by KBergReserve

THE BATTLE OF BETTY’S BAY

Ed Silberbauer, Convenor The December hack, no 632, will take place on 6 December on the banks of the Dawidskraal River. Meet at Frik Potgieter's house at the end of Four Streams Road on the river side. The enemies to be tackled are the huge number of myrtle (Leptospermum laevigatum) seedlings. At this stage they are still easy to pull out by hand, so we need hands in vast numbers. Access will be no problem due to the fire that raged through that area in March. This year there will be no 'office party' as…
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by KBergReserve

“TRAVELS IN PERU” FUNDRAISER 28 NOVEMBER 2015

Peter Berrisford Judy New gave 70 guests an amazing tour of Peru. A kaleidoscope of high mountains, swollen rivers, Peruvian towns, steep valleys, strange new species of animals, descendants of the Incas in traditional multi-coloured costumes, parades in Peruvian town squares, tortuous roads, landslides, human sacrifices 500 years old preserved in the rarefied cold high mountain air, jungles, and for the botanists, pictures of unfamiliar plants. It was a breathtaking tour de force, immaculately prepared, professionally presented. While the excuse for the entertainment was fundraising, these functions double as social events. The subject of the…
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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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