Forest path

W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm

A path leading through the Blue gum forest on our smallholding (Tarlton, Gauteng, South Africa). Walking this trail, I often discover little treasures like rabbits, hedgehogs, tortoises, lots of insects, little wild flowers and the odd snake. We’ve had many enquiries from people wanting to cut the bush down for the wood, but have always declined as many birds call this blue gum bush their home, a little sanctuary as the area gets more and more built up.

Dorper sheep

 

Watercolour in Moleskine Watercolour Sketch-book 

My neighbour’s sheep – a while ago some ewes had lambs and it was the first time for MANY, MANY years that I actually held a little lamb in my arms again – oh my word! I’d forgotten how precious that can be! I wanted to take it home…!

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Graptoveria "Fred Ives"

W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm

A succulent given to me by a friend a couple of months ago growing in a pot in my garden 

Category: Succulent
Family: Crassulaceae (Stonecrops)
Origin: Mexico (North America)

x Graptoveria ‘Fred Ives’ – A beautiful and durable succulent plant that produces large clumps of rosettes to 8 inches tall by nearly 1 foot wide with broad bronze and pink succulent leaves atop short stems with 1’-2’ long branched inflorescences bearing red-orange centered pale yellow flowers in summer. Plant in full to part sun in a well-drained soil. Little irrigation required.

Aloe peglerae

Each flower is a soul opening out to nature. 

- Gerard De Nerval

Parker fountain pen, black ink and W&N watercolours on Bockingford 300gsm watercolour paper 

This is Aloe peglerae, which I saw in the veld on the way to Magaliesburg, endemic to South Africa occurring only in Gauteng and one other province (North-West province). It is listed in the Red Data list of South Africa as an endangered species on the extinction queue if not protected or grown for ex-situ conservation.

Yucca

W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm – 8″ × 12″

Done from an image kindly supplied by Ann Warrenton. Thank you Ann! I enjoyed doing this difficult subject!

The yucca plant is native to the high deserts of the southwestern United States and Mexico. The yucca has at least 40 species, including Yucca filamentosa, the most common type. Yucca plants are tree-like succulents of the lily family (Liliaceae) with stemless stiff, pointed leaves that end in a sharp needle. The yucca flower is a series of whiteblossoms on a long stalk.

Yuccas have a very specialized, mutualistic pollination system, being pollinated by yucca moths (family Prodoxidae); the insect purposefully transfers the pollen from the stamens of one plant to the stigma of another, and at the same time lays an egg in the flower; the moth larva then feeds on some of the developing seeds, always leaving enough seed to perpetuate the species.

I had quite a few Yucca’s in my previous garden (Tarlton, Gauteng, South Africa), and I have never seen this “yucca” moth, but seeing as my Yucca’s used to flower profusely, there must have been something pollinating them.

Aloe ferox 1 & 2

Aloe ferox 2 - W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm

Aloe ferox (also known as the Cape Aloe, Bitter Aloe, Red Aloe and Tap Aloe), is a species of arborescent aloe indigenous to Southern Africa. It is one of several Aloe species used to make bitter aloes, a purgative medication and also yields a non-bitter gel that can be used in cosmetics.

Die Bitteraalwyn (Aloe ferox), inheems aan Suid-Afrika, is ’n struik wat deel is van die aalwynfamilie. Die plant blom vanaf Mei tot September. Die struik is ’n stadige groeier met ’n enkelstam en dik, doringrige, vlesige blare en buisvormige, oranje-rooi blomme. Dit is ’n uitstekende struik ir die rotstuin en verkies vol son en matige water. Die sap van die blare word vir medisyne en skoonheidsprodukte gebruik.

Aloe ferox 1 - W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm 

A painting of an Aloe ferox in my garden. Each winter my aloes put up the most spectacular show of orange, brightening up the dull winter landscape. I can feel the season is turning already, gets lighter much later in the mornings and soon (well, roundabouts June/July) I’ll be blessed with their beauty again.

Autumn colours (SOLD)

Autumn is in the air  - W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm 

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Fisherman's cottage

W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm 

Singing sweet songs...

 

W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm  (The back-ground of this painting is actually White, don't know why Blogger is making it grey!)

‘Rise up this morning,

smile with the rising sun,

three little birds 

sit by my doorstep,

singing sweet songs

of melodies pure and true, 

singing,

this is my message to you.’

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Sweet Geranium

W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm 

‘Observe yon sweet geranium flower.
How straight upon its stalk it stands,
And tempts our violating hands,
Whilst the soft bud, as yet outspread,
Hangs down its pale declining head.
Yet soon as it is ripe to blow,
the stems shall rise, the head shall glow.’
_{Extract from ‘The Geranium’ by  RICHARD BRINSLEY SHERIDAN}

The Poppy

 W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm  

High on a bright and sunny bed
A scarlet poppy grew
And up it held its staring head,
And thrust it full in view.
Yet no attention did it win,
By all these efforts made,
And less unwelcome had it been
In some retired shade.
Although within its scarlet breast
No sweet perfume was found,
It seemed to think itself the best
Of all the flowers round,
From this I may a hint obtain
And take great care indeed,
Lest I appear as pert and vain
As does this gaudy weed.
~ By Jane Taylor

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Solly's chickens - 84 Vlakplaas

W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm 

A couple of Solly's chickens having a snack near his house on our smallholding.

