by KBergReserve

AN OMISSION

Last month we posted an article about Felicia echinata taking over, with this picture. But we omitted to include the gardener’s name. So here he is - Brian Njodzi, during a day’s work when an area of dune at Silversands was cleared of Felicia echinata
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by KBergReserve

THREE GARDENS IN SPRING

Tim Attwell You’ve got to love life in Rooi Els, Pringle Bay and Betty’s Bay. I mean, where else would a Monday morning at 9:00 am see twenty plus people pile into a convoy of cars to go, not to work, but to three amazing gardens in Betty’s Bay? First was Helen George’s garden, hidden above Clarence Drive. Developed over decades on mountainside land owned by a family trust, the garden has two very different areas. The first, beautifully terraced, is a formal layout of indigenous trees, shrubs and flower beds showcasing the best of…
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by KBergReserve

AN IDEAL CHRISTMAS GIFT

Your Place in the Kogelberg by Tim Attwell is more than a book about gardening. Filled with interesting facts and useful information about the natural environment in the Hangklip to Kleinmond area, the book entertains as much as it informs. Readers are introduced to the animal life and the seven different vegetation types of the southern coastal transition zone of the Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve, each one different from the others. They will find out the many ways gardens can be both part of the natural landscape and provide beauty, recreational space and endless delight. The…
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by KBergReserve

AFTER THE FIRE

The fire that started on 4 March this year on the far side of the Dawidskraal River, swept across the commonage for the next three days. It left in its trail a desolate landscape. Amazingly, in less than two weeks, bright red clumps of April Fool (Haemanthus canaliculatus) could already be seen, flowering bravely amid the ash and blackened vegetation. This is an endemic plant, appearing only after fires in marshes between Rooi Els and Betty’s Bay. Arum lilies came next, followed by dense stands of light-green Bog Fern (Thelypteris confluens) and clumps of the camphor-scented white Swamp…
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by KBergReserve

ETHEL MAY DIXIE PAINTINGS

You, our many members and friends, need to know that Kogelberg Branch is now the very proud owner of sixteen flower paintings by early botanical artist, Ethel Dixie. Priscilla Blake, one of our members, has most graciously given them to us as she says she is ‘downsizing’. Priscilla, a librarian, had retired from Johannesburg to Kleinmond and was a regular at our talks and walks and still is to be seen after her move to Somerset West. Dr John Rourke came to see the paintings, armed with his lens and almost immediately pronounced them ‘Good…
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by KBergReserve

UPCOMING EVENTS

1. Grant Brooker of Pringle Bay will speak on Eco-pools  Date:  Saturday 14 November Time:  6 pm Venue: Nivenia Hall, Harold Porter NBG 2. Annual Fundraiser – ‘Travels in Peru’ by Judy New DATE:  Saturday 28 November TIME:  6 pm VENUE:  Nivenia Hall, Harold Porter NBG If you have not yet done so, remember to diarise this event. Funds raised will be used for various branch educational projects. Tickets cost R70 and can be bought at the talk and at the following shops: Penguin Place, Clarence Drive, Betty’s Bay Pringle Bay Books, Pringle Bay Oupa’s…
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by KBergReserve

OCTOBER TALK

Andrea Benn Conservation Biodiversity on Road Verges and Urban Open Spaces - Don’t Mow the Verges by Prof Gavin Maneveldt  - 17 October 2015 Trained as a Marine Biologist, Gavin developed his interest in the diversity of our flora in the early nineties. He commenced his talk by listing some general aspects of biodiversity in South Africa: After Indonesia and Brazil, SA has the most biological species in the world. We have 1% of the world’s land space, but have one-third of its plant species. We have three biological hot spots – most countries don’t…
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