I know this may not be comforting, but the best bloom I've ever seen in South Africa has been in recently burned areas. In early 2002 there was a major fire in the Silvermine Reserve near Cape Town. We were able to visit that October, and the display of flowers was amazing. In 2008 there was a similar fire at the Fernkloof Reserve in Hermanus, not too far from Cape Town. Again, wow. Not just bulbs, but protea seedlings carpeted the hillside. In 2011 there were a number of large fires near Worcester, the site of the Indigenous Bulb Association of South Africa (IBSA) conference. Rachel and Rod Saunders, bless them, went out of their way to find recently burnt areas for our tours. The blackened earth lined with beautiful bulbs in bloom was resurrection at its best. Also in 2011, we went to KwaZulu-Natal. On a leisurely drive through the Midlands we encountered burns, possibly intentional, along a railroad line. Cyrtanthus tuckii! Scadoxus! Boophone! Scilla! Ledebouria! (pics are from this site) I'm thinking of our friends on the West Coast, and hoping for the best. --Roy NW of Boston -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: 2011-09-18_IMG_3814A.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 2225434 bytes Desc: not available URL: <http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/pipermail/pbs/…> -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: 2011-09-18_IMG_3803A.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 2412565 bytes Desc: not available URL: <http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/pipermail/pbs/…> -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: 2011-09-18_IMG_3784A.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 2292324 bytes Desc: not available URL: <http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/pipermail/pbs/…> -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: 2011-09-18_IMG_3778A.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 1634456 bytes Desc: not available URL: <http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/pipermail/pbs/…> _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/…
