Winter and the bush is adorned with browns, greys and dust. The landscape is at its most barren and suddenly, out of nowhere you see a flash of crimson and white. In the middle of this sea of dullness an unlikely splash of colour meets the eye. As you near closer, the perfect star-shaped, brilliantly coloured impala lilly flowers beam up at you.
There are certain species that find it beneficial to flower in what seems to be the most unlikely time of year and the impala lilly is one of them. Most of these plants are succulents such as aloes and euphorbias. Succulents are able to hold moisture during the drier parts of the year and are therefore able to flower without spring rains. By doing this they eliminate competition for pollination with other flowering species in the springtime and therefore ensure pollination.
Impala lilies and euphorbias can be seen in the bush at Londolozi and are in full flower at the moment, surprising us with their bright colours on game drives. While there are no naturally growing aloes here, we do have beautiful aloe gardens in camp. The aloes are now in full flower and are keeping the birds and bees very happy.
Written and photographed by : Andrea Campbell
Beautiful images. The aloes are gorgeous.
Even in the middle of winter you still manage to have the most beautiful flowers and plants! In our winter we have snow…and more snow! 🙂 Thanks Andrea, for the great blog and beautiful photos.
What amazing colours and pics. Wonder if you can buy plants/seeds anywhere? I need some colour in my winter garden.
The colours are very eye-catching. The Skukuza Nursery sells some of the plants that occur in the Kruger and surrounding areas. More information can be found at the following link:http://www.sanparks.co.za/parks/kruger/tourism/nursery/default.php
Thanks for the info. Its just a very long way to drive. But one day……..
Wow thank you Andrea. I love the Impala Lily & it always reminds me of my winter visits to KNP in my very young days! Did you see the little Gecko on your first Euphorbia picture, he must have been after the ants on it? I love your aloes & guess they not in the “wild” as the animals would eat them 🙂
Great post Andrea! Love the aloe pics.