The higher reaches of the garden blend almost seamlessly, via the Fynbos Walk, into the wilds of the protected mountain slopes above. Indigenous Proteas, Ericas, and buchus (a colloquial name describing small, highly aromatic shrubs with confetti-like flowers, from the Rutaceae family), and Restios appear first in distinct collections on upper and lower slopes, before occurring naturally as the orderly stone-edged paths give way to more strenuous trails that lead through the fynbos (pronounced fain-boss and meaning "fine bush") all the way up the mountain, right up to where, in late summer, Disas dip their orchid-feet delicately into clean, clear mountain water, tinted like pale tea from root-tannins.
The Fynbos Walk is at its best from winter to spring—the cool, rainy season interspersed by days of startling, clear blue—when the Proteas, Leucadendrons and Serrurias are in bloom. Pincushions (Leucospermum) flower from late winter to early summer (left).
