Full Circle Digital Magazine March | April 2014 | Page 16

ENTREPRENEURSHIP • FYNBOS GARDENING

Once you have established your pond,
and the correct balance of plants has
been attained, it will remain crystal clear
and enhance your garden, providing an
area of ever-changing interest
throughout the seasons.
Some attractive marginal, or bog, plants which would
be extremely useful around the edges of a pond, or
would add interest to a water feature or boggy wetland,
are the Cyperus species, with their grasslike stems and
interesting papyrus-type flowerheads. Dwarf papyrus
(Cyperus prolifer) forms clumps and is usually 30cm
to 1m tall. Its round, spiky inflorescences appear from
spring through summer. Matjiesgoed (Cyperus textilis)
also forms clumps of slender green culms with umbrellas
of narrow leaves at the tips, about 1m in height.
Cyperus papyrus is a very attractive, taller species, from
2 to 2.5m in height with showy umbels, suitable as a
background plant.
Bulbous, or tuberous plants which do extremely well
in these boggy areas are arum lilies (Zantedeschia
aethiopica). They always provide a show in late winter
and spring with their creamy white flowers and dense
green leaves. The red hot poker (Kniphofia linearifolia)
has striking red flowers in late summer, which attract

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sunbirds. Rooikanol (Wachendorfia thyrsiflora), with their
beautiful, evergreen, pleated, sword-shaped leaves,
and spikes of golden yellow flowers are beautifully eyecatching in early summer; Orange river lily (Crinum
bulbispermum), a deciduous bulb, is excellent in
wetlands or bog areas, and has large, pink trumpetshaped flowers that appear in spring.
Finally, it is worth mentioning the sedges which do
so well in marshy areas. Sea rush (Juncus kraussii)
and spiny rush (Juncus acutus) are two beautiful
sedges which never grow much taller than 1m high,
with their thin, wiry, green stems and attractive brown
inflorescences, mass-planted, they are a must in any
wetland area.
Once you have established your pond, and the correct
balance of plants has been attained, it will remain crystal
clear and enhance your garden, providing an area of
ever-changing interest throughout the seasons.

FULL CIRCLE DIGITAL MAGAZINE April 2014
March | NOVEMBER 2013