AUTUMN is such a beautiful month in Southern KwaZulu-Natal – and I am not just talking about the weather.
With so many autumn-flowering plants providing a show, recent strolls along Saints Walk have been an absolute delight. The natural vegetation along this shoreline pathway between St Michaels and Uvongo is relatively untouched and there is usually some hardy, salt- and wind – resistant plants shouting for attention.
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At the moment it is the creeping foxglove – Asystasia gangetica – that is in full floral glory, its mass of little white flowers looking like a flurry of snowflakes.
As a ground cover, creeping foxglove is a wonderful garden subject, particularly if you have big sunny or partially shady spaces to fill. It grows vigorously, its dark green foliage covering bare ground quickly, providing a natural green carpet and smothering weeds at the same time.
The small white bell-shaped flowers, with their pale purple throats, are most attractive. The purple markings are there to guide insects. Creeping foxglove is something of an insect magnet. According to ‘Bring Nature Back to Your Garden’ authors, indigenous gardening gurus Charles and Julia Botha, the caterpillars of seven species of butterfly, a moth and the tortoise beetle feed on this useful plant.
In places along Saints Walk , the creeping foxglove is intertwined with the fig-leafed Ipomoea (Ipomoea ficifolia) our indigenous morning glory.
It is flowering at the moment, adding a dramatic splash of bright mauve to the creeping foxglove’s white and green. Unlike the alien invasive morning glories that drape and strangle so many of our indigenous trees, our proudly South African fig-leafed Ipomoea is a dainty ground cover rather than a climber.
Another pleasant surprise along the walkway is a patch of flowering Pelargonium capitatum. It’s pretty pale pink flowers are not too conspicuous but its common name – rose-scented Pelargonium – best describes it attributes. Its sweet scent perfumes an extensive section of the walkway when it is in flower, adding to the pleasure of a Saints Walk stroll.
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