{"id":2597,"date":"2018-12-17T06:17:05","date_gmt":"2018-12-17T14:17:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/?p=2597"},"modified":"2018-12-17T06:17:05","modified_gmt":"2018-12-17T14:17:05","slug":"out-of-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/out-of-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Out of Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"geraniums--lavender\"<\/a>The sunniest spot on my dining room window seat is currently occupied by a geranium\u2014Pelargonium x hortorum–that is struggling to come to terms with the winter light.\u00a0 By the time it truly acclimates, it will probably be March\u2014almost time to take it outdoors to soak up the direct sunshine it craves.\u00a0 In the meantime, it has sprouted one brave bloom, a tribute to the tenacity of a hybrid plant whose species ancestors emigrated from far-off South Africa.<\/p>\n

Those geranium forbears were not alone.\u00a0 South Africa is a cradle of botanical diversity, without which we ornamental gardeners would be considerably poorer.\u00a0 If you have ever grown, \u00a0\u00a0arranged, or admired gerbera daisies, gladioli, black-eyed Susan vine, bird-of-paradise, or agapanthus, you have experienced a plant that literally traces its roots back to South Africa.\u00a0 Some sources estimate that about ten percent of the world\u2019s flowering plant species are native to that country.<\/p>\n

One southern South African area in particular has been recognized for its unique natural value.\u00a0 Since 2004, the Cape Floral Region has been one of the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization\u2019s World Heritage Sites.\u00a0 According to UNESCO, the area was awarded this designation because it is \u201c\u2026one of the richest areas for plants when compared to any similar sized area in the world. It represents less than 0.5% of the area of Africa but is home to nearly 20% of the continent\u2019s flora. The outstanding diversity, density and endemism of the flora are among the highest worldwide.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many of the best-known South African plants are part of the enormous daisy or Compositae family.\u00a0 Because of this geographic and family connection, a number of them go by the nickname \u201cAfrican daisy\u201d, and it can be hard to sort them out.\u00a0 Among the most popular is the colorful gerbera or Transvaal daisy, a florists\u2019 favorite and stalwart of perennial gardens in warm winter climates.\u00a0 Treated elsewhere as annuals, modern hybrid gerberas come in an array of bright colors, with large single daisies born atop tall stems.<\/p>\n

Another tender perennial, hybrid arctotis, features somewhat narrower petals than gerbera, but sports an equally cheerful color range, often highlighted by dramatic black or blue-black centers.\u00a0 Its relative, gazania, sometimes called the Namaqua daisy, after its native Namaqualand region of South Africa and Namibia, appears often in modern gardens.\u00a0 Treated as a bedding plant in cold-winter areas, gazania is even shorter than arctotis, topping out at about 12 inches.\u00a0 Though gazania is available in a range of colors, I like the variety with gold petals highlighted by brown-maroon central stripes.<\/p>\n

While not a true daisy, delosperma or ice plant is a low-growing South African succulent with daisy-like flowers in bright colors.\u00a0 Never rising above six inches, the plants will form a ground-covering mat, given generous amounts of direct sun and very well-drained soil.\u00a0 Delosperma can allegedly survive in climates up to and including USDA plant hardiness zone 6, where average annual extreme winter temperatures might go as low as zero.\u00a0 I would not bet money on this survival, but for a really beautiful ice plant, I might risk planting in a protected spot with lots of winter mulch.<\/p>\n

But what if you are sick of winter\u2019s grayness and can\u2019t yet think about a vivid summer garden full of South African daisies?\u00a0 Take heart, because with a few computer keystrokes or a trip to the nearest decent garden center, you can lay hands on a clivia in short order.\u00a0 This South African amaryllis relative sprouts the same tall stems and long, strap-like leaves as other amaryllids, but instead of extremely large individual trumpets, it produces clusters of somewhat smaller blooms.\u00a0 The most common flower color is bright orange, but yellows are also available for slightly more money.\u00a0 Clivia is a winter bloomer, and given a modicum of thoughtful care, it will rebloom, year after year.\u00a0 I invested in a yellow-flowered clivia at last year\u2019s Philadelphia Flower Show.\u00a0 I am hoping that it will bloom after the holidays to keep my lonely geranium company.<\/p>\n

Someday, if the stars align themselves properly, I would love to go to the Cape Floral Region and see all those gorgeous flowering plants.\u00a0 In the meantime, I am thinking of my personal floral region and making plans to add a few more arctotis and delospermum to next summer\u2019s garden.\u00a0 A small helping of South Africa\u2019s floral diversity will go a long way towards satisfying my appetite for garden color.\"red<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The sunniest spot on my dining room window seat is currently occupied by a geranium\u2014Pelargonium x hortorum–that is struggling to come to terms with the winter light.\u00a0 By the time it truly acclimates, it will probably be March\u2014almost time to take it outdoors to soak up the direct sunshine it craves.\u00a0 In the meantime, it … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,2,3,5],"tags":[2015,2011,2012,2014,64,2009,2013,65,1282,2010],"class_list":["post-2597","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fall","category-general-interest","category-spring","category-summer","category-winter","tag-arctotis","tag-bird-of-paradise","tag-delosperma","tag-gazania","tag-geraniums","tag-gerbera-daisies","tag-ice-plant","tag-pelargoniums","tag-south-african-plants","tag-strelitzia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2597","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2597"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2597\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2600,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2597\/revisions\/2600"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}