Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens

So, in my recent effort to "buff up" my figure a little bit, I am now chronically prescribed to a dose of USN creatine & muscle fuel on a daily basis. As a basic requirement one is expected to conduct some "intense exercise" once a day after consuming these supplemental delicacies. 


Being a Saturday I was in no mood to sweat my morning away in the gym, so I decided to gather the family and head for the botanical gardens. It's always a tiresome journey over rocks and up the hills so I concluded that it would suffice as my contribution towards this desired buffness for the day. 


I'm glad I made this decision because what I saw was riddled with amazement. I ended up going "offroad" with my tekkies & my Canon digital to get a closer look at some of the beautiful cycads, and I must say, they are amazing!!! I lost count but there were well over 100 cones in total on that beautiful collection. Even the E. Latifrons plants bore some beautiful cones. I will definitely be contacting the Kirstenbosch seedroom this week to find out if any of those will be available to poor, desperate collectors such as myself. Sad, aren't I? *lol*
Once the majesty of cycads get a hold of you, it's hard to cut loose again.


Here are some inspiration for those of you who haven't considered growing cycads, and some enjoyment for those who are gripped by its magnetic beauty.

After seeing all of these beauties I couldn't help but make a turn at the Garden Center, to spice up my collection a bit. Last time I went there wasn't really much to choose from, but this time around they had a bit more to offer. My collection is coming along nicely now :) Around June 2011 I will hopefully be moving into the new house, then I can start planting all these babies into open soil.

Here they are...

Encephalartos Frederici-Guilielmi

Encephalartos Gratus

Encephalartos Horridus 1

Encephalartos Horridus 2 

Encephalartos Natalensis

Encephalartos Trispinosus

I can imagine that it's quite hard to experience the differences and unique attributes of these plants on photos, but over time I will delve into each specie individually, with close-ups of the different parts of my plants describing all the elements that make them what they are.

I hope you enjoyed these photos, even though this blog is not meant to be a photo album, it was just hard to resist! Come back soon for the next article, where I will try to explain in my own terms, the different stages of cycad growth, from pollen to cones. Until we meet again,

Cycadboy!