Newsletter 10: February 2026

Hallo and a very happy 2026 to all our Friends and Customers

This year has started with a bang.  I went on a trip looking, finding and seeing plants and places and it was wonderful.  We took my Dad with us (and Erica), it was his first long trip away for may years and sitting in a car for that amount of time, together with being “thrown around” on the bad roads was a bit exhausting for him.

We drove up and started our trip in Bloemfontein at Liedjiesbos  (https://liedjiesbos.co.za/).  Dawie very kindly offered to look after Erica’s car and her indoor plants for the 2 weeks we were away.  If anyone is coming to SA and needs a place to stay – what an incredible spot, from the Ankhole cattle, HUGE pumpkins to the most amazing indigenous garden, not to forget the accommodation together with the staff.  I can’t rave enough

We went from there via Lundin’s/Lundeans Nek pass on our way down to our next overnight stop.  Lundins Nek is one of the great Eastern Cape passes (https://www.mountainpassessouthafrica.co.za/)  , it doesn’t really go anywhere, but it does need a 4×4 and is one of the most underrated passes in South Africa.  With twists and turns and often going slowly.  We passed another 4×4 with an open trailer with 2 horses in it.  I was very surprised that they were so calm, I chatted to a farmer and they said “oh yes, that is my neighbour, they do it often”.

The Bulbine abyssinica were flowering in profusion, this would certainly count as a high altitude species at 2170m above Sea Level.

I often sit at the top of a mountain and think of the beauty of this land we call home, for all the politics it is heaven on earth.  I am sure most of you think exactly the same thing about your own countries. We all need to appreciate the beauty of our own country.

We weren’t planning to drive so many passes, but it ended up to be just that.  The next pass we did was the Carlisleshoekspruit Pass (https://www.mountainpassessouthafrica.co.za/find-a-pass/eastern-cape/170-carlislehoekspruit-pass.html)  to Tiffendell.  Rod and Rachel often went up there looking for cold hardy plants.  Unfortunately Tiffendell Ski Resort has closed its doors, so we couldn’t spend the night, but we went up and down and saw the most amazing plants and views.  Erica was the driver and did very well as we had no idea what the pass was like.  Geranium robustum, Kniphofia northiae, hirsuta and caulescens, Gladiolus longicollis, Berkheya purpurea and cirsiifolia, Glumicalyx nutans, Senecio macrocephalus, Helichrysum aureum not to forget Dierama robustum, just to mention a few.

Coming down was more exciting as the top piece has a gradient of 1:3.  A farmer we passed commented that he always smells brakes as people drive past, but he didn’t smell ours – Well done Erica, Erica’s mother – me, on the other hand, was not very happy and clutched my seat all the way down, Dad was as calm as anything .

Brendan Cole has written a book on the Flora of the Rhodes village: Botanical Guide to the local WILD FLOWERS of RHODES VILLAGE and neighbouring valleys in the Cape Drakensberg – Revised Edition  Wonderful book that has good, short descriptions and pictures.

(https://silverhillseeds.co.za/product/botanical-guide-to-the-local-wild-flowers-of-rhodes-village-and-neighbouring-valleys-in-the-cape-drakensberg-revised-edition/).

From Rhodes we went via Naudes Neck Pass  which was the next pass (https://www.mountainpassessouthafrica.co.za/find-a-pass/eastern-cape/205-naude-s-nek-pass-r396-p0723.html?highlight=WyJuYXVkZXMiLCJuZWsiXQ== ). Not a particularly steep pass, but one that was done very slowly.  The Mountain Passes website say it was built by farmers – Something I have learnt from writing this “blog”.

By the time we got to the top of the pass it was misty and the clouds were very low and we didn’t see the view at all, but with the cloud closing in and the mist it was absolutely quiet and chilly!  We got down to the first hairpin bend – ” Mooi-Meisie-Draai” or Pretty-Girl-Corner” and it started raining, but it didn’t stop me walking on the slopes of the mountain.  Cyrtanthus epiphyticus, Lotononis galpinii, Trachyandra saltii I would have stayed longer, but the heavens opened as I was walking.  I think I did more walking and jogging down the pass than actual driving, just so much to see.

 

On Pot River Pass I saw Protea dracomontana for the first time, very small plants, looked like there had been a fire in the last year or 2, so it was their first flowering season.  I chatted to the curator at Katse dam and he said the Proteas are prized as firewood and the plants don’t get a chance to grow and mature into big bushes or trees, fires also seem to be more common.

