Author Archives: John

Steenberg Peaks

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Okay, so they aren’t exactly Kilimanjaro or Mt Kenya or Mount McKinley. Check the maps though, they really are “peaks” and from this perspective “Higher Steenberg Peak” actually looks lower than “Lower Steenberg.” (Makes me think of a chorus we sang in Kenya, “Lower, Lower….”). There are beautiful views from up there, which I wouldn’t have known if “He Who Knows All Things About the Mountain” hadn’t led me on a guided tour. Those were the days before he became lost between Muizenberg and Lower Steenberg. Going to have to limber up my bionic neck and trek back up there soon.

Kirstenhof wetlands

What we don’t see

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I have walked past these two “trees” (actually they are branches of a tree that fell over) many times but I never took notice or appreciated their shape and how they add beauty to the place where they are growing. How many people am I around yet fail to notice the way they add beauty to the place where they live? Walking by the marsh the eye is often drawn to the splash of color where lilies grow while two graceful branches are easily overlooked.

DoubleTree

Bird of Paradise

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Strelitzia reginae

There is also a yellow variety called “Mandela’s Gold” developed by the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens that I plan to try out from seed. At least let me say that I bought a packet of seeds and the directions look straightforward. We’ll see. Meanwhile I remain mesmerized by the blue, gold, pink and green of this beautiful flower.

Mandelas Gold seed packet

Two of our Spring flowers

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Indian Hawthorne blooms

Bird of Paradis

Two Spring flowers that grace our garden are the lovely Bird of Paradise and the unassuming Indian Hawthorne that suddenly delights the eye with its clusters of pink blossoms. Really glad that we have both in our garden.