Namaqualand - South Africa's Flower Paradise

It is winter again and God blessed us with good rains and cold weather which means the 2012 Namakwaland wild flower show will be one of the best. Unfortunately for me I am working during the week and its been raining every weekend here in the Cape which prevent me to enjoy the flowers. Most of the flowers open only on sunny days and it is the only time to see them in flower. Attached are a few photos I have taken on a previous visit which covered at least 800km from Cape Town to Van Rhynsdorp and back.

One never knows where the best flowers are and have to drive around and look for them. Some of the photos was taken early in the morning and some very late in the afternoon just before sunset. I hope you enjoy the diversity in shapes and colours.

Balls of Fire! - Brunsvigia orientalis - West Coast - Western Cape - South Africa

I took these photos one day when returning back to Cape Town from a meeting in Vredenburg. Although I was in a hurry, I could not resist to stop and take a few photos. The flowerheads are huge and they can be seen from far. What is amazing of these flowers is that they flower just before the winter rain arrive, usually in March. The fleshy seed develop very quickly and can even get roots while on the flower head, because that time of the year misty conditions in the late afternoon and early mornings supply enough moist for them to germinate. Please note that I do not grow these bulbs, because the weather and soil conditions differ too much from each other in the southern and western cape to grow them successfully from seed. I have tried many years ago and has given up.