After a week when the estate experienced the heaviest snowfall in twenty years and staff struggled to get to work, we had an email from Will Pelton one of our horticulture students who is on a gap year and currently working in South Africa for 6 months:I hope the snow hasn't hindered you too badly this week, today in Cape Town the temperature was 35c! so I am not particularly missing the uk.
Monday, I started work at the seed bank at Kirstenbosch which collects native plant seeds, cleans them and then half are sent to a seed bank in Pretoria and Half to the Kew millenium seed bank in Wakehurst. So I cleaned some rare Leucodendron seeds and hopefully they will end up back in the UK in Wakehurst.
Tuesday, Some of the seed bank workers, myself and a Brazilian volunteer went on a expedition to Cape Point where the Atlantic and Indian ocean meet. It offered fanatastic views and we found what we think was a Ruschia promontorii which is endangered. Hopefully these seeds are viable and will be cleaned and sent to England.
Wednesday, the students and I started propagation using Plectranthus plants. It was very careful work and time consuming but we propagated a large amount.
Thursday, we carried on propagation doing other plants from the garden particularly semi-wood plants like shrubs. This again was difficult due to the irregular shapes but I think Trevor the manager of it was pleased.
Friday, me and the students weeded and watered the stock beds again until midday under a scorching sun of about 35oc. We then proceeded after lunch to do the plant ID test which I was a little unsure about but hopefully the results aren't too bad. The rest of the afternoon was spent finding out the Ericas we needed to study for the next test.
This weekend I am finally going to central Cape Town to see the waterfront and do a bit of sightseeing. I hope the weather gets better and the garden doesn't suffer too badly.
Best Wishes
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