Seeds, Bulbs, and Things

Corkbush. Very free flowering and distinctly garden worthy, this rare-in-the-trade, South African native makes an excellent shrub or small tree, 6'-10' tall. Outstanding sprays of purple/lilac, pea-like flowers cover the shrub from early Spring through Summer, attracting butterflies. Great plant for bonsai!
Mundulea sericea is easily cultivated from seed. Soak the seeds overnight in hot water and plant them the next day in a mixture of riversand (vercumilite and or perlite will also do) and potting mix (60:40 ratio). Germination takes place from about 1 week and continues until about 3 months later.

Nymania capensis is known in English as "Chinese Lantern" because of the shape of its bright, colorful fruit, and in Afrikaans as "klapper" (meaning "firecracker" because children sometimes pop the capsules for fun). The plant has been reported to have been used in folk medicine.

Balsa. This tree is notable for its unusual ecology as well as for its famous wood. This is the balsa of model-airplane fame, with extremely light, soft wood.
Leaves are very large. Balsa flowers are particularly unique and exotic. Held perfectly upright in the tree, unopened flowers strongly resemble velvety ice-creme cones. When opened, a fruit strongly resembles a large rabbit's foot.

Snuff-box tree, Fried egg tree. A spiny shrub or small tree. The fruits have a sour, edible pulp. Beautiful white and yellow camellia-like flowers look like 'fried eggs' when they drop off and fall on the ground with their yellow stamens facing upwards. Flowers are honey-sweet fragrant and attract butterflies and bees.

The tree is often grown as an ornamental for its strange appearance. The long, podded fruits hang down from bear branches, looking like dangling sickles or swords in the night.

New hybrid of Papaya. It has very large 10-12" oval fruit, up to 7 lbs, it is very sweet and juicy! The most delicious variety we ever tasted. The tree is dwarf, up to 6-7 ft tall.
Self pollinating. The delicious fruit of the papaya is good for you as a dessert or as a digestive aid (it contains the enzyme papain, which is essential to digestion).

Parkinsonia africana is native to southern Africa (Namibia and Northern Cape). Small tree or shrub.

Guajilote, Guahalote - This highly ornamental tree is a conversation piece due to the interesting shape of its leaves and the greenish-cream flowers that grow directly from the stem or branch tips. The 1 ft long fruit resembles a greenish-yellow cucumber. The fibrous fruit is juicy with a sweet flavor similar to sugar cane.
Barely cover seeds with well-drained soil mix, keep warm, damp and in bright light.

Dune Bride's Bush. A slender, prostrate or scrambling shrub. Inflorescence round, with white flowers.

African wattle, weeping wattle. Small to medium-size semi-deciduous to deciduous tree of about 15Ft to 30 Ft tall. An excellent garden shade tree, beautiful in flower. Great plant for bonsai.

Copperpod. A fast-growing tree, spectacular golden blooms. Temperatures in the high 20's cause the leaves to drop but these are quickly replaced. Young trees flower in 2-3 years from seed.

Evergreen tree with a fast-growing, dense canopy. Produces lilac-fragrant, lavender, showy flowers during the late summer/fall.

Cheesewood, small tree from South Africa with sweetly fragant flowers. This plant makes a good garden plant, growing in either in full sun or semi-shade.

Podalyria sericea is an upright, silvery-grey shrub to 5 feet with shining silvery-hairy, elliptic leaves. Sweetly-scented mauve flowers are followed by inflated pods. Native to South Africa.

Port St. John's Creeper, Zimbabwe creeper. Evergreen or deciduous twining vine, rapidly growing to 20 feet tall (6 m). Pink flowers in spring and fall.

King sugarbush, King protea. It is a distinctive member of Protea, having the largest flower head in the genus. The species is also known as giant protea, honeypot or king sugar bush.

Sugarbush. Very showy dwarf variety. Its distribution is from the Kleinmond to Bredasdorp Mountains and is one of the best known proteas in the cut flower industry.

Queen protea, Sugarbush. This dense shrub of variable growth habit has large fuzzy leaves and beautiful large, cupped, bearded flowers in a variety of colors.

Oleanderleaf protea is endemic to South Africa. Protea neriifolia, a member of the Bearded Sugarbushes, is one of the easiest proteas to grow. The long, slender leaves look similar to the leaves of the oleander. Protea neriifolia has a wider tolerance than most other proteas and can be grown in a climate with wet winters and dry summers, as well as in a climate with dry cold winters and wet summers and can withstand light, but brief frosts. Living for 15 years or more, Protea neriifolia is an excellent plant for the garden, especially as it grows quite well in soil which is slightly alkaline.
The large flowers last up to three weeks in water and vary in colour from creamy-green to pink to deep carmine with a fluffy 'beard' of purple-black to pure white hairs.

Sugarbush. Protea repens is one of the easiest, most adaptable and reliable proteas in cultivation. It is tolerant of a wide range of soils, from heavy clay to deep white sand. The flower color varies, from a creamy white to white touched with pink, to the deep red varieties used by the cut flower industry.

Protea susannae is a large, robust, upright shrub arising from a single stem. This easy-to-grow protea has lovely flowers throughout the winter months.

Blue butterfly-bush. An erect shrub from South Africa with willowy branches. The leaves are needle-like and the scented lilac-blue pea flowers occur sporadically throughout the year.

Officinal Drypetes, Child Life Tree. Tree with drooping leaves, highly values in India for its medicinal properties.

Planted as an ornamental or xeriscape plant for its amazing sulphur yellow flowers. Arid-climate bromeliad, grows to 3-5ft, clumping habit. Leaves are long, with sharp teeth on their sides. Needs minimal water and can survive to 20-25F. Grow in full sun or part shade, should stand temperatures to 100F. Propagation: Seeds.
Broadcast the seeds on top of very well drained soil mix. Mist the seeds only enough to keep barely damp. Bright light, keep warm.

Be Still Tree, Quinine Tree. A fine, fast-growing tree for sheltered gardens, easily raised from seed and an unusually decorative tree for larger gardens and parks. The sweetly scented flowers attract butterflies and other insects, which in turn attract insect-eating birds, that bring about pollination. The hydrophilic nature of the plant allows seed dispersal by water to take place. Rauvolfia was named after a medical doctor and a collector of drug plants from the 16th century, Leonhart Rauwolf of Augsburg, and caffra means of Kaffraria (Eastern Cape). The common name quinine tree refers to the bitter and supposedly quinine-like properties of the bark.