September Plant Sale

🌳 Plant of the Month

Sideroxylon inerme – Milkwood

UWC Nature Reserve Plant Sale

Bring biodiversity to your garden and add climate-resilient indigenous plants.

The UWC Nature Reserve Unit Nursery invites you to our September plant sale. Our nursery offers a variety of indigenous plants suitable for gardens, containers and indoor spaces.

🌱 Indigenous Plants 🌿 Biodiversity 🌍 Climate-Resilient Gardening

📅

DATE
Wednesday, 23 September 2026

⏰

TIME
08:00 – 15:00

💵

PAYMENT
Cash sale only

🌳 Plant of the Month

Sideroxylon inerme

Milkwood

This month we are highlighting Sideroxylon inerme, commonly known as the Milkwood. It is an indigenous South African tree valued for its contribution to biodiversity and its importance in natural and cultivated landscapes.

Milkwoods can provide shade, shelter and habitat for a variety of organisms. Their presence in gardens and landscapes can also help strengthen connections between cultivated areas and the surrounding natural environment.

As we celebrate indigenous plants, choosing species such as Sideroxylon inerme can be one way of bringing local biodiversity into our gardens while learning more about the plants that form part of our natural heritage.

🌱 September Special
Sideroxylon inerme is available with a 10% discount during this month's plant sale.

🌿 Special Prices

Selected plants are available for only R5.

Coleus madagascariensis Crassula ericoides Crassula sarmentosa Crassula spatulata Crassula tetragona Jordaaniella dubia

🌱 Available Plants

We have a range of indigenous plants, flowering plants, succulents, groundcovers and indoor plants available during the sale.

Plant	Common name	Price
Agathosma cerefolium		R60
Agathosma glabrata		R60
Agathosma ovata 'Glentana'	False buchu	R60
Aloe brevifolia	Short-leaved aloe	R50
Asparagus densiflorus 'Meyeri'		R60
Chaenostoma cordatum		R20
Chlorophytum comosum	Hen and chickens	From R30
Cliffortia ferruginea	Glossy cliffortia	R30
Coleonema pulchellum	Confetti bush	R60
Coleus madagascariensis	Thicket coleus	R5
Coleus neochilus	Smelly coleus	R15
Crassula ericoides	Heath crassula	R5
Crassula ovata	Jade plant	R30
Crassula sarmentosa	Trailing jade plant	R5
Crassula spatulata	Ugwe	R5
Crassula tetragona	Mini pine	R5
Diascia integerrima	Twinspur	R50
Dietes bicolor	Yellow wild iris	R60
Elegia tectorum	Restio	R60
Eriocephalus africanus	Wild rosemary	R20
Euphorbia mauritanica	Yellow milk bush	R30
Euryops abrotanifolius	Lace-leaf euryops	R60
Euryops pectinatus	Golden euryops	R30
Euryops virgineus	Honey euryops	R40
Gazania rigens	Gazania	R20
Haemanthus coccineus	April fool	R30
Jordaaniella dubia	Matvygie	R5
Kalanchoe longiflora	Tugela cliff-kalanchoe	R25
Kalanchoe luciae	Flapjack plant	R60
Orbea variegata	Variegated carrion-flower	R20
Pelargonium capitatum	Kusmalva	R15
Pelargonium peltatum	Ivy geranium	R60
Plectranthus ambiguus	Tall spurflower	R50
Polygala virgata	Purple broom	R60
Sansevieria aethiopica	Wildewortel	R30
Salvia dolomitica	Dolomite sage	R40
Salvia scabra	Coastal blue sage	R40
Searsia crenata	Dune crowberry	R40
Streptocarpus primulifolius	Cape primrose	R40
Struthiola dodecandra	Sweet gonna	R40
Tulbaghia violacea	Wild garlic	R30
Veltheimia bracteata	Forest lily	R30
Zantedeschia aethiopica	Arum lily	R40

🪴 Indigenous Indoor Plants

Indigenous plants can also bring greenery into indoor spaces. The nursery has a selection of plants that can be grown indoors under suitable light and watering conditions.

Asparagus densiflorus
Asparagus plumosus
Chlorophytum comosum
Crassula multicava
Crassula muscosa
Crassula ovata
Haworthia glauca
Haworthia retusa
Ledebouria socialis
Mackaya bella
Plectranthus verticillatus
Portulacaria afra
Strelitzia reginae
Streptocarpus
Trichilia emetica
Veltheimia bracteata
Zantedeschia aethiopica

🌸 Flowering Plants

Add seasonal colour to your garden with our selection of flowering indigenous and adapted plants.

