Diario del proyecto Saving the Bride

I am super excited to announce the 1st of many: Blushing Bride Bioblitz, taking place on the weekend of the 2nd/3rd of October 2021. The final date will be announced closer to the time, depending on the weather.

The aim of this Bioblitz is to get the Franschhoek and Stellenbosch communities, and everyone else who is keen, to record as many species, alien and indigenous, as possible, in Assegaaiboskloof in the upper Berg River, the home of the last wild population of the well known and loved Blushing Bride, Serruria Florida. We really want to ignite hearts, souls and minds to this incredible gem in our midst, so that it can be re-appreciated and loved and ownership taken thereof in order to protect and restore its home.

We sit at a spectacular juncture in time... let me take you one step back.. we started planning this bioblitz in December 2020, it would have been part of a beautiful programme of talks and training sessions in Woordfees, the annual cultural festival in Stellenbosch, in September 2021, coinciding with the flowering time of the Blushing Brides. After all had been planned, specialists committed, excited and lined up,... a devastating fire scorged the whole of Assegaaiboskloof and Jonkershoek valleys in Feb 2021, razing the home of the blushing brides to the ground...... then followed more covid-related waves and lockdowns... and Woordfees changed its format so that it was unfortunately not possible any longer to host our programme there... back to the drawing board it was.. !!

The Feb 21 fire broke my heart in two... I am a visual and tactile person, and seeing and being in fynbos has become my reason for being.. yes, I know now that fynbos needs fire, but over the years, Assegaaiboskloof has become a sanctuary to me, an escape into paradise.. and when smoke billowed across the Boland for 8 days, and I saw paradise going up in flames, I won't deny it, I was devastated.

... it took some persuasion ( I won't mention names) about new life, bulbs and orchids to be discovered .. to take me back into the valley 3 weeks ago, just to realize that paradise is not lost! Quite the opposite. Fynbos has evolved and has survived with fire for millenia past and will continue doing so for millenia to come... I witnessed first hand with my own eyes how the skeletal frames of widdringtonia nodiflora are sending out new shoots, how baboon have returned, buck spoor... fan aloes, blackened by the fire but very much alive, are in flower en masse, reseeding proteas, the skeletons in tact all over the hills, not destroyed but presenting perfect seeds on outstretched arms... but also canary island pines resprouting and already at knee hight.. hakea.. wattle...

...which brings me back to this spectacular juncture, opportunity in our midst.. from now on, year on year on year after Feb 21, we have the opportunity to map out growth and life and regeneration of this unique patch of fynbos. Now is our moment to really get to know it intimately. And it will not disappoint.. AND in parallel, we have to note and take action against invasive aliens in the midst, from the ground up, not stopping, until all is eradicated... (hack is planned for Nov 21.. watch this space)

2 or 3 Oct 2021 is when the 1st of many Blushing Bride Bioblitzs' is happening. Let me know via inbox message if you would like to join, please add e-mail address and cell nr. Numbers are limited and participation will be on a first come first served basis. (I will try my utmost to accommodate everybody! I promise)

Take care, look after yourselves,
Santie
@dryfveer

For those of you who do not know the area, we will be heading into the upper regions of the Berg River, where it is but a mountain stream. Have a look at the map here:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yytjILttDul0VpUqXkYouhg5GlNO54bcuHKBLuNgSfw/edit

With special permission from Cape Nature, we will be driving in to the Parking Spot, then hike in 5km via the upper jeep track until we reach the Blushing Bride Paradise. Another 2 km or so into pristine fynbos and a beautiful little waterfall. And back out via bottom river trail.. terrain is rough - proper hiking boots and gear, long pants and shirts will be a requirement.

The idea is to map out ALL life forms, alien, indigenous, plants, insects, lichen, lizards etc etc.. we are really about eco-system restoration.. remove aliens and allow indigenous fauna and flora to thrive.

Please do let me know in advance via message ( I need your e-mail address and cell nr) if you would like to join, as numbers are limited and we need to plan vehicle access etc. I will try my utmost to accommodate you all.

blessed
Santie

Rape of the Blushing Bride

Frank Batchelor named his beautiful Serruria florida X barbigera (now phylicoides) hybrid: ‘BRIDESMAID’)

Rapturous with sweet allure
the ‘BLUSHING BRIDE’, aloof and pure.
Was gossip for permissive minds
Of proteas blessed with evil minds.

Monoecious need no double bed
Like other types of newly wed.
Sex motivations – a la Freud
In her make-up were null and void.

Though males of the other plants would plead
She spurned their obvious lecherous need.
No A1 leuco sperm came near
No leucadendron would she bear.

No pity would she show to Phylla
(The mere idea might even kill her).
His ardent advance appraised as spurious
Made protea SULabashed and PHURious.

So if such a BRIDE were never laid
How come her seeds produced a "MAID"?
A case for immaculate conception
Received unanimous rejection.

You can blame the bees or even the birds
But the judge summed up with these few words.
"Barbigera" must take the blame
for putting ‘BLUSHING BRIDE’ to shame.

But why condemn when compassion leans
To results that can justify the means?
With cynical sympathy, just say rather:
"It’s a clever child that knows its father".

H.L.D. Wood, 1979
(from https://www.proteaatlas.org.za/poems.htm)