H E R B S                                                    NO 77     November 2005 WILDFLOWER FESTIVAL 2005 SAYS HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO HERMANUS

Happy 150th birthday to Hermanus was spelt out in flowers at our annual Wildflower Festival at Fernkloof in September. Cascading king proteas and elegant ericas were made into a giant birthday cake and bouquet to celebrate the event, complete with two sparkling crystal glasses beside an emptied bottle of champagne Compliments flowed. The simplicity and space of the arrangements, the botanical and educational interest of the hundreds of specimens some of which were integrated with the displays, were applauded. As were the 'Chelsea' gardens in the amphitheatre, where peace and gentle colour reigned; while delectables sold like mad to the bobotie, bredie and carrot cake fans. The weather kept us on our toes, chilly, cloudy, with the odd ray of sunshine - until Saturday evening when a freak wind storm threatened to blow the big top and its valuable contents out to sea. The chairman and his team came to the rescue and after a two-hour battle staved off disaster. Visitors delighted in wandering the new 'Walks on Wheels' paths flanked by indigenous flower beds, fragrant and succulent. The next phase, through a fynbos wilderness, has been completed with the help of festival profits and donations. And all roads led to the indigenous plant nursery where happy gardeners filled wheelbarrow loads with special items, from flowering clivias, orange, yellow and red, to small purple babianas. Financial records were broken. Figures to date show that more than R100 000 profit was made. Included in this figure is wine man Paul du Toit's magnificent contribution of R17 000 from the Wine Auction held in August. Catering came in tops with a record net profit of more than R25 000, the raffle with its tempting prizes made more than R13 000 and the tent R10 000. The gate money was almost identical to last year at R28 000. The question then arose: Should we or should we not rub shoulders with the Whale Festival followers next year? The traffic jams into Hermanus town kept many of our faithful fans away and - let's face it - the weather is always a hazardous feature specially at Whale Festival time. So the decision was made to go back to being our own entity, where flowers reign supreme and the mountains look down in calm spendour on the cult of peace and beauty. Diarise your next Wildflower Festival at Fernkloof - 14 to 17 September 2006. Thank you to Carol and her cohorts for yet another festival success. NB: For photographs of our 2005 Wildflower Festival and Walks on Wheels scroll down. Donations for the project can be sent to PO Box 208, Hermanus 7200. Make our dream come true!

HOY'S KOPPIE - TO BURN OR NOT TO BURN - that is (or was) the question!

says Lee Burman who has found up to a 100 flowering species on the unplanned burn from last summer.. The environmentalists decided that the vegetation was becoming senescent, having been unnaturally protected from veld fires for many years. They all agreed that the Koppie should be burned before April 2005. The Fire Department, however, got cold feet and refused to authorise the fire. Nature nearly had its way, however, and a wildfire started on a blustery afternoon during the height of summer. It was quickly extinguished - conditions were too dangerous to let it burn - but not before a substantial portion of the lower northern and western slopes had gone up in flames. Recovery started slowly and unspectacularly - no colourful show of fire lilies (Cyrtanthus angustifolius) here! But gradually interesting species started showing their heads - an unexpected small colony of our own Cliff Gladiolus (Gladiolus carmineus) and an extensive sprinkling of the diminutive Lachenalia rubida were amongst the earliest to flower. After a lull during the winter months there was a sudden burst of activity when warmer weather announced the arrival of Spring. Just in time for the Society's Wildflower Festival was a mass display of the unusual Cape Edelweiss, Lanaria lanata, with its densely woolly white head of flowers. It is not uncommon but only flowers after fire. Recent collections have turned up a number of species not previously recorded in the coastal area of Hermanus. These include an attractive member of the Asteraceae, Corymbium congestum, of most un-daisylike appearance with its head of small white flowers, each with a striking mauve style protruding. Another new species for the coastal herbarium is Moraea bituminosa with its striking yellow flowers and its incredibly sticky stems. Also collected was Zygophyllum spinosum, confirming suspicions that this species is not confined to the Cape Peninsula, as it is stated in all the literature. All in all, nearly 100 species have been recorded on the burnt area of the Koppie, many of them not to be seen on the adjoining unburnt section. Every walk among the blackened sticks turns up new treasures - enough to keep the amateur botanists amongst us enthralled for quite some time to come.

DID YOU KNOW?

The well-attended series of botanical lectures given jointly by U3A and our society recently have been dedicated to Priscilla Drewe and Belle Barker, for their immensely valuable contribution to the Hermanus Herbarium and Fernkloof. Thank you, too, to our vice chairman Keith Kirkman for his unflagging efforts to get this very good show on the road - and up the mountain. For those who missed Rupert Langerman's tribute to Belle at her 80th birthday slide show, surf our website www.fernkloof.com , click on 'Hermanus Botanical Society', then top left on 'Belle Barker'. The lovely picture of Belle communing with Paranomus sceptrum- gustavianus, a rare protea on Galpin, was taken by Pat Miller. Thanks are due to the Marine Hotel mini garden team at the Wildflower Festival for leaving all their lovely flowering plants for us to enjoy around the drinking fountain. We are still missing a major amount of email addresses from our members. Please let Lee Burman have these at leeburman@telkomsa.net. Two important dates for your diary next year are: Our annual general meeting on Wednesday February 1 Our annual braai on Friday February 24. The young milkwood trees in Piet se Bos planted by Coastcare are doing well. Birdloving members are upset because the lower path to the waterfall has been closed off and there is no access to Victorin's warbler and other species.

PROGRAMME

HACKING MEETS :	08:00	September - March
	08:30	April - August

Tuesdays (third of each month) :	November 15
	December 20
	January 17
	February 21

For further information contact Bob Hill

028-3121463

 

OTHER SOCIAL EVENTS :

November 19	08:30	DAY WALK: Beach walk: De Kelders/Duiwelsgat/Klipgat/Die Plaat
December 16	18:00	FERNKLOOF: Chairman's walk: bring picnic supper
2006 January 21	08:00	DAY WALK: Disa walk at Harold Porter, Betty's Bay
2006 February 1   NB wednesday	18:00	FERNKLOOF : Annual General Meeting
2006 February 15-17		EXCURSION: Arniston
2006 February 24	18:00	FERNKLOOF: Annual braai

For further information re walks please contact Piet Joubert

tel 028-3140264

Published by Hermanus Botanical Society, PO Box 208, Hermanus 7200 Editor: GERALDINE GARDINER - Fax (028) 313 0617