Agathosma glabrata   •   Agathosma ovata 'Glentana'   •   Coleonema pulchellum   •   Crassula multicava   •   Diascia integerrima   •   Dietes bicolor   •   Euryops pectinatus   •   Gazania rigens   •   Gnidia squarrosa   •   Salvia dolomitica   •   Salvia scabra   •   Zantedeschia aethiopica

🌿 Plants from Our Reserve

Some of the plants available through the nursery are associated with the vegetation of the UWC Nature Reserve and the broader Cape Floristic Region.

Elegia tectorum   •   Euphorbia mauritanica   •   Helichrysum cymosum   •   Jordaaniella dubia   •   Phylica ericoides   •   Ruschia macowanii   •   Salvia aurea   •   Senecio halimifolius   •   Sideroxylon inerme   •   Zantedeschia aethiopica

Why Grow Indigenous Plants?

Indigenous plants are part of the natural heritage of our region. Growing locally appropriate plants can help create gardens that are connected to the surrounding environment while providing opportunities to support biodiversity.

At the UWC Nature Reserve Nursery, we aim to make indigenous plants more accessible while encouraging people to learn about their value, cultivation and role in conservation.

Learning • Growing • Gardening

🌱 Visit the UWC Nature Reserve Nursery

Come and explore our selection of indigenous plants and learn more about growing climate-resilient gardens.

Wednesday, 23 September 2026
08:00 – 15:00

💵 Cash sale only

More information:
UWC Nature Reserve Unit
zmaphanga@uwc.ac.za

Next plant sale: 30 October 2026

Please note that plant availability may change. Not all plants listed on the advert are currently in flower.

 

UWC Nature Reserve Unit

Salvia dolomitica

dolomite sage

Salvia dolomitica in flower

Plant of the Month

Salvia dolomitica, commonly known as dolomite sage or Pilgrim's Rest sage, is an attractive indigenous South African shrub that belongs to the mint family Lamiaceae. It naturally occurs in parts of Limpopo and Mpumalanga, where it grows in rocky, dolomitic habitats. The species name dolomitica refers to its association with dolomite-rich areas.

This hardy, aromatic shrub is valued for its attractive grey-green foliage and delicate flowers. It can grow into an upright shrub of approximately 1–2 metres. From spring through summer, it produces clusters of pale lilac to pinkish flowers with attractive markings. After flowering, the calyces remain on the plant and develop a striking deeper colour, extending its ornamental display.

One of the most valuable features of S. dolomitica is its role in supporting pollinators. Its flowers are adapted for bee pollination, providing a landing platform for visiting bees. This makes dolomite sage a wonderful addition to gardens designed to support pollinators and urban biodiversity. A garden filled with indigenous plants can provide valuable food and habitat for the small creatures that help keep ecosystems functioning.

The plant is also well-suited to water-wise gardens. It is drought-resistant and performs best in full sun and well-drained soil. Regular watering during the growing season encourages healthy growth and flowering. Pruning after flowering helps maintain a compact and bushy shape. The plant can be propagated from seed or cuttings.

At a glance

Sun: Full sun
Water: Water-wise / drought-resistant
Soil: Well-drained soil
Wildlife value: Supports pollinators
Propagation: Seed or cuttings

Beauty with ecological value

Beyond its horticultural value, Salvia dolomitica has also attracted scientific interest because of its aromatic essential oils. Research has investigated the antimicrobial activity of essential oils from South African Salvia species against selected microorganisms. With its fragrant foliage, attractive flowers, pollinator value and ability to tolerate dry conditions, dolomite sage is an excellent indigenous shrub for water-wise and biodiversity-friendly gardens.

A personal favourite

I personally enjoy using the aromatic leaves of dolomite sage to make a simple cup of tea. I like combining two to three fresh leaves with lemon, cancer bush (Sutherlandia frutescens), and a little honey. The combination makes a pleasant, fragrant herbal drink that I enjoy now and then. For me, this is one of the simple joys of growing aromatic indigenous plants.

Note

This is a personal preference rather than a recommendation for treating or preventing any health condition. Herbal plants can contain active compounds and may not be suitable for everyone, particularly when consumed regularly or alongside medication.

Grow Indigenous.
Grow for Biodiversity.

UWC Nature Reserve Unit

UWC NATURE RESERVE UNIT

ABOUT US | NURSERY | CONTACT US

---

by Admin | July 3, 2026 | Indigenous indoor plants | 0 comments

Streptocarpus primulifolius

Common name: Cape primrose
Family: Gesneriaceae
Origin: South Africa
Plant description: A fast-growing and highly rewarding soft perennial herb with an unusual growth habit: it features no true stems, as each rough, hairy leaf acts as an individual plant with its own roots and flowering stems. The leaves grow in a rosette formation from a thick horizontal rootstock, originating at ground level and curving gently outward. Throughout spring and summer, it produces large, striking single or paired flowers on long, slender stems. The tubular flowers are two-lipped with five broad, uneven petals, typically appearing in beautiful shades of purple, pink, or mauve/lilac with deep violet or reddish-purple stripes inside. The long fruit capsules characteristically twist open in a spiral when dry to release tiny seeds.

