It was time to move on from the heat and humidity of Durban. Syd kindly accompanied me out to the Natal Midlands, where we hoped we might find Kniphofia ichopensis and Kniphofia buchananii, but we only managed to find more populations, albeit good ones, of Kniphofia laxiflora as well as…
Today I was privileged to be shown around Durban by two of the experts in Kniphofia, Dr Syd Ramdhani and Prof. Himansu Baijnath. Although not the most floriferous day on the trip, it was one of the more enlightening ones because apart from seeing the pokers in the field, I…
Yesterday was an exhilarating day except for the lack of pokers: a good long walk, many beautiful flowers and the tension of trying to out run a thunderstorm. It had felt worthwhile because I had come across one poker right at the furthest extreme of the walk. However, that feeling…
When I arrived at Elton Farm, my intention was to use it as a base for exploring Bushman’s Nek, where I hoped to find Kniphofia brachystachya. It had been recorded from a couple of sites in the area, although neither of the localities was very specific. However, one cannot ignore…
I hope you will forgive me if I keep this short after another long drive. I also want to be a bit self-indulgent as my boys wanted to see what sort of car I was driving up all these mountains. So here is a photo of my car on the…
Are you a person who has to climb something “because it’s there”? Despite my focus on plants on this trip, there is still a part of that mentality inside me which is difficult to shake. So when I had found all the Kniphofia I was wanting to find at Rhodes…
