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Christine's garden Gardening Miscellaneous

Neighbourhood Walk in Cape Town

In response to Les from A Tidewater Gardener “Winter Walk Off Challenge”, here is my “neighbourhood walk” photo essay. The objective is to leave the house and share what can be seen within walking (or biking) distance of your home. Being in the Southern Hemisphere we are at the end of our summer so showing a very different picture to our Northern Hemisphere gardening friends.

Before you join me on my walkabout, let me explain something very briefly – For those who don’t know much about South Africa, crime is an issue here. Even in the suburbs where I live, we all (mostly) live with six-foot walls surrounding our properties topped with electric fences to keep the criminal elements out of our homes. Whilst our neighbourhood is considered very safe and incidents here are few and far between, it is a precaution we all take to protect our private sanctuaries. So my walkabout is not particularly interesting as very few homes allow us a glimpse into their lovely gardens. And the gardens here are wonderful – when we do catch an odd glimpse of them through opening gates and the few whose walls we are able to peek over they are quite magnificent.

So here we leave our front gate and this is the view of the home opposite our house and looking down the street …

Neighbourhood Walk

A closer view of the trees that were teeming with birds …

Neighbourhood Walk

Ivy and Dietes Grandiflora on the verge …

Neighbourhood Walk

I love the Bougainvillea growing in the tree at the bottom of our road …

Neighbourhood Walk

Turning the corner we see this peeping up above the next six foot wall …

Neighbourhood Walk

And then someone who is less concerned with crime shows a bit more …

Neighbourhood Walk

And on the next verge a glorious old tree …

Neighbourhood Walk

I can’t show you their beautiful gardens but I can show you the wonderful view of “our” mountain we all share …

Neighbourhood Walk

We walk up the next street to see this …

Neighbourhood Walk

And then a closer view of the Bougainvillea and Cape Honeysuckle which was full of bird life – we stood and watched the Sugar birds for about ten minutes … they were having a ball in there!

Neighbourhood Walk
We carry on further up this street to show you the Hibiscus on the next verge …

Neighbourhood Walk

A sure sign that summer is over – a spent Agapanthus going to seed, a common site on verges and road sides around the Cape at this time of year …

Neighbourhood Walk

Down one more street because I wanted to show you this one … I think its a lovely street with the Hibiscus that seem to flower all the time

Neighbourhood Walk

And then around the corner we go back home …

Neighbourhood Walk

Thank you for joining me on my Neighbourhood Walk! Why not join in – visit A Tidewater Gardener for details about the “Winter Walk Off Challenge”, visit other neighbourhoods around the world and then show us your neighbourhood! But hurry up, it closes on the 19th March, the last day of winter (or summer), depending on which side of the equator you are on 🙂
xxx

By Christine

Dominated by large trees on a medium sized property, my garden is very shaded. With no “full sun” areas I have to plant shade and partial shade loving plants. I love shrubs and flowers including camellias and azaleas but Roses and Irises are my favourite and getting these to thrive is a challenge …

14 replies on “Neighbourhood Walk in Cape Town”

I’m new to Cape Town, only moved up in December and after settling in would like to start a little garden by my driveway. Its nearly May now and getting really cold so I dont know if I can plant anything with any success. If I can, please please please tell me what will grow in this cold weather or if I should rather wait until the winter is over. I live in the West Coast region, perhaps that would give you some indication.

Thanks
Carey

Hi Carey, welcome to Cape Town. It is really only autumn so winter hasn’t even hit us. Where did you come from? must have been somewhere warm 🙂 I live up the West Coast, so my climate might be more along the lines of yours. But if you are on the coast then you would have sandy soil. I know that bulbs are being planted now and I’m busy planting veggies that are leafy – Swiss chard, lettuce, brocollii. I would suggest you go to the local nursery and find out what to plant in your area this time of year. Good luck and stay posted.

Christine, I followed a link from Les at A Tidewater Gardener. The over-the-wall gardens are lovely and remind me of San Diego, California (USA).

Hi Georgia – thank you for visiting! I’ve heard that our climate is similar to that of california – so we probably ‘share’ similar plants. Off to visit your blog now 🙂

I love your walk. I have a hibiscus and agapanthus in my little England garden but nothing on the scale of yours. The sky is such a fantastic blue! Thank you

what a beautiful walk…mine is not interesting enough with snow just melting…I will take a few walks soon as we get some blooms and post…

Christine, thank you very much for carrying my challenge to the Southern Hemisphere. It makes me glad I mentioned that it would be the last day of summer in half the world. Your neighborhood looks incredibly exotic to me, but a few of the blooms are familiar, and the more I know about the flora of South Africa the more amazed I am. Thank you again for participating!

Hi Les – Our thanks to you for hosting the Winter Walk Challenge – I’m hoping that a few more from my end of the world participate! I really hope you do this again at the turn of the next season – Its most enjoyable seeing the different plants / seasons / neighbourhoods from all over.

Lovely – Cape Town has a beauty all if her own, in every season. I hope you show more of her in the months to come, I’m sure your readers would like to see our gems like Kirstenbosch, Company Gardens, Harold Porter Botanical Gardens and … What about the Cape Winelands?

Thanks Fay, I look forward to seeing yours. I think this is a great idea, I hope Les repeats this at the turn of every season so we can all compare! PS I love your blog!

Cool Barbie – your pics will be so different to mine (without all the six-foot barricades :). And your neighbourhood is so quaint and interesting. I’m looking forward to seeing that.

What a marvellous idea! I also want to show you my neighbourhood! I will take some time out tomorrow and do a walk about! This will be really interedting! I’m glad I’m still in time!

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