Holy Kapok, Batman!

Laura's Kapok

I stand corrected. I was wrong when I identified the pink-flowered tree outside Valley Lodge as a Magnolia. It is not. My book club friend Laura also has one outside her home in Parkwood and I remarked about it this morning before we sat down to tea and books. She said, "That is not a Magnolia; it is a Kapok."

Laura's poppies

Laura is a true Southern Hemi gardener so I believe her! These are the beautiful poppies from Laura's garden she arranged for the last book club meeting she hosted at her home in October.

Although not indigenous to South Africa, the Kapok is native to tropical West Africa and South America and has adapted quite well in the man-made forest around Johannesburg.









Upon closer inspection, the Kapok back at Valley Lodge does share the same aggressive bark as Laura's Kapok. The trunk and many of the larger branches of the Kapok are often crowded with these large thorns. Not so with the sweet Magnolia!













Oh well back to Valley Lodge. I still have many traditional Northern Hemi spring plants blooming here in the Southern Hemi autumn.

hydrangea

azalea

arum lilies

The arum lilies are at least native to South Africa. They grow wild along the southern coast covering the dunes east of Cape Town. Remarkable!