It has been a while since I blogged on my own blog, somehow the Van Stadens one seems to get preference.
During our weekend away at Slagboom guest farm in the Zuurberg we were keen to go and check up on “our” Pelargonium ovale which we discovered a few years ago. Unfortunately it grows on one of the peaks so a stiff hike up the steep 4×4 track was in order.
So, on Sunday morning we left the Kruger family behind at the house and we set off with the dew still on the grass. First you wander through the valley bushveld with some lovely trees.
We soon got a good view of our destination on top of hill, on the way we came past this impressive Cussonia.
Fortunately, after a good slog and some perspiration, we got to the fynbos and the Pelargoniums, mainly graveolens and mhyrfolium.
On the way we also saw some lovely Cycads, here Ellie is checking if it is really sturdy, too big for her backpack anyway.
We were surprised that the fynbos had grown quite considerably after our last visit and our target plants clearly had suffered from the lack of light. What were lush bushes then were now dry, straggly twigs, still with a few green leaves though and, out of the ten or so plants we found, only one had a flower.
Surprise! Where we expected the pink petals with purple markings of the P.ovale ssp. veronicifolium we got this one. Got some research to do as usual.
I also found this Haworthia having a hard time surviving among these Euphorbias.
The vegetation on top is really quite varied and interesting, as we ambled back to our well-deserved swim in Dopersgat we took time to sniff the flowers and admire the views.
One had to be very sure footed going down on the steep sections, as you can see, not quite a highway.
