03/04/2025
What a pleasure to have an abundance of birds in our garden ๐ ๐ผ ๐ธ
If youโd like to bring more nectar-feeding birds to your garden or green space, then consider planting the pretty forest sugarbush (๐๐ณ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฆ๐ข ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐ช). It occurs naturally in the Kogelberg Biosphere, in a short coastal strip from Bettyโs Bay to Hermanus (as well as in the southern Cape in the mountains above George and beyond).
The cream-coloured flowerheads are visible now, as it flowers in late summer. And the plant itself grows to about 8m, and lives for up to 20 years. Itโs pollinated by Cape Sugarbirds and sunbirds. And it reseeds once the plants are burnt in fires - with the seeds held in the remains of the flowerheads, which open up to release the seeds after fire.
The forest sugarbush is not threatened, and they make for a gorgeous sight now in our Kogelberg Biosphere.
๐ธ on iNaturalist.org
Source: PlantzAfrica, South African National Biodiversity Institute
