This story begins with a blushing bride and her bodyguard. In 1914, Professor Harold Pearson attended a local flower show in Franschhoek. Under these unassuming circumstances, he stumbled upon a flower that contemporary botanists thought to be extinct Serurria florida, the blushing bride. By Mia McCarthy The scientific record shows that Serruria florida was officially catalogued by Carl Peter Thunberg, a Swedish mentee of Carl Linnaeus, in the Franschhoek Mountains in 1773.

"All fynbos wants to burn." The beauty of these flowers is that they are meant to die. Bursting along the rolling hills of Grootbos Private Nature Reserve, blackened by fire last year, these buds have fought through the soil to expand into a green seascape at the ocean's edge. By Rosa-Karoo Loewe The reserve is experiencing a superbloom, more than 20 years in the making. Thousands of species are growing across the reserve, many of them plants that only emerge after fire and s

I have always marveled at how a little attention to detail can bring a tired, shabby object back to life. I like nothing more than restoring the shine to a piece that has taken on the patina of age and become dull and tarnished. I feel a thrill of accomplishment when I return the freshly polished gleam to a piece of chrome or brassware, particularly if it has been long neglected, and lately I have been kept particularly busy doing just that. By Dave Charles Our son, Dan, move

Alison Snyders & Karin Lipari Karen’s face lights up when I ask her what her favourite flower is. “Stargazers,” she tells me with eyes that soften and sparkle, almost as if there were actual stars gazing out of them. “The reason why I love them is because, when they’re closed, you watch them open up. You can literally see it every day. It’s like a process of opening and that’s what I love about it.” By Dan Charles The Stargazer Lily is one of the most recognisable flowers tha

Why would you want/need more friends? You can’t have enough! If I walk around a mall or my new estate I want to bump into people I know. I love small talk and random conversations. I’m a bit like a hairdresser in this regard. As for the how…..it’s simple really: Join every WhatsApp group on the estate. Words: Judd Campbell We moved into a new estate last year and I did just that. Admittedly, the Whiskey Group was a little too hardcore for me. Naively I thought it would be sip

How one photographer put Ballito on the map For photographer Karl Liebenberg, Instagram was never going to be enough. After years of photographing along the beaches of Ballito, he knew the images he was capturing deserved something more permanent. Something you could hold in your hands. The result is Ballito: Ocean Arena, a visual love letter to Ballito and the remarkable relationship its people have with the sea. What started out as a surfing book soon became something much

The ephemeral art of Azuma Makoto The Japanese system of floral symbolism is called hanakotoba. Thought to have emerged in the late 19th Century, directly translated, hanakotoba means “flower words”, and the practice intertwines with traditions of ikebana – Japanese flower arrangement. Iris (shobu) for strength, courage and protection. Chrysanthemum (kiku) for longevity and rejuvenation. Cherry blossoms (sakura) for the transience of life. By Shannon Devy Fittingly, it’s via

It’s a Saturday morning in May. The thickest mist I have ever seen has wrapped itself around the Cape Town City Bowl, snaking through the streets, stealing colour and re-rendering the world in hazy black and white. I’m on my way to Gallery F, one of the top photographic galleries on the continent, and as I’m buzzed through the little black door at 78 Shortmarket Street, I step out of one monochromatic world and into another, climbing a staircase bracketed by exquisite black