Back for another week, and today we are going to be talking nitrogen, soil erosion, etc etc.

But firstly, did everyone go out and get an Erica Versicolor this week?

The Otholobium family are shrubs and herbaceous perennials. Belonging to the Sweet Pea family, we at Haut Espoir are fond of the Otholobium for 2 major reasons:

1. Through their nitrogen fixing capabilities, Fabacea species (Otholobium are part of the Fabacea species) are essential for fynbos growing on nitrogen poor soils. Bacteria in the roots of the plants take nitrogen out of the air and turn it into a nitrate supply for the host plant. This in turn means that all the fynbos in the area bloom and that makes us very happy indeed.

2. Soil Erosion is a major problem where we are. Our farm is situated on an extremely steep slope, where the wind likes to blow the roof off the buildings, and where we are in possibly the wettest corner of South Africa. We want to leave this farm in far better condition than what it came to us, so soil erosion is right up there on our list of critical things. Otholobium happens to be an amazing plant when it comes to preventing soil erosion and does the job better than almost any other.

The combination of these two factors means you will find quite a bit of this amazing plant on Haut Espoir.

To boost its appeal, its also such a beauty…

So it is no secret I am a big fan of the following plant family, Erica’s, and this week is a really rare flower we are focusing on.

First, I think it is best to let you all know how special the genus Erica is…this from Dolf Schumann and Gerhard Kirsten, from their amazing book, Ericas of South Africa:

For sheer diversity the genus Erica is the most outstanding of all the many genera that make up the fynbos biome in the south-western and southern corner of South Africa.  It numbers some 650 species, many of which are quite exquisite in the shape, colouring and delicacy of their flowers. Some are very rare, and others are on the point of extinction.

And some stats for you:

Outside of this country- only 76 species occur naturally.   South Africa has well over 650!

Onto the specific Erica of this week.  The Erica lerouxiae.

This plant is named after Miss E. le Roux, who brought the species to the attention of Harry Bolus in 1887.

This very pretty species seems to be confined to the western part of the Franschhoek valley where, at altitudes between 400 and 700 m above sea level, it grows on steep slopes in or near streams. It flowers in August and September.
To put that into perspective, here are the spots where Marc from next door says they are on Boekenhoutskloof, and where I have found plants on the mountain..

Discovered on Boekenhoutskloof, and endemic to Scherpheuwelberg, which is the mountain behind both properties, it occurs naturally nowhere else.   That is quite a scary prospect realizing that we are the custodians of a species which; if we bugger it up, doesn’t exist anymore.   Constant source of inspiration for us to get up into the berge and chop out all that alien muck on a regular basis.    Which makes this following shot from the fire two years ago even more scary…. 

I remember when I first moved into the valley permanently, and I really struggled to find this particular Erica up in the mountain.  Now it seems to be doing very well as a species, the indicator I use is that whenever I am out on a Fynbos Walk, these days, I seem to find a new plant.  It is high time I did some proper recording and dating of said individuals….

On a sadder note, with the recent injury to Dr Paul Cluver, and all the damage to fynbos the Overberg has experienced from their recent fire, here is an exert from Pendock Uncorked:   ‘Some species which were thought to be extinct have only recently been rediscovered in our mountain fynbos – in particular the Erica patens. We hope we have not lost this rare flora’, said Paul Clüver IV.”

It fills me with such pride to be part of an industry so committed to the preservation of the countries Fynbos.  If you want to make a difference, please download the BWI wine list here.

And finally, a smattering of poetry, this is from the opening of the book that got me hooked onto this amazing little fynbos wonder:

I hold you here, root and all, in my hand,

Little flower- but if I could understand

What you are, root and all, and all in all,

I should know what God and man is

The voice and the Peak

Alfred Lord Tennyson

Another Fynbos Friday, and another beautiful flower that I (webmaster) would personally never have imagined to be a bush, but that’s why Rob educates us all every Friday. Back to the good stuff….

This week were dealing with a very close relative to the Buchu plant, Adenandra marginata (or villosa)…there is some speculation within my mind as to what the specific scientific name for this beauty is…however whether it is one or the other, it is a spectacular flower spread, very bright white flower petals, and if you get close enough you will see on the edges of the petals the finest etching in pink or red, which give it the very unique common name to the china flower.  Flowering from now until Christmas, it is giving our fynbos section a spectacular splash of white not typically seen in such brightness.

http://www.plantzafrica.com/plantab/adenanduni.htm

On Friday we had a pretty busy day with regards our reptilian friends in the Valley. One Olive House Snake, and then this bugger.

