“We sit in other people's gardens, why not in our own?” – Mirable Osler
Using recycled materials, my husband has made me a garden seat for two. Placed in a secluded, shady spot in our little garden, and thus protected from winds that sweep across the bay, it has been a boon, particularly during the fiercely hot summer months. Invariably when I snatch a few moments to rest and revive there, I am joined by my fellow gardeners, the Cape Robins, ever on the search for grubs for their young, which seem to arrive regularly throughout the year.
One can have a rewarding time bird watching. Recently, we saw a hungry Orange-breasted Sunbird settle right on the back of a long-tailed sugarbird, while awaiting his turn at our nectar feeder! On another occasion, a Malachite Sunbird and a sugarbird dipped their long beaks into the single tube of the feeder, sipping amiably side by side.
I have long admired the Wild Coffee or Bladdernut (Diospyros whyteana), thinking it would make a fine, indigenous hedge with its shiny, dark green foliage. This month, therefore, I was delighted to see flourishing, glistening hedges of Bladdernut in Ida Raimondo’s beautiful garden on Wynberg Hill.
The Bladdernut is found in kloofs and forested areas over much of this country. It is evergreen, reasonably fast-growing, especially when young, and though it can survive a certain amount of drought, it does best if well watered during the growing season. It is disease resistant and needs far less trimming than most other hedges. Grown in containers as a bonsai or an accent plant, or as a tree for a small garden, it deserves to be planted more often.
Exotic trees are equally admirable, and Capetonians are fortunate in having a splendid collection of these right on their doorstep, in the Arderne Gardens on Claremont’s Main Road. This lovely 4.5 hectare treasure is part of a garden planted by Ralph Henry Arderne more than 150 years ago and contains trees from all over the world, including six Champion Trees, which are remarkable trees deserving special protection.
Here you will find the Dragon Tree from the Canary Islands, whose red sap was believed to be the blood of a female dragon, the Kauri pine, which the Maoris revered as a god, and the Indian bean tree from the Mississippi Valley. There are even bamboo and fern-fringed ponds, complete with quacking ducks and curved bridges.
They are places of enchantment.
It’s free, the gardens are fenced and there is a guard on patrol. An explanatory leaflet can be bought for R5 from a pharmacy across the road. - Cape Argus