 

Sani Pass is always exciting.  There was a group of cyclists riding up – I was very glad I was in the car.  There are a lot of Taxi’s that go up and down Sani pass, some of them can do 4 trips a day from the top to Underberg/Himeville, not sure if I would like that to be my taxi route.  There was talk about tarring it, but there are many factors making it near impossible, one of them is that it is in a river bed and during the rainy season the river can run!  If you are ever going to visit the “At the Top Restaurant” and not staying there you have to book to have tea/coffee/lunch, we didn’t realise that, so we didn’t get to go there.

 

The A3 that heads off left off the A1 is not tarred as we found out and badly washed away in parts, and very rocky, certainly a 4×4 road and not to be done in an ordinary car.  It was lovely, no signposts, but the locals were very helpful and always pointed us in the correct direction.  The local children shouting “sweets” as we drove past reminded me of growing up in the Highveld when there were gates on the dirt roads and the local children would open up for us and my Dad would usually part with a sweet to say thank you.  The trip to Thaba-Tseka is approximately 141km and it took us about 6 hours, so it was slow going. The real reason for going this way was for my Dad and myself to see the Katse dam. I remember hearing all about it in my last few years at school.

The dam was built by a consortium of South African, French, Italian, German and British companies and supplies Gauteng with extra water and Lesotho with Hydro electric power – saying this in the East of the country there is very little electricity to the villages.

 

This was also coming towards the end of our adventure and we had to start making our way home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We crossed into South Africa at the Fouriesburg Border Post and made our way to Golden Gate National Park where the mushroom rocks are one of the most iconic “postcard” pictures.

SANPARKS has recently opened a Dinosaur Interpretation centre (Kgodumodumo Dinosaur Interpretation Centre) and it is well worth a visit . A few years ago the education centre was empty, which was sad, now it is bustling with visitors.

We made our way back to Bloemfontein, where we parted and Erica headed off to Pretoria for her second year studying at Onderstepoort and Dad and I made our way back to Cape Town.

Some Silverhill News

Nina and I went looking for Disa uniflora at the aqueduct on table Mountain and took the 4 dogs.  The “sausages” got tired and we put them in the rucksacks to carry them for a while, so jumping on the “Band Wagon” with this  new AI phase, I am sharing what I thought was a great picture.

“The Table Mountain aqueduct system, was developed between 1888 and 1900, it was engineered to supply Cape Town with water by diverting the Disa River through the 700-meter-long Woodhead Tunnel. It feeds the Pipe Track, which carries water from the mountain’s dams to the Molteno Reservoir, initially addressing 19th-century water shortages. ” South African History Online

 

 

Nina is amazing and I think she mostly answers email now – it is not my forte and am very happy to let her.  If anyone needs to know anything about Courier/Postage, documents it is her.  Things have been constantly changing and she is keeping up fantastically.  Her boys are getting so big, Ben has started Grade R (this is the year before Grade 1 here in SA or Year 1) Max is just over 2.

Pat (Patricia) is still doing the invoicing and keeping us on the straight and narrow.  Kenneth also pops in and out, he is mostly driving my Dad around and they are having coffee at different little coffee shops.

Kirstin came to visit often last year which was fantastic, sometimes bringing the family and sometimes not.  It was great to see her, but I was also to be able to “hive off” and have a walk with the dogs by myself and gather my thoughts.  She sadly has made the decision to leave Silverhill, I want to shout out to say thank you for the incredible job she has done over the years and thank you for all the excel spreadsheets she has generated and we promise not to mess them up.  Kirstin  started working for Rod & Rachel when they first bought the business, she was still in highschool then and carried on and off until she left to go to the UK.  When the family moved back to SA in 2017, she asked Rachel if there was space for a few hours a day and of course she was welcomed back with open arms, but didn’t get the chance to start before Rod & Rachel were tragically taken from us, but stepped into the business gladly to help me out and I didn’t let her leave!  I and we will miss her.

My Mum passed away in November, very gently, for which I was thankful for.  Dad was very lost for a while, but he is getting better and with Kenneth they are finding as many small coffee shops as they can!

Dorothy had a wonderful family get together at her daughters wedding.  I think she was Mum and Dad’s favourite and used to sit for hours and just chat to both of them, take them for walks outside and was there for me too.

Regina – without her we wouldn’t have clean seed.  She was also there to help in the evenings with my Mum and Dad

Lucy and Etina support Regina and collect seed with us when we need extra hands.

Utrinah is our newest member to our family – to the house side of the family.  She nursed my Mum right to the end, I could not have done without her, and was incredibly patient with both Mum and Dad.  She is still here and looking after Dad very well, Regina introduced her to cleaning seeds while we were away, so we have an extra pair of hands if we need them.

Happy planting, growing and nurturing plants and yourselves this 2026

With best wishes from all of us here at Silverhill