Renosterveld spring

Don’t underestimate those seasonally bare patches in the veld. In autumn the open ground among the shrubbery may be devoid of living plants, reduced to game and stock paths. Return in spring and witness annuals doing their thing.

Namaqualand is famous for this but other regions perform similar magic on less applauded scale. Here, around Clanwilliam and more widely in the northwest's response to winter rain, albeit a mere "few drops", it is the shrub-free, fallow field that draws the admirer exclamations. A walk in the renosterveld can be an eye-opener. Among the big bushes that mask details, it is not endless, spring flower panorama that grabs the mind in instant exhilaration.

The rewards are numerous and various, mostly surprises. Shrubs and rocks create sheltered nooks for secret gatherings of returning annuals. It is here that the new year’s growth of bulbous plants reveal the unexpected, spared from trampling in the semi-shade of conveniently positioned low branches.