants that flower at different times of the year. Indigenous grasses have become very popular in landscaping, with one grass in particular that many feel is a weed, but is probably the best grass for seed-eating birds.
Setaria megaphylla or broad-leaved thistle grass is an evergreen that grows to a height of 1m in wetlands or open grasslands, and can grow either in sun or semi-shade. It is frost resistant, fast growing, and bears white flowers in summer. It makes an attractive back-drop to a wetland garden with its “pleated” pretty green leaves.
This article is sponsored by Christopher Dalzell from Chris Dalzell Landscapes. If you have any questions, please e-mail me on: [email protected]