Come & see our large variety of
INDIGENOUS
&
EXOTIC
TREES |
SHRUBS |
SEEDLINGS |
HERBS |
FRUIT TREES |
POTS |
BIRDFEEDERS |
SEEDS |
GROUNDCOVERS |
and lots more
in our beautiful country setting!
Indigenous
We have experienced the
advantages of going indigenous and aim to stock a wide range of
indigenous plants that are suited to this area. We are all learning all
of the time so please share your favourites with us next time you are at
The Country Nursery or
e-mail us so that we can share the information with others.
It can be intimidating trying
to start out - you know, everyone is talking about indigenous trees but
where are they and will they do here?! The best test is to see what indigenous trees occur here naturally and then also see what people have in their gardens and where they are positioned.
We are working on identifying trees and shrubs in and around Greytown. These are listed below with a few photos. It is still sparse but we are adding to it all of the time. Please
send us your contributions.
INDIGENOUS TREES &
SHRUB LOCALITIES IN AND AROUND GREYTOWN
Here are a few trees & shrubs
for you to look out for in and around Greytown. We are experimenting and
looking for better photos all the time. Please send us your
contributions or tell us where we can find good specimens:-
Aloe
barberae
Tree aloe - Boomalwyn -
enKulu
Click on
picture to enlarge
Tree aloes are, well, aloes
that look like trees - or is it trees that look like aloes! They are
unmistakable form plants that are becoming more and more popular
especially with landscapers. The one pictured above is at 233 Cathcart
Street and there are many others around town.
Calodendrum
capense
Cape Chestnut -
Wildekastaaing
This is a truly beautiful
indigenous tree gaining in popularity. It does well in our area and the
pink blooms give a fine display in summer. It is sometimes confused with
the dais cotonifolia (pompom tree). There is a fine specimen in the Anglican Church grounds. Enter the gate in Pine
Street and the rounded tree on the corner of the path going to the door of the Church and the Leuchars Hall is a Cape Chestnut. Remember to look out for it early in the summer when it is in flower.
Clivia
miniata
Clivia - Boslelie - Umayime
Click on
picture to enlarge
These shade-loving plants
come into magnificent bloom in mid-August. Very easy, low maintenance
must-have plant in any garden. Also does well in a pot indoors. There
are a couple
of clumps under the trees at The Country Nursery and there are always lots in
stock.
The
common clivia is the orange (C. Miniata) with the yellow one (C. Citrina)
being less common. There are many other colours being developed by
enthusiasts which you can buy at the various shows and open days around
the Province. There are also other varieties being C. Gardenii and C.
nobilis with a drooping, orange flower
Freylinia
Tropica
Click on
picture to enlarge
The Blue Honeybell Bush flowers mainly in
Spring, but also throughout the year. Delicate flowers may be white or
lilac. It can also be planted to form a hedge, or singularly. It will
grow into a lovely shrub-good for screening! It grows to about 1,5m
high. Can also be grown in a large pot on a sheltered patio. I have a
few in my garden and they are always full of insects and I often see a
chameleon or two gobbling them up with their long sticky tongues.
Halleria
Lucida
Tree fuchsia - Notsung -
uNondomela
Click on
picture to enlarge
Halleria is a shrub growing to about 3 metres and can develop into a tree in favourable conditions. It is evergreen and has very attractive dark green glossy foliage. The red flowers come out in profusion and are on the stem of the tree so need closer inspection as they are "inside" the tree. As with most indigenous trees and shrubs, they are good birding trees as the flowers are full of nectar and the berries tasty.
Halleria grows naturally around Greytown and will be found along the roadside and in any patch of forest. It can be planted anywhere in the garden and makes a good hedge.
Kigelia Africana
Sausage tree - Worsboom -
umVunguta
Click on
picture to enlarge
The photo is the only one we
have available of one in Greytown. It is rather puny - in fact it is the worst photo of a Kigelia ever published
on the internet, or anywhere else for that matter!! We will replace it as soon as we
have a better one! The ones of the tree and flower
were taken at Ndumo in mid - August. The tree was alive with birds.There is a big specimen in the Old Wartburg Road in
Pietermaritzburg. If you take Orthmann Road from Greytown and then turn
right at the robots at the intersection with the Old Wartburg Rd you
will see a couple of trees on the left hand side of the road at the top
of that hill about 100 metres from the next robots. The big tree on the
town side is a kigelia.
