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| A Cussonia being blown every which way on Banner's Rest. |
Bravely we set out to see what was flowering on the burnt slopes at Banner's Rest. Where there is fire, there's flowers. The wind truly knotted itself and how petals stayed on flower heads I do not know. I imagined a blog of contemporary blurred images which was the case but I ventured back two day's later the sky exhaled to capture the flowers on the blog.
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Stop moving flowers! |
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| Dorothy, the last to turn around and head back to the car, the wind was the worst we've experienced. |
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| Anne bracing herself against the howling gale. |
The plants trembled in the wind and Dorothy was nearly blown off her sticks, four legs today was better than two. Our clothes flapped like sails in the brutal wind and our eye lashes went straight back against our faces as if we where Kewpie Doll's. It truly was not much fun and we decided to go and botanise in the Umtumvuna Forest where we had the trees to protect us from the elements. We were literally blown away from the flowers.
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| Acalypha peduncularis |
Acalypha peduncularis
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Afroaster hispida |
Berkheya insignis
Cyrtanthus brachyscyphus
Gladiolus longicollis
Hebenstretia comosa - Katstert
Hilliardiella hirsuta
Kniphofia coddiana - Codd's Poker
Lasiosiphon kraussianus - Lesser yellow head
Ledebouria revoluta
Merwilla plumbea - Blue Squill
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| Ocinum obovatum - Cat's whiskers |
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| Othonna natalensis - Natal Geelbossie |
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| Scadoxus puniceus - Paintbrush |
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| Tritonia gladiolaris - Pencilled Tritonia |
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| Orthochilus foliosus |
Into the forest...
We warmed up with tea and with the cry of the Trumpeter Hornbill (Bycanistes bucinator) we ventured into the peace of the beautiful forest with it's fallen leaves and tranquility. Along the path we grazed on the exotic wild raspberry bush's berries. It was a totally delectable feast. Dorothy enthusiastically taught us about trees and as many leaves where turned as pages in a book. A little later we found our lunch spots a nestled on huge boulders with the rain gently patting down onto our shoulders and laps.
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| Through the gate and into the magic forest. |
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| Trumpeter Hornbill - Photo credit to Mirinda Allen Gericke Mario Colourful Birds of South Africa |
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| A feather in a forest. |
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| Fallen leaves. |
Fungus
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| Like ghosts in the forest. |
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| Pondoland C.R.E.W. Tracy Taylor, Gail Bowers-Winters, Dorothy Mcintyre and Anne Skelton. |
Sincere thanks to all who made this day and blog possible.
“Oh, mightiest wind,
wilt thou cease thy breathing in
and hold thy exhales?”
―
