Bitter Aloe (Aloe ferox) in South Africa

Photo by Tony Phelps

Bergfynbos - Leuocospermum bolusii.

Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden.

one of my long-term goals is to integrate more African leafy vegetables into my everyday diet and diversify my food sources by filling my home garden with indigenous, edible plants. While doing some reading today, I came across things about how food security and plant diversity is threatened by capitalism. This reminded me of that speech from The Fall of the House of Usher:

Anyway, I'm investigating how to do more growing and eating myself so I'll document how things go as it happens.

I'll be trying to work through a few options I've found on a local seed bank and doing variations of recipes I find with heritage plant substitutions.

i HAVE to profess my love for african painted dogs

look at this fucking thing. holy shit its so cute. they have such beautiful patterns on them with the orange and black and white, their ears are SO ROUND and SO BIG. i have an enamel pin thats an african painted dog and a plushie of one who i named atlas, i wanna get a keychain of one so so bad. they're such underrated animals and i think more people should love them because they deserve literally everything in the world. if i could have any animal as a friend i would choose african painted dog. they are so friend shaped its insane ive never seen another animal look so cute, little african painted puppies are like looking at pure joy given a dog shaped body. more people need to love this animal and they need to do it NOW

String identified:

A t aca at g

at t cg tg. t t ct. t a c at att t t t ag a ac a t, t a a a G. a a a tat a aca at g a a a ata, aa gt a ca a. t' c at aa a t t ca t ta tg t . c a a aa a a c aca at g. t a a t a at aa ct, tt aca at a g at g a g a . t t aa a t t t

Closest match: Gossypium herbaceum isolate Zhongcao1 chromosome 7 Common name: Levant cotton

Greenhouse lookin' gooood today.

"mh! they thought they knew it all." by baaba on INPRNT

Ina van Zyl (RSA 1971)

Baby Blue Eucalyptus (2023)

Oil on linen (50x30cm)

Plant of the Day

Monday 18 September 2023

These giant marigolds, Tagetes erecta ‘Giant Orange’ (African marigold, American marigold, Aztec marigold), were making a bold autumn display alongside one of the barns at Great Dixter, East Sussex.

Jill Raggett

‘Hitchhikers’ Series Shows Seeds and Burrs In Huge Macro Detail

South African photographer Dillon Marsh 

Safari Chic: Embracing African Flair in Home Decor

Visit my website for more inspiration 🌿

Immerse yourself in the mesmerizing spirit of Africa as you infuse your home with an enchanting blend of culturally-inspired aesthetics and natural allure, creating a space that resonates with the essence of the continent.

King protea flowers (Protea cynaroides) in South Africa

Photo by Claudio Velasquez

Aloe africana, along the Western Cape coast, by Hermanus

Fat Duckweed (Lemna gibba)

Family: Arum Family (Araceae)

IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern

A tiny aquatic plant found in slow-moving or stagnant freshwater habitats across much of Africa, Europe and the Americas, Fat Duckweed floats freely on the surface of the water, respiring and carrying out photosynthesis through a buoyant leaf-like “main body” called a thallus while its single submerged root hangs down and absorbs inorganic nutrients such as nitrogen (which plants need to produce chlorophyll) from the water around it. Although they do occasionally produce flowers (particularly when exposed to intense sunlight and low water levels,) members of this species primarily reproduce asexually, with the thallus developing bud-like offshoots that split of into new but genetically identical offspring, and through this method of reproduction (which can occur every few days) Fat Duckweeds can quickly spread over vast areas, potentially near-totally covering the surface of the body of water they inhabit under ideal conditions. The root of an adult Fat Duckweed is sticky, allowing members of this species to compensate for their limited ability to spread their rarely-produced seeds by adhering to semiaquatic animals such as ducks, allowing them to be carried between bodies of water and colonise new areas (hence the name, “duckweed.”) If an individual should fall from the animal that was carrying it before reaching a suitable body of water, it may also be able to survive in sufficiently damp soil.

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Image Source: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/63913-Lemna-gibba

model: deekay_bro

photographer: biizzzare

Copper Amethyst Osteospermum

Happy New Year 2024!!!

New year, new blooms 💜

Wishing everyone a delicious year full of happiness!

ID: African Violet