Quite annoyed at the treatment it received from a few farm workers, fortunately it appears that there was no major damage to the snake and I managed to snap these few pics while the better snake handler in the valley, Richard, was in the process of releasing said snake.

A thing of immense beauty, they still manage to scare the living daylights out of me but boy these are stunning creatures. The thing with snakes is just remember they want to get out of there alive just as you do. Mutual respect. This really was a magnificent specimen.

And it’s a clear marker summers now here when we start seeing these big boys out and about..

Last week we had the King Protea, a magnificent part of the Fynbos family.

This week we move onto The Protea Scabra, which is possibly one of the most fantastic looking plants I have ever seen. So we turn our attention to the man with the knowledge, Rob…

This week’s installment takes a quick turn away from the medicinal fynbos aspects (although I am serious need of a few buchu brandies to help the babelas today)

This week we are looking at Protea scabra, from a group called the Dwarf-tufted sugarbushes, we have a very nice stand of the scabra flowering after a fire which ravaged the area almost two years ago.  What is interesting or unique about this group of proteas  is that they have underground stems, tufts of leaves sprout around where a flower head will come up, so not your typical flowering protea head.  As you can see quite distinctive.

These two flowering now look pretty different to the pics I have online and those in my books, what I think has happened is that mice have gone in and ruffled the feathers ( so to speak).  I can’t for the life of me find where I read it but these are pollinated by rodents as far as I can remember.   What is surprising to me is that the reference books I have refer to the habitat as montane, which we are certainly nowhere near.   It has been great to see the response this stand has had after the fire, they are flowering like crazy at the moment and putting on quite a show.  Which is also quite rare, as we are used to seeing them flowering around July to October.  Testament to the wet and cold winter we have had that they are flowering later than usual.

http://www.livingfynbos.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=3294

http://fernkloof.com/species.mv?146

When we talk business at the farm, there is usually a glass of wine involved. Two weeks ago was just such an occasion. Rob and myself were talking about the Fynbos Walks he wants to do more of in summer.

Rob is passionate about fynbos like Riaan Cruywagen is passionate about the news. Testament to this is the fresh approach we are taking with Fynbos Fridays. Another is the Fynbos Walks he arranges on the farm, and we wanted to talk about this quite soon.

Surfing around tonight (on the interwebs) I came across just such an experience, on Tripadvisor. Here is what they had to say:

“We recently had our semi-annual “wine vacation” in Franschoek and this time did something REALLY different; we booked a guided fynbos walk with Rob Armstrong, managing director at Haut Espoir wine estate. It is such a unique and refreshing thing to do in the valley and we hope more people will take advantage of this resource in the future. Lest you think Franschoek is “only” about good food and drink, think again …

After the walk, Rob does a lovely wine tasting in their beautifully appointed facilities. Please note that the length and level of difficulty of the walk can be adjusted. Our walk was about 1.5 hours long and quite strenuous, but Rob can tailor this to individual needs.”

The entire article can be found here.

To contact Rob, please go across to our Contact Page and book your trip today…

Protea Cynaroides

King Protea

Instead of one image today, we have an entire gallery, so please click through the pictures to your right…

Apart from being our national flower, and on the chests of our sporting heroes, this is one of my personal favourites on the farm, certainly when flowering this species has the most awesome display of colour and sheer magnificence out of the protea family.    The sugarbirds look particularly regal when perched on top one of these thrones, and they make such a nice home for all the beetles and ants coming to collect pollen.

All in all one of the more prolific flowering proteas, and very easy to grow and cultivate.

“Possible the most spectacular flower in the world” says Sima Eliovson.  And this from the inside cover of her book- Proteas for Pleasure  (note from Rob – I love collecting old fynbos books)

Lure of the Protea

Where silver rocks reflect the mountain streams,

The Protea holds aloft its stately head-

Majestic flower to prompt the thoughts of men,

According to their nature and their dreaming.

To some it seems a giant artichoke,

While others link it to the ancient god

For whom ‘tis named-

The ruby glow and allied silky beard

Evoke the mystery of primeval days;

A traveler, who ranges far from home,

Will quicken at its sight and yearn

And envy the sugarbirds,

That dip into the gleaming cup,

While swaying gently in the wind.

Sima Eliovson.

Click here for some information from the PlantzAfrica web page about this amazing plant.

And a link to an extensive protea database:

The Database. As a South African, you should know more about this plant. Its such a part of our heritage.