Use: An exceptionally popular and decorative indoor pot plant, ideal for adding a splash of vibrant color to bright interior spaces, kitchens, bathrooms, or offices. It also performs beautifully outdoors in containers on sheltered, shaded patios or nestled under a forest-like tree canopy in frost-free gardens.

Light and position: Prefers bright, indirect light or dappled shade (an east- or west-facing windowsill is ideal). Keep it strictly out of direct sunlight to prevent leaf burn, but avoid deep shade as this will result in poor flowering.

Water requirement: Medium to low water requirement. Because they have shallow root systems and natural cliff-dwelling adaptations, they prefer to dry out between waterings. Water regularly during the active growing season, but allow the top layer of soil to dry before watering again. Reduce watering significantly in winter; the plant can tolerate slight wilting and recovers beautifully once watered, but sitting in soggy soil will cause fatal root rot.

Plant care: Plant in light, well-drained, slightly acidic potting soil mixed with organic matter like bark compost or peat. Feed monthly during the spring and summer growing season with a potassium-rich liquid fertilizer to encourage abundant flowering. Deadhead spent flowers by snipping the flower stem at the base. Re-pot only when the roots start growing out of the drainage holes at the bottom of the pot. Choose a wide, shallow pot rather than a deep one, only one size larger than the root ball, as these plants thrive and flower best when slightly root-bound.

Pest and diseases: Generally exceptionally pest and disease-free. However, keep a lookout for aphids, mealybugs, and leaf miner caterpillars on the undersides of the leaves. Watch out for rotting at the leaf base, which is a sign of over-watering or poor drainage.

Propagation: Highly versatile and easy to grow from both leaf cuttings and seeds. Leaf cuttings are best taken in spring or early summer; select a healthy leaf from the center of the plant, cut it into 3 cm sections or cut along the midrib, and insert it upright into a well-drained mixture of compost, sand, or vermiculite. Keep the medium humid and moist, and new plantlets will develop from the leaf base in 4 to 6 weeks. To propagate by seed, scatter the dust-like seeds thinly on top of a fine, well-drained medium. Do not cover them with soil as they require light to germinate. Keep them warm, moist, and under a clear cover until they sprout in 3 to 4 weeks.

By uwcnursery

• UWC NATURE RESERVE UNIT
• ABOUT US
• NURSERY
• CONTACT US

_______________________________

by Admin | May 12, 2026, | Gardening Tips | 0 comments

Cape Flats Gardening Guide

🌿 

May & June activities in the Garden 

🌿

As the Cape’s winter edges closer, May and June bring a gentle rhythm to the garden. Rain begins to fall more often, soaking the soil and helping roots settle in. It’s a season of preparation, tidying, and planting. A time when small efforts now will reward you with lush growth later.

❄️ Winter preparation

• Clear gutters, downpipes, drainage channels, and stormwater drains to prevent flooding during heavy winter rains.
• Spike compacted lawns with a garden fork, fill holes with sand or old potting soil, and sprinkle bonemeal to encourage healthy root growth.

✂️ Gentle garden maintenance

• Tidy up summer- and autumn-flowering shrubs including Barleria, Plumbago, ribbon bush, and wild dagga.
• Prune Plectranthus after flowering and root cuttings in a cool, shaded area.
• Add compost around shrubs and perennials, avoiding direct contact with stems.
• Relocate struggling shrubs while the soil is moist and cool.

🌱 Soil Care

Healthy soil is the foundation of a thriving garden.

Healthy compost 

• Spread compost generously over garden beds twice a year.
• No digging needed, let earthworms and soil microbes do the work naturally.

🌿 Featured winter plant

Metalasia muricata

Metalasia muricata is a hardy indigenous shrub with fine foliage and creamy flower heads, ideal for water-wise and fynbos gardens.

🌿 Winter planting

This is an excellent planting season for indigenous and Cape Flats species:

Flowering Jordaaniella dubia

• Conicosia pugioniformis (pigroot)
• Euphorbia mauritanica  (yellow milk bush)
• Helichrysum capitatum (imphepho)
• Jordaaniella dubia (matvygie)
• Metalasia muricata (wild olive)
• Olea europaea subsp. africana (blombos)
• Ruschia macowanii  (beach tentifig)
• Salvia aurea (brown sage)
• Searsia crenata (dune crowberry)
•  Senecio halimifolius (tabakbos)

Feed flowering aloes with compost (available at our next plant sale for only R35) to encourage dazzling winter blooms.