Short-cut through Spring Farm

Small W&N watercolour in Moleskine 200gsm sketch-book 

 
Often, when I go to Magaliesburg (Gauteng, South Africa), I take this short-cut through Spring Farm past the little dam. It’s a gravel road, forcing one to travel slower and take in the scenery and I often have tortoises, hedgehogs, guinea fowl and small buck crossing my path. I much prefer it to the quicker route along the main tar road.

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Winter is coming!

 

W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm 

The first signs of winter are already showing amongst the bluegum trees on our smallholding (Tarlton, Gauteng, South Africa). Yellow grass, fallen leaves and longer shadows accompany me as I take my (now cold) early morning walks. The lizards and snakes have all but disappeared or only come out much later in the day as it warms up. Even the birds seem to be more quiet, preferring to sit in the top branches of some dead trees, basking in the early morning sun and warming up before taking on the day.

The dark forest

W&N watercolour in a small sketch-book with Bockingford 300gsm watercolour paper - original not for sale but available on various products on RedBubble

A different depiction of the blue gum bush on our smallholding (Tarlton, Gauteng, South Africa)

Woods creaked, the sounds of the forest was heard
A hoot and whispers in the darkness
Eyes lurking, bushes moving
Hunting beasts wandering,
crouching,
waiting in the shadows…

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Daisy serenity

W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm 
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There’s serenity here… The one place where I can finally hear my thoughts.

The forest - beautiful and great

W&N watercolour on Arches 300gsm

“All life is figured by them as a Tree. Igdrasil, the Ash-tree of existence, has its roots deep-down in the kingdoms of Death: its trunk reaches up heaven-high, spreads its boughs over the whole Universe: it is the Tree of Existence. At the foot of it, in the Death-Kingdom, sit the three Fates – the Past, Present and Future; watering its roots from the Sacred Well. It’s “bough,” with their buddings and disleafings, – events, things suffered, things done, catastrophes – stretch through all lands and times. Is not every leaf of it a biography, every fiber there an act or word? Its boughs are the Histories of Nations. The rustle of it is the noise of Human Existence, onwards from of old. I find no similitude so true as this of a Tree. Beautiful; altogether beautiful and great."
- Thomas Carlyle

Dandelion Botanical illustration - Taraxacum officionale

W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm 

Taraxacum officinale, the common dandelion (often simply called “dandelion”), is a flowering herbaceous perennial plant of the family Asteraceae.

It can be found growing in temperate regions of the world, in lawns, on roadsides, on disturbed banks and shores of water ways, and other areas with moist soils. T. officinale is considered a weed, especially in lawns and along roadsides, but it is sometimes used as a medical herb and in food preparation. Common dandelion is well known for its yellow flower heads that turn into round balls of silver tufted fruits that disperse in the wind called “blowballs” or “clocks” (in both British and American English).

During summer, when the Dandelions are in full flower, I mostly halt mowing the lawn, enjoying the spectacle of yellow flowers and then the beautiful blow-balls. And, like a child, I often pick them and blow them into the wind, revelling in the little umbrellas as they take off to start a new generation of Dandelions.

Dandelions are a Eurasian species now entrenched almost world-wide because of their excellent seed dispersal mechanism and ease of germination. Their crowded head of ray flowers produces numerous seeds, their low, wide basal leaves crowd-out competing plants, and thus the plant is often found in huge colonies.

ITEM ID : DandelionBotanical

Gum leaves - Botanical illustration

W&N watercolour on Amedeo 200gsm 

Bluegum leaves (Eucalyptus)
Dedicated to all Eucalypt and Bee-lovers!

A recent study by the SA National Biodiversity Institute (Sanbi) in South Africa has found that gum trees provide nectar and pollen for swarms of commercial bees – and bees in turn pollinate about 50 food crops in the country. This “service” bees provide is worth about R10.3 billion a year.

Gum trees are not only important food for bees, but so are many roadside wildflowers, crops, suburban flowering plants and those that many regard as weeds. A major reason for the decline of honey bees around the world is a lack of good forage plants to provide nectar, which is the carbohydrate in the bees’ diet, and pollen the protein. Bees collect nectar from Blue Gum tree blossoms from spring to late summer.

A lack of good quality and variety of forage plants can lead to unhealthy honey bee colonies that are more vulnerable to pests and diseases.

This in turn can lead to insufficient pollination of our important agricultural crop flowers, leading to a decreased yield or quality of the food crop, Insect pollinators are needed for 35 percent of all food production globally – or one of every three bites you eat.

Although most Bluegums have been declared as an invasive species in South Africa, Beekeepers are highly dependent on eucalyptus and if they are all removed because they are aliens it would mean a serious shortage of food for bees – with a knock-on effect on crop pollination.

Because of this, the Department of Environmental Affairs’ legislation on alien and invasive species, updated in 2014, is “nuanced” for eucalyptus trees, not requiring all of them to come under the axe or chainsaw.

ITEM ID : GumLeavesBotanical

The beauties of Nature

Tasmanian bluegum (Eucalyptus globulus) - Acrylic on Art board canvas 

This large, straight-trunked tree grows to about 70m tall in open forests in south-eastern Tasmania, on Bass Strait islands and in parts of southern Victoria. Its common name comes from the waxy blue-green colour of its juvenile leaves. The plant’s cream-coloured flowers are a good source of nectar for bees and the resultant honey is dense and strongly flavoured. Here in South Africa, this bluegum is widely planted as forage for our honey bee populations.

ITEM ID : BeautiesOfNatureAncrylic