Bulletin - Summer 1994 - North American Rock Garden Society

north of the main Drakensbergescarpment. Kuus was surprised Iwanted to spend a day on top of thismountain that was a thousand feetor so lower than the main ranges ofthe Drakensberg. The entirePlatberg is a preserve and wellfenced, and I was fortunate to havehis guidance. The cliffs responsiblefor the table-like shape are largelysheer and unscalable by casual hikers,but Kuus quickly led us up "OneMan Pass"—which might have beenappropriately named "ScreamingBaboon Pass" that morning, for ourdistant cousins managed to curdlemy blood when they launched into avigorous family squabble a few dozenfeet from me.Views of Harrismith and the blueand distant high berg would havemade this hike memorable even if Ihadn't noticed a single flower. Hereagain, an extraordinary number ofornamentals came into view every fewfeet: There was a deep blue Streptocarpusgardenii in pockets on therocks in the woodlands; severalPelargonium species including thegigantic, peachy yellow P. luridaalong the road. An Ipomoea with 5"flowers of velvety purple-maroonformed a deep-green-leaved mat(photo, p. 198).Superficially Barliera monticolalooks like some sort of brooding, violetblue penstemon, but closerinspection reveals the Ruellia-\ikestructure of the flowers and the stiffAcanthus-like pose of the flowerstems. Once we reached the top ofthe mountain an incredible array offlowers wove a veritable tapestry ofcolor everywhere. On rock outcropsaround a pond near the edge a particularlyexciting assortment ofplants appeared: Hebenstreitia,wand-like scrophs with speckledwhite or yellow flowers, formed widedrifts everywhere on the top. SeveralCrassula species made big patches ofcreamy white on rocky ground, ofteninterspersed with bright blue or violetNemesia capensis. One of themost congested mats of HelichrysumI have ever seen, sprinkled withstemless, pink buds, grew amongover an outcrop. When will I ever seeit in bloom? Nothing seems to matchits form in Hilliard and Burtt's magnificentmonograph of the genus.And then, there was another dream!A delightful, clump-forming race ofHelichrysum chionosphaerum withsmall mats of linear leaves and 6"stems with bubble-like white andyellow blooms on top.Bulbs were everywhere, the oddAlbuca, an occasional Gladiolus, hotpink Hesperantha on cliffs andspeckling a meadow. Then the exotic,whorled flowers of a Bulbine onstems less than 1' high really capturedmy imagination—no seed, darnit! Kuus summoned me over somehundred feet ahead. On a gentlesouth-facing slope, among three orfour species of tangled rock ferns hefound a huge plant of Aloe aristata infull bloom, with dozens of giantracemes. The bent scarlet trumpetswere beautiful. The deciduous-leavedAloe ecklonis grew nearby in a pureyellow phase—a delightful rock plantbarely a foot high.Among patches of Gazania linearisstudded with nosegays of yellowbloomed a hot pink Delospermaof the ashtonii group, the two forminga rather disturbing contrast. Andthen, another marvel—a densemound of tiny, blue-green heads, onEuphorbia puluinata. This is rathersmaller, making a flatter moundthan the magnificent E. clauarioidesthat I saw on practically every hotslope of the Drakensberg.As we gradually worked our waySouth African Journal 193