The next meeting of Inland Empire Gardeners will be on Thursday, February 7, 2019 at 6:30pm at CenterPlace, 2426 N Discovery Pl, Spokane Valley--across from the YMCA in Mirabeau Park.
When most people think South Africa they envision animals--wildlife such as elephants, hippos, lions, and leopards. But when local photographer and world traveler Barbara Murray thinks South Africa--she thinks PLANTS! South Africa has 20,000 plant species equal to 10 percent of all the plants found on earth. And of that, 70 percent of the Cape Floral Kingdom’s 9,600 plants are not native anywhere else on the planet. Plants not found anywhere else in the world until plant explorers and hybridizers went to work on them to bring them to the rest of the gardening world. South Africa may be famous for its wild animal preserves, but its botanical preserves and gardens can keep a plant person on a horticultural high for months. Ecosystems run the gamut from arid deserts to alpine slopes with snow to temperate rain forests and coastal regions. Ancient mariners on their way to the East Indies call it the “Leopard Coast” because its dappled pattern of bright green shrubs that remind them of a leopards spotted coat. In this talk we will vast gardens both public and private and hike through gardens from the arid daisy encrusted hills of Namaqualand to the Alpine Craig’s of the Drakensburg Mountains. All this is part of the presentation “South Africa--An African Plant Safari.” Be prepared for more cool plants than the mind can fathom.
