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Spring Planting
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A tree, shrub and a groundcover to plant this Spring. The rains are coming, so get to it!
Tree to Plant This Spring – Dune, Soap-Berry - (Deinbollia oblongifolia)
Not only do the duikers and fruit-eating birds love the berries but it is a “must-have butterfly tree” as it is the host plant for at least four butterflies and the stunning blue and orange Peach Moth and Bushbuck browse the leaves. The dune soap-berry is suitable for even small gardens as it takes very little space. It has dark glossy-green leaves at the ends of its branches and the cream coloured flowers are closely packed in large upright sprays at the top of the branches. The flowers attract a lot of insects and are followed by green berries that turn white and eventually yellow when ripe. It is called ‘soap-berry’ as the seeds do in fact lather in water and they readily propagate in a mix
of river sand and fine compost, so make sure you don’t let the birds eat all the berries.
Shrub to Plant This Spring - Orange bird berry – Hoslundia opposita
This soft shrub grows to just over a metre tall but enjoys spreading. The copious quantities of small white or creamy-green flowers are followed by the attractive orangey-red berry-like fruits. Bees and butterflies smother the flowers and the birds love the fruits. The leaves are also
Dune Soap-Berry - Deinbollia oblongifolia
Orange Bird Berry - Hoslundia opposita
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Ribbon bush - Hypoestes aristata
browsed by bushbuck. The orange bird-berry should be planted in full sun; they also make good container plants. They can be propagated by seed or from cuttings of the stems and benefit from being cut back once a year toward the end of Winter…should the buck not have already pruned it for you!
Groundcover to Plant This Spring - Ribbon Bush - Hypoestes aristata
The ribbon bush is fast-growing, evergreen and flowers in early winter when there is little else in the garden. It continues flowering till early spring attracting bees, flies and other insects that are in turn eaten by insectivorous birds. The attractive flowers are lilac, pink or white and incidentally last well when cut and put in a vase. The bushbuck really enjoy the dark, oval leaves which are also used as a spinach by some people. The Ribbon bush is a hardy plant that spreads and can reach a metre in height. They grow easily, often self-seeding in Simbithi gardens but the seeds can be collected for sowing in a mix of rich compost and sand. It can also be propagated from cuttings.
Wildlife group Rare Sightings
Photos of less often encountered species from the Simbithi Wildlife Group. To add colour to Simbithi living just WhatsApp “Wildlife” to 073 156 1378.
"Wildlife are Mother Nature’s greatest treasures.”
