Courtesy of my connection with the marvellous Jason Sampson, this month’s newsletter is about food.

As Head Curator of the Manie van der Schijff Botanical Garden at Pretoria University, Jason established the Future Africa Orphan and Indigenous Crops Collection about 10 years ago. He explains that orphan crops are food crops that are no longer grown by the people who domesticated them since the advent of modern agriculture, and the simplification of the food chain that came with it.

I could listen to Jason expound on the properties of indigenous crops for hours. These are just a few of those he mentioned in a recent conversation.

·        Field trials are on the go with Tsenza (Coleus esculentus). This incredibly tough root vegetable is ideally suited to no-irrigation farming, and was a staple across large parts of southern Africa before the introduction of taro and cassava. The tubers taste like minty potatoes and have one of the highest protein levels of all starchy vegetables.

·        Also known as the Mayan tree spinach, Chaya (Cnidoscolus aconitifolius) is a large shrub/small tree with edible leaves that taste exactly like spinach. It is considered one of the most nutritious and productive green vegetables on Earth. As it is easily grown from cuttings and 50% of the leaves can be harvested weekly, it is being promoted as the ideal plant for urban farming.

·        Yacon (Smallanthus sonchifolius) has a tuber that stores a thirst-quenching fruit-flavoured juice. It is also a natural sweetener and can be used to make a syrup which contains no calories.

I have been so inspired that you can soon expect to see a page on the Petal Faire website devoted to edible plants!

IN THE GARDEN

We are seeing all the signs of approaching winter – leaves changing colour, lots of seeds, and a general slowing down except for the plants that thrive in cooler temperatures.

April newsletters usually focus on our regular autumn activities in the garden, but (like everything else in the world at the moment, it seems) there has been nothing ‘regular’ about the summer season in Gauteng. Our routine is to collect plants for the garden over a period of six months for planting in early May after weeding and cleaning the flowerbeds and cutting back to make space. This year, just as we would be about to execute our planting plan, the heavens would open and a week later we would have to start all over again. Perhaps we are in for a very cold winter…

 

Aristolochia grandiflora

Clerodendrum splendens

 

Farfugium aureomaculata

Ipomoea lobata

 

IN THE NURSERY

Click here to view all the plants in this newsletter on one website page.

Indigenous plants

The wild bush petunia, Barleria greenii, is a rare rounded deciduous shrub with thick smooth shiny dark green leaves and scented open pink flowers from summer to autumn. It grows about 1.5m high, and likes clay soil and sun to semi-shade.

For those with a fish pond, we have Berula erecta. This is a robust water plant with lovely fern-like foliage that floats on the water, forming a habitat for fish. Evergreen, very hardy, and happy in sun or semi-shade, it has umbels of white flowers in summer. It must be planted with up to 20cm of water above the crown.

Zantedeschia - Green Goddess is also a plant that wants at least moist soil. This gorgeous clump-forming deciduous perennial has ovate dark green fleshy leaves and large green-tipped white spathes from spring to summer. It grows about a metre high and is happy in sun or semi-shade.

Burchellia bubalina (the wild pomegranate) is an attractive ornamental shrub with glossy dark green leaves and terminal clusters of bright orange flowers from spring to summer. Evergreen and semi-hardy, it grows about five metres high, and attracts birds to the garden. It can be planted in sun or shade.

Exotic plants

Clerodendrum schweinfurthii is a very rare fast-growing African shrub/trailer that grows on average 1.5m high. This hardy evergreen plant has bright leaves, unusual blue-black fruits, and clusters of scented white flowers from summer to autumn. It is happy in sun or semi-shade.

Justicia fulvicoma is a soft rounded semi-hardy perennial with arching shoots, downy leaves and stunning elongated bracts with red and orange flowers from autumn to winter. It grows about 50cm high and does best in semi-shade.

The tubular flowers of the brilliant airy Salvia x Silke’s Dream are a gorgeous orange/melon/ coral colour. An evergreen very hardy perennial that reaches an average height of 90cm, it flowers all season and does well in sun or semi-shade.

A self-seeding bulb that is easy to grow, Zephyranthes primulina has narrow upright linear basal leaves and funnel-shaped orangey-yellow flowers, mostly in summer. It is evergreen and hardy, and grows about 10cm high. Plant in full sun.

SNIPPETS

A Gauteng Plant Expo & Market is taking place at Gallagher Estate in Midrand on 3 May 2025. Click here for more information or to buy tickets (prices range from R70 to R200).

FUN FACT

In collaboration with Richard Hay, the young Curator of the Future Africa Collections, Jason Sampson started the Giving Garden Initiative. This project donates propagules (shoots, cuttings, bulbs) of easy to grow and nutritious orphan crops to feeding schemes, thereby encouraging people to start growing their own food.

 

Happy gardening!

Leoné

082 482 0257