I am having a cracking morning behind the desk, getting the new labels signed off and furiously attempting to crunch as much admin as possible before the big Uncorked weekend coming up.  In my mind I am tasting the prawns and shiraz from Lynx right now.  And with all the gees that’s building up for Uncorked I cannot help but play Zinkplaat and the Orange Stilettos and look through old hard drives for pics from our rip snorter last year with the Zinkstilettos.. and here they are.

See you in the Hoek this weekend.  Ill be the big guy with red wine stains on his shirt…

Unfortunately we wont be opening up the cellar this year for Uncorked and the music and gees will be sorely missed, however keep track of these guys, they are a seriously talented bunch.

However you can catch our wines at The Conservatory along with the Salmon Bar and Maison.   You can find the full Uncorked programme here.

So I went for a quick little walk, the phones aren’t busy and the tasting room is dead, dead quiet.   I was bombing around my daily dose of internets,  on one of my regular reads I came across this and entered the 2Oceansvibe competition where you can win a ga jillion Rand, and the real draw card….tickets to the Killers.   Now I’ve missed the boat with tickets, they’re all sold out unfortunately, but because it’s just too good a deal not to take, the money AND the tickets, I thought id invest in some sneaky Euromillions.    Thanks Seth, when I win please can I get one of those big cheques?

Thinking about how I’m going to spend this small fortune, I thought I would go and clear the head with a quick walk.  Too many thoughts of whether the Bugati Veyron can be converted to 4 X 4, and the farms new Lamborghini tractor, (seriously they have good tractors).    So I plugged the ipod into the ears ( Dean Fuel you legend)  and packed my camera and macro lens, and a brisk five minutes later I was into this:  a stunning little stand of Leucospermum reflexum.

Naturally this would only occur in a tiny belt of Cederberg Fynbos which runs from near Wupperthal ( great Veldskoen are made here,  I have three pairs) through to Travellers Rest, and smack bang in the middle is Bushmanskloof Wilderness Reserve and Retreat, a lekker little spot up in the mountains, where this was one of my Fynbos favourites.    I loved it so much we’ve got this stand growing on the farm, and its always a special time when they open up.     If you’re driving through Bishops Court, and over towards Constantia on the M3, look out for a monster stand of these absolute knock outs.    Take care though, that’s a mean corner if youre not concentrating.   Get the missus to drive if you have one too many Jack Blacks at Forries!

So I took little montage of the flowering stages just for you:

Inconspicuos no?  No ideas what it is going to turn into, very shy.

The tiniest hint of colour coming out…

A little more….until…

BOOM.  Awesome no?

These are so magnificent.  You have to see them to appreciate truly how stunning these proteas are.  All the better to go and see them in their unique habitat of this  one tiny patch of the Cederberg,   I love Fynbos.

And a quick update,  from the last time I was near this little precious, if you missed it you can catch that right here, it’s the same plant, just now all that closer to opening up and sharing its beauty with the world.

And from Tony’s massive database of Protea’s I learnt today that they are helped onwards and upwards by Ants.  Amazing.   So special.

Graceful Spiderhead – Serruria gracilis

For those that love this type of thing to lift the spirits, Id encourage you all to head over to Siegfrieds page of Cape Fynbos.  He has some stunners up here as well.

Or just come to Franschhoek and see for yourself.  When I win the Euromilions I’m going to buy Franschhoek.  And youre welcome to come say hi.   Well drink wine and  beer and talk Fynbos.  Anytime.

Come on BOKKE!  09:00 Tomorrow morning.  I am itching to get James into Rugby tomorrow.  He will be plied with Biltong (the age old Karoo Dummy) and a virgin Jon Deere (just crème soda) and Im going to teach him a magnificently fun game called fetch Daddy beer!    His Godfather Neil will be proud to know he can already High Five like a champ, and as long as the will to not watch CeeBeeBee’s prevails and bloody Night Garden show again….then we should be in for a cracker of a morning.

For those that missed my vid on n’Kosi Sikilele Afrika, @Newlands, here is the link on Youtube.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLAOVv3docc

Remember that?   Its from not too long ago when we thumped the proverbial Matilda out of the Aussies.

You can even follow the worlds best number 5 and the bain of every other nations line out jumpers right here :  Victor

Does that not build gees for tomorrow?   Even though they are on the other side of the world were all screaming for you okes tomorrow morning back here over eggs and bacon and beer.   BOKKE!

Tomorrow will be the Tri Nations Champs.  I can feel it in my bones.