Kumbula Blog
Making sense of botanical names of plants
Latin botanical names of plants is an area which many gardeners simply bypass as being too complicated to consider and I admit that for a long while I simply learned the names without any understanding of what they meant. But at last the lights came on and I have begun to gain some insight. So here are some basic points that helped clarify my baffled brain.
Surnames and first namesBotanical plant names consist of two words. The first word describes the 'genus' or group name of the...
Read moreCreate a successful, low cost succulent garden
Succulent revival
With the revival of interest in growing succulents, there has been a flurry of magazine articles, books and TV programmes about how to go about creating a succulent garden. Innovative ideas are presented and glossy pictures illustrate stunning views of pristine gardens, rich with amazing specimens, sculptures and boulders, with spaces and pathways covered with a variety of coloured stones and gravel. The optional word here being 'rich'. Little or no...
Read moreDog stinkhorn - Mutinus caninus
I found this stinkhorn recently in my garden. The tip is covered with slime which reportedly smells like cat faeces. The slime contains the spores. The smell attracts flies, the slime sticks to them and is then transferred to suitable places where the next fungus can grow. This fungus seems to be quite common and originates from Europe, the UK and eastern North America. They are not poisonous to humans or animals.
Read moreObtaining and growing protea seeds.
Getting seeds
I first collected my own seeds from proteas in my garden that had died but only about six out of a hundred germinated, so I have decided that collecting my own seed is an option but notoriously unreliable. Protea seeds can be bought from among others, Kirstenbosch Seed Room, Fine Bush People, Silverhill Seeds and Bidorbuy. Remember to order smoke primer when you buy your seeds. If you live in a summer rainfall area, be sure to choose varieties that are...
Succulents: a growing passion
Africa is growing desert like never before in recorded history, and there seems little hope that this trend will be stemmed anytime in the near future. Traditional gardening with leafy water gluttons is a thing of the past with succulents winning increased popularity around the world.
Succulents are a group of plants that have developed intriguing water storage systems to enable them to survive adverse conditions, many of them originating from the western half of the country where...
Read moreControlling Weeds in Garden Beds
The term 'weed' in a broad sense is used to describe any green herbage that grows where it is not wanted. For our purposes we will concentrate on those persistent grasses and small plants that come up in every nook and cranny and open space in the garden. The burning question is how to get rid of them, assuming one doesn't want to make use of poisons. Because weeds produce many thousands of seeds per plant, per season, this is a long term issue but one that can be almost entirely conquered...
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