Wild Flower Time in South Africa - 5

I'm really enjoying putting this series together. I just love flowers and South Africa has the most amazing wildflowers in bloom right now. The photos I'm sharing with you today are of the elegant arum lilies, also known as calla lilies. These are my personal favorites and they truly steal the show. I even chose them for my bridal bouquet 17 years ago.

I took these pictures while we were visiting my in-laws near Franschhoek. I added the photos of the horses, because of the arum lilies along the back fence.

Grandma "Nanna" holding Amanda
Notice Amanda's shoe is falling off
while she's petting the horse.

The horses are watching while
Nanna puts Amanda's shoes
back on.

Wild Flower Time in South Africa - 4

Today's post has a lovely splash of color. The first three photos are of wildflowers that are growing on the side of the road in our neighborhood. The funny round yellow ones and fairy-type purple ones look stunning next to each other. Yellow and purple are complimentary colors, meaning they are opposite each other on the color wheel.

I took the last two photos while Hubby was driving at about 100 km/hr as we were on the way to Cape Town (when we went ice-skating for Samantha's birthday), near Paarl. There are white horses and a brown one on the hillside. I'm sorry I couldn't get a better shot of them.

What do all five of these photos have in common? They have the purple wildflowers in common, which are growing everywhere at the moment. I was once told that these flowering plants are alfalfa (lucerne), but I'm not an expert on these things, so I wouldn't know.

Wild Flower Time in South Africa - 3

We've been having sunshine and beautiful days here in South Africa. Of course, we've been taking every opportunity to enjoy it. The photos on today's post were taken on one such day. We stopped on the side of a country road, so that I could take pictures of the flowers. Amanda got out of the car and I took a couple of pictures of her too.

Wild Flowers:
A big yellow one and a tiny lilac one in the background

Wild Flowers: Black and White

More yellow wild flowers

Amanda with her toy guitar

Amanda

Amanda in Black and White

Linking with:

Wild Flower Time in South Africa - 2

I am always amazed at the variety of beautiful wild flowers at this time of year. They even grow on hard ground. It reminds me of my poem, "Desert Flower," which I posted some time ago on my poetry blog and which you might like to read.

I checked out a few websites hoping to find some names for the flowers I'll be sharing in this series. What I found out is that if you really want to know, then you'll have to buy a book on the subject. I also found a blog called Extraordinary Travel where they posted some great photos, but here's the funny part: some of the captions read "Wildflowers" and "Lovely purple, perfect flowers!" So, it seems that knowing the names of them is not the focus, and it won't be the focus on my blog either. Just enjoy the photos!

Prolific orange wild flowers

Amanda posing for me
Here's a closer look at these flowers.
See how hard the ground is!

Wild Flower Time in South Africa - 1

As some of you already know, it is springtime here in South Africa. That means the wild flowers are popping up everywhere in all their brilliant color and variety. We’ve been to our Botanical Gardens and on two easy hikes in the past couple of weeks.

Amanda at our Botanical Gardens

Country Roads of South Africa - 7

I hope you've enjoyed the country roads around our area. I'm ending off this series today with a black and white photo, which I edited in Picasa 3. And, I've got an awesome new series lined up that I can't wait to show you.

Country Road in Color

Country Road in Black and White

Country Roads of South Africa - 6

Sunshine and Dark Clouds

Country Roads of South Africa - 5

This photo is of farm worker's clean laundry hanging in the sun to dry along a fence. It's a common sight as they sometimes don't have the luxury of washing lines. In these rural parts, the children go to farm schools. This way they don't have to travel so far, but these schools usually only have basic resources. I used to visit a farm school not far from our home once a week with a YWAM group. I learned from the teachers that there was a ministry that provided one hot meal a day at the school. This had a double positive affect; it provided good nourishment for kids who usually didn't get breakfast at their homes nor a packed lunch for school and it ensured that they would come to class. South Africa is a beautiful place, but not without its hardships.

Country Roads of South Africa - 4

Country Roads of South Africa - 3