Bluff gardeners educated on spekboom’s advantages

NATALIA Garden Club was very fortunate to have Martin Clement from the Durban Botanic Gardens as the speaker for its October gathering.

Martin did a slide show and very informative talk on the trees in the botanical gardens.

Trees are such a relevant subject in this polluted world. Unfortunately, over the last few years, the Bluff has been subjected to the irresponsible removal of trees. The first thing many new residents do is cut down all the trees, apparently because they are ‘messy’ or people are afraid of snakes. What snakes? Are there still some around, after we have killed them all and destroyed their habitat? More trees should be planted, not removed.

A good choice would be to plant Portulacaria Afra (elephant’s food/spekboom). This is a large, spreading evergreen shrub or tree which grows to 4m, making it a good hedge plant. Tiny pink flowers appear in summer and these are followed by pinkish fruits. It is an inexpensive plant to purchase and one of the easiest to propagate from cuttings. The leaves are edible, having a slightly acidic taste.

Spekboom is native to Eastern Cape. It grows particularly in the Addo Elephant Park area outside Port Elizabeth, but it once covered hundreds of thousands of hectares in that area. It is a valuable fodder plant for elephants and goats. Now the humble tree is being replanted hectares at a time because of its ability to capture carbon, restore natural ecosystems and alleviate poverty. From government restoration programmes to schoolyard educational projects, spekboom has become a symbol for carbon emission reduction and climate change awareness. It even has its own Facebook page.

Birthday wishes and gifts went to those garden club members who had birthdays in October. Door and raffle prizes were supplied by Rita Ndlovu and won by Ann Barker and Margaret Everett. The R100 club was won by Robert Wheal.

Competition results were as follows:

Decorative:

• D du Plessis 7,
• J Huygens 6.5,
• M Dunn, J Buitendag, C Kotze and N Brown 6.

Culture:

• N Brown, C Kotze, D du Plessis, J Buitendag 6,
• M Jones and J Huygens 5.

Best bloom or spray:

• N Brown, M Dunn and D du Plessis 10,
• M Dunn and C Kotze 8,
• M Page 7.

Best orchid:

• C Kotze 10,
• R Jones 9,
• L van Jaarsveld and
• N Brown 7.

From my garden:

• J Huygens, G Barnes, C Kotze, D du Plessis and L van Jaarsveld 10.

Best pot plant:

• N Brown 10,
• J Buitendag and  C Kotze 9,
• J Huygens and M Jones 8.

The next meeting is on Thursday, 13 November at the Pigeon Club, Tara Road, at 9.30am. Paul Hoyte from the Centre for Rehabilitation of Wildlife or Crow is going to be the speaker. Competitions are decorative – a floral Christmas table centre piece.

Cultural: Any red flower.

All the other usual categories apply. This is also going to serve as the club’s Christmas function and there is a special competition, a Christmas tree decoration made from a vegetable or fruit, using as much ornamentation as desired.

All members are required to take a plate of snacks. Visitors by invitation only.