- The bookshop financial year ended 31st March 2025. The turnover for the year was 22% up on the previous year, which was dramatically up on the year before that, and we are very pleased with the results. Thank you all for your great support of the shop.
- The hackers go from strength to strength. The Hangklip Hardcore Hackers amassed 230 hack man days in March and worked on 6 different hack sites.
- Pringle Bay, Betty’s Bay and Rooi Els hacks were successful this past month and the support for these hacks grows every month.
- The Kogelberg Garden Circle is well supported.
The Friends of Harold Porter continue to improve the maintenance of the Harold Porter Gardens which is greatly appreciated by the staff.
I have become increasingly aware how adapted the fynbos is to the Western Cape’s dry summers and how hardy these plants are. Despite the very dry period from January to March there are many wonderful sightings in the fynbos at present and my particular love at this time of the year are the Restios of which there are many different species. Of the more than 170 species found in South Africa more than 30 are found in the Kogelberg Biosphere. It is worth wandering into the fynbos and seeing how many species you can identify. You do not have to be an expert, iNaturalist will help you greatly in identifying all the species. Remember Restios have a male and a female plant for each species.
MONTHLY TALK
Dr Mike Burns of Pringle Bay gave us a talk entitled:
“Modelling the Kogelberg Biosphere as an integrated Social-Ecological System, a tool for sustainability analysis”. His discussion referred to issues such as illegal occupation of State Land within the Elgin – Grabouw Valley, the pathologies that are associated with abalone poaching, wildfire risks to ecosystems and human well-being and risks associated with invasive alien plants.
Dr Burns is recognized for his interest into complex global sustainability challenges.
HAROLD PORTER BOOK AND CRAFT SHOP
The Harold Porter Book and Craft Shop goes from strength to strength, and we have a few very exciting announcements to make.
Book launch: Saturday 12th April saw the launch of “Proteas of the Fynbos” by John Manning. Proteas are the crown jewels of South Africa’s flora. A total of 330 species are found in the fynbos of the Cape Floristic Region, the botanical treasure house of the southern tip of Africa. ‘Proteas of the Fynbos’ features 165 of the region’s most common or showy species with pointers to many more. Each account details diagnostic features, flowering times, habitats and distributions, while colour photographs showcase the beauty and diversity of the charismatic plant group. An informative introduction explores the biology, pollination, origin, and conservation status of the fynbos proteas and highlights features to aid identification. John Manning is an internationally acclaimed botanist. The book is available in the BotSoc bookshop.
Extensions: Thanks to Harry von der Heyden, the extensions has progressed very well. This extra 11 square meters of space is going to make a huge difference to the shop and will give us that much needed space for the second-hand and children’s books, freeing up space in the main shop.
Plant Sale over Easter weekend: This was our first tentative venture into plant sales and we are excited by what it achieved. Some very exciting Proteas, Leucodendrons, Leucospermums, Mimetes, Buchus and Ericas were on sale, together with what SANBI had to offer. We hope to hold more plant sales in the future.
Remember that on the first Tuesday of the month entry to the Gardens is free for South African Citizens over the age of 60 years.
We ask you to please support the shop as all the profits of the shop go towards the conservation projects undertaken by the Kogelberg Branch of the Botanical Society.
FRIENDS OF THE HAROLD PORTER GARDENS
Jenni Pattison has taken over running the Tuesday Gardening Group from Paul Whitelaw. Thank you to Jenni for stepping in and to Paul for all you did getting this group up and running and motivated. We hope to see you still on the odd occasion when you can fit it into your busy schedule.
SUPPORTERS OF THE KOGELBERG BRANCH OF THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTH AFRICA
Once again, thank you to everyone for supporting this initiative. Your support is invaluable for all the activities undertaken by the Kogelberg Branch.
CITY NATURE CHALLENGE BIOBLITZ
We look forward to the results of the BioBlitz which took place from Friday 25 April until Monday 28 April 2025. We have to win this challenge as we are in almost the richest floral area in the world!
One definitely can sense that the seasons are changing as we approach winter. It is forecast that we will have below average rainfall this winter, which is not good for our catchment areas but probably a relief after the excessive rains of the past two years. As I have said previously, autumn often gives us the best days of the year. Enjoy the autumn days and enjoy wandering in the fynbos.
Peter Dall
082 784 4326 Email: peter@pdconsult.co.za