A Sub-tropical Winter Garden

The rolling green hills of the sub-tropical coastal Kwazulu Natal are spared the extreme cold and frost that many other regions in our country experience.
The garden stays green throughout the year, it's almost as if there's more colour during winter.

Summer is our rainy season, so most winter days are glorious, sunny, and blue skies. we know when there's been snow on the Drakensberg, some three hours inland, as the wind gets an icy bite.
During cold spells like that, if the sun comes out, it's warmer outside, than inside the house, which is still cold from the long nights.

What an absolute blessing being able to walk in my garden and see how nature showers us with beauty all year round!

My Ouma used to call this medium-sized shrub the Bridal Veil, and you can see why, as it's covered in tiny white flowers with a delicate honey scent, it's stunning when it's flowering!



My adopted feline grandson Poe still keeps on exploring and finding new hideouts for his long slumbers - eat, sleep, and hunt birds, lizards, and the poor little geckos, who have all but disappeared. It's a pity, as they catch mosquitoes, a real pest in summer!

When I planted new herb seedlings, the soil was lovely and soft, and Poe thought this was the perfect spot for his new Loo!
I had to devise a plan so stuck beach pebbles in the bare patches of soil in between the herbs, and it's working. Here he's inspecting another raised bed, but was not interested as the soil has hardened with mostly succulents growing there.


He's very fussy so he rarely uses his litter box, unless he's desperate, and cannot find his way out of the house. We hardly ever have to change the antibacterial crystal cat litter that my son bought a ton of before they emigrated, and it's going down very slowly. It suits me just fine!
He's found a nice hideout underneath the Lavender bush, as well as under a Jasmine creeper. I will share the Jasmine with you when it's flowering.

We have Palms in various parts of the garden, some very large, but this Bamboo Palm will hopefully not outgrow the raised flower bed where it sprung up by itself. The Dieffenbachia with its elongated white spotted leaves looks very attractive, but the entire plant is toxic, so be careful if you ever handle one.



Palm trees and a Pomelo tree happily grow next to the pool.



This shy Orchid grows on the stem of another plant and had its first flowers recently, they're starting to wilt a little here.



The Asparagus Fern also was planted recently, and I'm looking forward to when it starts to get lush, but already looks very good!

Of course, succulents are mostly seen in drier regions, but have made a huge comeback and are popular in gardens everywhere. They are the easiest plants to grow, do not mind when it hardly ever rains, and is happy to show off as long as there's enough sun.

The Echeveria almost looks like a desert rose with red tips on the end of the green leaves.



The Foxtail Agave keeps on multiplying so we've planted its offspring in other parts of the garden.



We planted the variegated Agave with its sharp spiky leaves just outside our fence and also planted a creeping succulent that looks very pretty with its red flowers, but has thorns that are razor sharp.
Thorny plants look way better than razor wire which many homes in our country have, in an attempt to deter intruders.



This Aloe gets bright orange spiky flowers but still is young, and hopefully, it will soon start showing off.

Bromeliads also keep on multiplying, thrive in our climate, and always make for a good show.

I have many more plants that grow on the other side of the house and garden to share with you, but the clock has just struck midnight here in SA, so I will stop right there, and take you on a walk next time to see the various colourful shrubs that grow in our garden.

Happy gardening everyone!

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