Leonotus
Leonorus
Wild
dagga - Wildedagga - uTshwala-beZinyoni
Click on
picture to enlarge
The wild dagga is not
narcotic as its name suggests! It is an upright shrub which grows to
about 2 metres. The flowers form one on top of each other every couple
of inches on the long stem as it grows so that new ones are forming as
the older ones are over. The zulu name means "beer of the birds" and it
is so apt because sunbirds are constantly at the pub drinking the
nectar. Look at the beautiful Greater Double Collared Sunbird at it
below!!
Click on
picture to enlarge
The common leonotis has an orange flower with the white being
less common. Even less common is the peach variety pictured below.
Click on
picture to enlarge
A related species is L
intermediate (pictured below) which has a spikey round goody from which
the orange
flower grows. The intermediate flowers from January to June and that's about
when the Leonorus starts so mix a couple together in a sunny spot and
you will have flowers for most of the year with the birds potting away
at the beer! Leonotis self seed so you will soon have quite a clump
which you can thin out every so often. Their natural habitat is
grasslands so it's best to cut them right to the ground to simulate fire
and frost as soon as they have stopped brewing the beer otherwise they
tend to get straggly.
Click on
picture to enlarge
Melianthus
Major
Giant Honey flower -
Kruidjie-roer-my-nie
Click on picture to enlarge
These interesting
shrubs can be seen on the right as you drive through the gate at The
Country Nursery. The leaves are a light greyish green with serrated
edges and the flowers (mid-August) are reddy brown. Be prepared for a
foul pong if you break the leaves - the Afrikaans name is a warning!!
Milletia
Grandis
Umzimbeet
Click on
picture to enlarge
The tree right at top of the island in
Pine Street between Shepstone and Scott Streets is an Umzimbeet.
For the last few years I kept forgetting to look out for the lovely, delicate purple flowers
that show in January but this year I made a special point and didn't
forget!
Podocarpus
Henkilli
Henkell's Yellowwood
Click on
picture to enlarge
Common in Greytown. There are a
number along the top fence of the Junior School on the corner of Durban Road and Scott
Streets. There is a larger
specimen at the back of the first green on the golf course and many
other good specimens around town. They have lovely, drooping dark green,
very dense foliage giving total shade. They are not so fast growing and
some seem to stay the same height forever. But as always, there are
others that seem to really do well in the right conditions such as the
one pictured in Cathcart Street.
Sutera Pauciflora
Trailing Phlox is an attractive dainty
looking groundcover with tiny starry white flowers. It likes a partially
shaded to sunny position and spreads fairly fast.
Tecoma Capensis
Cape
Honeysuckle - Kaapse Kanferfoelie - iMunyane
Click on
picture to enlarge
The beautiful Cape Honeysuckle flowers from
Spring to Autumn. It spreads to about 2-3m, but may be pruned to keep it
neat. It is fast growing, drought resistant, and very easy to grow. It
can be grown to form an attractive hedge. It is an excellent plant for
the ‘bird garden’, and also attracts butterflies. Comes in red, peach
and yellow.
Wembley have a row
of Tecomas between their sportsfields and the golf course on the left of
the road on the way up.
Generally always
in stock at the Country Nursery in all three colours.
Trema Orientalis
Pigeonwood -
Hophout
Click on
picture to enlarge
This tree is said to be the fastest growing of all indigenous trees and is an absolute magnet to birds. It is said to be pioneer species which all tend to grow fast and spread quickly via bird droppings. Trema are very similar to Celtis
(White Stinkwood) and in fact it was called celtis orientalis
until the boffins decided recently that it was something else. Unfortunately they seem to be frost sensitive and so you must find a sheltered position. We have planted about 10 around The Nursery over the last 6 years or so and all have survived the frosts that we have had even the severe frosts in 2010. It may be that the ones we grow are conditioned to frost as with stinkwoods. Flowering (not that they are anything to talk about) and fruiting start from very early - the second year even - and so they are virtually ready made trees when you buy them. They are an absolute must if you have the right spot and want to attract birds - one of the books reports that Lesser Striped Swallows have even been reported feeding on the small dark berries.
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