Arums - Cloak of Silver-white

W&N watercolours on Daler-Rowney 300gsm

Arums in my garden

Unfurl your cloak of silken white
Reveal your secret wand upraised at length
And not unlike a star you shine serene
To exalt the autumn-tide with silver cups*.
- Unknown

White or common Arum Lily (English); Wit varkoor (Afrikaans). The striking arum lily “flower” is actually many tiny flowers arranged in a complex spiral pattern on the central column (spadix). The tiny flowers are arranged in male and female zones on the spadix. The top 7cm are male flowers and the lower 1.8cm are female. If you look through a hand-lens, you may see the stringy pollen emerging from the male flowers which consist largely of anthers. The female flowers have an ovary with a short stalk above it, which is the style (where the pollen is received).

These plants are native to Southern Africa from South Africa north to Malawi. The botanical name is Zantedescia aethiopica and is also known as Calla lilies.

Waiting for the Dandelions

Ink sketch and colour wash on Bockingford 300gsm

Can’t wait to see the Dandelions again…

We've had our first summer rains, and lots of it, and summer is in full swing. Now I'm just waiting for the Dandelions to appear again... So far I’ve only got 3 in my garden and it’s a delight to see the butterflies around them.

Thought : Maybe I can make a corner for just Dandelions? Smiling!

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The Dragonfly and the Daisy

 Black ink sketch on Bockingford

After spending several years under water in fresh water, the Naiad (Dragonfly larvae, about 2cm in length) emerges, crawling up a plant stalk, usually at night, as a fully grown Dragonfly (order Odonata). They may be on the wing for just a few days or weeks and are fast, agile fliers, sometimes migrating across oceans, and are often found near water. I’ve watched them emerging from my wildlife pond many a time and am always amazed at the beauty that comes from such a voracious (and ugly!) little predator, capable of catching small fish twice their size.

Evening Primrose

Mixed media of W&N watercolour and candle wax on Bockingford 300gsm

I wanna be
the mild fragrance
of an evening primrose
gentle and sweet
beneath your sheet
cluster of petals
which bloom
white blossoms
to wither softly
into your sleep
— unknown

Cosmos in December

 

W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm

Here in South Africa we know Christmas is near when the Hydrangeas and Cosmos start flowering – Every March and November respectively our countryside explodes with colour when pretty pink and white cosmos flowers bloom in early autumn and then again in late summer. They grow easily in the soil at the side of the roads disturbed by the road scrapers widening the verges. This year the Cosmos are a bit late as the road crews have not been around yet.

Hope you had a lovely festive season!

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Summer beauties

W&N watercolour on a back-ground painted with coffee in a Bockingford 300gsm sketch-pad

A clump of Shasta daisies, growing at the rubbish hole on our property after I had removed old plants from my garden. I discovered them during a walk on the property and these little die-hards just seem to have no end!

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Pink mums

“Why don’t you get a haircut? You look like a chrysanthemum.” 

- P. G. Wodehouse

W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm

I’ve just bought some potted Chrysanthemums from Woolworths, and I don’t know why I do this, because I never have much luck with their potted plants I buy! What I HAVE discovered is that there are Mums and there are HARDY mums, and obviously the potted variety for sale in pots are NOT the hardy variety! So planting them in the garden, like I usually do after they’ve finished flowering, is a useless exercise. This one will therefore just stay in-doors and I’ll enjoy it until it expires!

The chrysanthemum is the November birth flower, which means with love and cheerfulness. The hidden meaning of this beautiful flower is you’re a wonderful friend. Although Chrysanthemums are native to Asia and north-eastern Europe, they are widely grown all over the world.

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