As winter draws to an end my garden is dry, dusty and tired, quietly marking time before the changing of the seasons and the coming of spring.
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In spite of it being such a quiet time in the garden there are some special floral end-of-winter garden treats, the most obvious one being the coral trees that are all bursting into flower. How wonderful are all those bright orange and red blooms on the winter-bare branches against a clear blue winter sky. I have a rather special salmon-flowered coral tree in my garden that is a joy to behold.
Deciduous trees like my Commiphora harveyi (copper-stemmed corkwood) are still bare of leaves but at least this tree has a striking copper, paper-like bark that always looks good. The peeling bark, against the bright green branches is even more noticeable in winter when the leaves are not there to distract the eye.
Even the evergreen trees are looking a little tatty and tired, dropping leaves in preparation for the flush of new leaves spring will bring. One of my Bridelia micrantha (mitszeeri) trees is already starting to sprout its copper-coloured spring leaves and will look absolutely gorgeous in a week or two.
To brighten up my winter garden I splashed out and bought some of those bold, bright and beautiful Osteospermum varieties that are flowering so brilliantly at the moment.
I’ve popped them into pots and placed them on a sunny patio where they should flower well.
These so-called African daisies might not impress the purist indigenous gardener as they are cultivated varieties of our indigenous ones, but it is lovely to be able to show off such colourful and eye-catching derivatives of a proudly South African genus.
As I write, clouds are gathering and some rain is predicted. It has been such a dry winter here on the KwaZulu-Natal Coast. Rain would be most welcome.
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