Howzit Steve

Greetings from Krugersdorp, JHB. It seems we all need something from our mother land to keep us sane! Where are you from originally? What is your rainfall like, is it dry or humid, summer or winter rainfall? Do you have frost, snow? What is the soil like on your land, sandy or clayey, deep or shallow and rocky? Once we have that, I am sure we can all give you some ideas to get you started.

In the meantime visit the National Botanical Institute's plantz africa website to soothe your soul a bit.

Cheers
Charles

Here is a link that might be useful: Plantz Africa

Thanks for you reply Charles!!
Nice to hear from you in SA itself. I was born and grew up in JHB in the 50's and 60's in Rosebank and then Craighall. You know what yearly family holidays along the Natal and Transkei coast and game reserve (and all that) do to you for the rest of your life!
Here in the south of France it's nice, but.......!

This is not a full Mediterannean climate as far as temperatures go, since it gets much hotter (in 2003 we had 41 degrees C for about 10 days) with a long summer period generally ranging from 20 to 35 degrees for 5 months of the year. Rainfall can be scarce during this period and we cazn saley say that watering (I have a well) is reguired during the 2 peak summer months of July & August.

Winters are generally mild with only about 15 days frost in the year, BUT most years there is a "cold spell" when there is hard frost at -4, -5 and sometimes up to -10, usually accompanied at the beginning by a bit of snow. There is also a period of about 1 month in January or February when you have heavy winter rainfall with temps in the 5 to 10 degree C range. I think we are in a "Warm Temperate" zone. To give you an idea of what grows here:

On the exotic side: there are artificially planted olive trees that do well with no protection. Citrus has to be taken inside in winter. Bouganvillia will survive in the right shelter. There are almonds, figs, pomegranites and loquats. Date palms grow in gardens but need winter protection when young.

Soil in my garden is naturally abiout 30 cm deep and is clayey and slightly acid. There are good full sun areas, half shade and full shade.

And thanks for that link too!!

Hey it gets quite nippy in JHB too in the winter!

thanks a ton,
Steve in Toulouse

Hi Steve,

Another South African here, this time exiled in Ireland.

I should think that stuff from Namaqualand and the Cedarberg would grow quite well in your corner of France. You might even try some of the Fynbos varieties from the Boland and Cape region - Table Mountain Silvertrees and Yellowwood, Fiddlewood, etc. Pincushions and most other Proteas can be started from seed and are frost hardy when mature.

The Wild Olive (South African variety) is very hardy and popular with the birds, though quite slow growing - took ours 12 years to grow 9 feet! Cape Willow and Ash are both impressive trees for the larger garden as well.

Good luck!

I doubt that Silver Trees, Leucospermums or even most Leucadedrons would be hardy in Toulouse, as they can be marginal even in San Francisco's generally mild USDA zone 9/10 climate in freezes. Silver Trees, even when mature have died here at -2C, as have Leucospermums at UC Santa Cruz.

In general, you will probably be safest with bulbs and plants such as Agapanthus/Nerines, etc. that can grow back from frost, surviving at the roots. In addition, there are many South African plants here in California that are routinely planted out in zone 8/9 conditions. Sunset Western Garden Encyclopedia would be a good book to purchase that lists the hardiness of many South African plants here in the western USA. Plants listed as hardy for Washington state, Oregon and New Mexico would be the most likely to survive in Toulouse, having similar minimum low temperatures in winter. In California, plants listed as hardy in Sunset zones 14, and 7-9 would also be compatible with your conditions, although our regular winter lows are milder than your normal lows, the extreme lows are within your range.

Hi Steve

Yep, it gets nippy here. We had black frost in late winter last year with minimum of -5 degree C. Had some severe frost damage to the more sensitive plants but lost nothing. OK it not as cold as most people on this forum are used to but for Africa it gets pretty chilly. And winter is just around the corner!

Although I am in a summer rainfall area, you may try trees/shrubs I have in my garden that survived the black frost. You will have to water all in summer and as long as the coldest periods are not too wet they should be OK. Overall I think you may have to experiment a bit to see what survives. Here goes:

Celtis africana White Stinkwood
Leucosidea sericea Oldwood (Ouhout)
Rhus lancea Karee
Rhus pendulina White Karee
Buddleja auriculata Weeping Sage
Buddleja salvifolia Wild Sage
Combretum erythrophyllum River Bushwillow
Dais cotinifolia Pompon Tree
Dombeya rotundifolia Wild Pear
Englerophytum magaliesmontanum Transvaal milkplum (Stamvrug)
Gomphostigma virgatum River star
Heteromorpha arborescens var. abyssinica Parsley Tree
Mundulea sericea Cork Bush
Olea europaea ssp africana Wild olive
Tapiphyllum parvifolium Mountain Wild Medlar

Protect these for the first 2-3 years as they are frost tender while young. All grow naturally in the ridges of JHB so they should be able to handle the occasional cold spell. I am not sure if they will like cold wet weather though, and it appears to get a bit colder than here in JHB.

You should be able to get seeds of most from Silverhill Seeds www.silverhillseeds.co.za or the National Botanical Institute www.nbi.ac.za. Good luck.

Cheers
Charles

Thanks a ton Charles!
Good selection, with a particular fond memory of the Englerophytum magaliesmontanum, both because I love that unique flavour and because it reminds me of the Magaliesburg, where I used to go a lot. I remember searching for stamvrugte in Castle Gorge! There were leopards there in the 50's!!!
I'm going to do a selection from these suggestions and order seeds!
I'll let you know
Steve

Your climate sounds similar to mine in NE Texas, with searing heat and dry months, and bitterly cold winters.

Am growing Strelitzia Reginae, Agapanthus and dwarf Peter Pan, Cape Plumbago, Zantedeschia, Gazania, Society Garlic, Gloriosa Lily and Red Hot Poker.

The Strelitizia and Plumbago are in pots and get put in the garage under grow lights for winter, the rest die back and return.

I sommer miss Joeys, too.