When in bloom, this plant from South Africa is a great favourite of mine. Dunedin Botanic Garden has a lovely South African garden and there’s two different spots where I know to look for this species. Also known as fire heath. Rather a straggly plant but oh – those flowers!
Nigel took the first photo, 07 October 2017 and I’ve been hanging on to it since then.
The others by me, 24 October 2020 (different plant but in the same garden area).
more info about this plant: South African information page
Text by Liz, photos by Liz and Nigel; Exploring Colour (2020)
What a fantastic colour – it real does look alight! 🙂
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Great flowers!
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They certainly are!
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That’s really eye-catching, a neat shape and what a great color
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I so agree! glad the colour caught your eye 🙂
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Wow, who would think such an unassuming looking plant could make such a bold flower. A real beauty, Liz!
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I know! The plant is just a messy thing you wouldn’t look twice at .. until it blooms 🙂
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Bright and beautiful – just what I needed!
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Oh good .. and that’s just what I love to hear!
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Is this one of the heath family that were popular in Victorian England then went out of fashion?
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Part of the extended family I guess, I suspect this species is pretty different to what was in vogue with the Victorians though!
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I can’t imagine what their gardens looked like, except for rhododendrons and laurel 🙂
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Interesting as I don’t have much idea of what their gardens were like in that period. Apparently, large manicured lawns, carpet bedding, and then later on – herbaceous borders, and ornate cast iron fences.
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I’d like to know what they planted in their ‘shrubberies’. I know they went in for thickets of rhododendrons, but they must have had other things.
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This is about restoring a Victorian Shrubbery near Bristol, nice photos. https://www.edwardsgardenservices.co.uk/restoring-a-victorian-shrubbery/
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It’s lovely! I had no idea they went in for wild garden type techniques.
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It’s a beautiful flower Liz. Thanks for sharing 😊
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My pleasure 🙂
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