Big storm, no rain

8 comments

South Africa is a land of diversity, diverse cultures, diverse geology, diverse nature and very noticeably, diverse weather. Growing up on the Reef, the high altitude plateau that Johannesburg and Pretoria is found on life was geared around the weather. Winters were sunny and warm during the day and cold to frosty during the night. And it was bone dry. You could wash your clothes and put them on the line and the moisture would evaporate before you knew it. Spring and summer on the highveld, as it is know, was something everyone remembers – mid afternoon the cumilo nimbus clouds would form and tower into the heavens, then the sun got blotted out, lightning would streak down to the ground and the rain would pour down drenching everything. 40 minutes later the clouds would disappear, the sun would come out and the air was filled with the fragrance of broken blossoms and a cleansed freshness. Ask anyone that has travelled to Johannesburg or Kruger Park in summer, and the one thing they will all recall are the thunder storms.

On the contrary, in the Cape, the clouds would slip into the sky in May and rain till August with out much show, definitely no lightning and deafening thunder, though the howling South Easter would work at altering the angle that the rain fell to the ground.

In the past 5 years things have changed, the lightning and thunder have reached down to the Cape. Last night the weather taunted us drought stricken southern Capeners. Clouds formed, lightning streaked, thunder boomed, a few drops fell but the drought was not broken. At least for a brief moment the air was filled with a moist freshness that we could cling to with hope.

But who is going to let a bit of drought get in the way of gardening? On Sunday Amanda bought some plants after her sports event in Port Elizabeth (about 320km east of our home) and we decided to plant them on Monday afternoon. Trying to dig into the ground was a bone jarring experience, almost as solid as cement, the dry ground bounced the spade back at me with seemingly more energy than I have tried to plunge it down. The only way was to remove sods of dried soil, chip a shallow hole and fill it with water to soak and soften before trying to dig deeper.

While Amanda was competing in PE, I headed north to the Swartberg, a range of mountains that border the southern Karoo, a semi desert region to hike and camp. While attempting to trail blaze up a river gorge, amongst the thick river fynbos I found a wonderful Pelargonium which fortunately had seeds enough to collect. So I will be planting them in the next few days when the moon is right.

Amanda love the colour and scent of a Patatoe Bush, but for me the attractive flowers and fruits of the Wild Pomegranate have more appeal, especially as they are a draw card for the many Sunbirds when they are in bloom. (sorry, no phot0’s yet, but I promise next time). Neither of the plants were big so it will be a while yet before they fill the space around them. But that’s gardening for you, a measure of patience.

As an idea for a garden seat I collected a pine stump from up the road and cut a wedge out of it, but it seems that with two pot plants on it, it may just end up as a garden feature instead of furniture.

• 25 Nov, 2009
• 8 likes

More blog posts by capegardener