Some veld plants from my part of the world

[sumi]

At the moment I live in the Klein Karoo (Little Karoo), a semi-desert region in the Western Cape province of South Africa. This part of the country is bone dry and gets extremely hot in Summer (I remember a 130*F scorcher one day in mid-December 2011, if my memory serves me right). Winters are mild (compared to you guys') with nighttime temperatures around freezing. It snowed here 3 times in the past 15 years and each time the entire town ground to a halt in shock.

The plants in this part of the world have adapted to the extremes and lack of water and with their tiny roots learned to grow anywhere, and I mean anywhere. Here are some pics I've taken in our travels around this area:

 

[sumi]

Some more...

 

[Carol Dee]

@sumi Beautiful.

 

[baymule]

And I thought Texas was hot! You have me beat on the heat! Good pictures!

 

[thistlebloom]

Those are wonderful pictures Sumi, thanks for showing us the plants in your corner of the world. Is that tall yellow and orangey red one kniphofia? We can grow that here as well, but yours is probably native, huh?

 

[sumi]

@thistlebloom All I know is it's an aloe, I'll have to ask one of our local experts which variety. We have a number of different varieties growing here and some are so protected, you have to keep quiet if you have one growing naturally in your garden!

Here's some more pics:

 

[thistlebloom]

Oh, now that I can see the base I see it's definitely not a kniphofia. Sure has a similar bloom though.