🪴 Containers & window boxes

Brighten patios and windowsills with:

• 
  Gazanias
• Geraniums
• Diascias
• Osteospermum
  

🌼 Indigenous & fynbos magic

Try these winter performers:

• Agathosma serpyllacea (wildeboegoe)
• Coleonema pulchellum (confetti bush)
• Euryops abrotanifolius (lace-leaf euryops)
• Euryops pectinatus (golden euryops)
• Osteospermum moniliferum (bietou)
• Phylica ericoides (heath phylica)
• Salvia scabra (coast blue sage)
• Strelitzia reginae (bird of paradise)

Together, these plants create a colourful, textured, and uniquely Cape winter garden

Please support our next plant sale on Friday, 29 May, where you can buy many of these resilient, dazzling indigenous plants at very affordable prices! 

Kindly refer to the brochure for more details

April Plant Sale

 

• UWC NATURE RESERVE UNIT
• ABOUT US
• NURSERY
• CONTACT US

_____________________________________

by Admin | April 20, 2026, | Plant Sale | 0 comments

🌿 CASH PLANT SALE 🌿

Bring biodiversity to your garden with climate-resilient indigenous plants

Learning, Growing, Gardening

📅 Date: 24 April 2026 (Friday)
⏰ Time: 08H00 – 15H00

🌼 Border & Filler Plants

• Bulbine frutescens
• Chlorophytum saundersiae
• Felicia echinata
• Felicia ‘nice blue’
• Helichrysum patulum
• Osteospermum sp.

🌿 Medicinal Plants

• Bulbine frutescens
• Eriocephalus africanus
• Leonotis leonurus
• Pelargonium sidoides
• Salvia aurea
• Tulbaghia violacea

🌳 Hedge Plants

• Dodonaea viscosa “Purpurea”
• Dovyalis caffra
• Euryops virgineus
• Plumbago auriculata
• Tecomaria capensis

🌱 Reserve Plants

• Elegia tectorum
• Euphorbia mauritanica
• Osteospermum moniliferum
• Pelargonium capitatum
• Phylica ericoides

🪴 Available Plants & Prices

• Bulbine frutescens – R20
• Carpobrotus – R15
• Clivia miniata – R30
• Coleonema pulchellum – R60
• Crassula species – R15–R20
• Eriocephalus africanus – R20
• Euryops pectinatus – R40
• Felicia echinata – R20
• Leonotis leonurus – R40 (2 for R70)
• Osteospermum moniliferum – R20
• Pelargonium species – R30–R60
• Phylica ericoides – R40
• Salvia aurea – R30
• Tulbaghia violacea – R30

🧺 Extras

• Bark – R40
• Compost – R35
• Potting soil – R35
• Trees – from R100
• Indoor plants – from R30

💵 Cash sale only

---

📍 More Information

UWC Nature Reserve
📧 zmaphanga@uwc.ac.za

Next sale: 08 May 2026

*Please note: Not all plants may be in flower at the time of sale.

July Plant Sale

• UWC NATURE RESERVE UNIT
• ABOUT US
• NURSERY
• CONTACT US

______________________________________________

by Admin | July 18, 2025, | Plant Sale | 0 comments

Every purchase supports local biodiversity and environmental restoration.
Add indigenous plants to your space and help strengthen green belts, support pollinators, and restore natural ecosystems. No green fingers needed, just choose the right plants for your area.
Look at what’s growing naturally around you and match your garden accordingly.
Please don’t grow invasive weeds, we’ve got the perfect resilient, indigenous plants for your garden.

Come explore, learn, and grow with us!

NB: No card machine

We thank you for your support

JUNE PLANT SALE

 

• UWC NATURE RESERVE UNIT
• ABOUT US
• NURSERY
• CONTACT US

______________________________________________

by Admin | June 27, 2025, | Plant Sale | 0 comments

It’s that time again — the nursery is open!

Join us for our upcoming monthly Plant Sale on Friday, where every purchase supports local biodiversity and environmental restoration. By adding indigenous plants to your space, you contribute to the health of our green belts, pollinator populations, and natural ecosystems. Come explore, learn, and grow with us!

Date: 27 June 2025, Friday 

Time: 08h00 - 15h00

Location:  Nature Reserve Unit (Nursery) near the West Link entrance off Robert Sobukwe Road, right next to the security gate.

NB: Cash Only!!!

We thank you for your support.