Gardener's Guide: Indigenous Garden Plants of Southern Africa, a review

Everyone who knows me well, will know how passionate I am about southern Africa's fauna and flora, so when this little tome came up for review, I made the grabby hands for it immediately. I'm so glad I did! But a big disclaimer, if you already own a bunch of books of a more heftier and comprehensive nature, and consider yourself a fair boffin on the topic, this book is most likely not going to be for you. It's *very much* an introduction on the topic and it's literally pocket sized. As in the type is tiny, and there's not a lot of space to pack a helluva lot of information.

That being said, it's a super dinky, cute little book – the kind of slim volume I'd gift to friends and family who are budding gardening enthusiasts with a burgeoning interest in indigenous gardening. Most of the the Gardener's Guide is taken up by a list of plants, divided into trees, shrubs, bedding plants and so on, with illustrative photos giving you an idea of flowers, overall shape/situation in garden, and bark/trunk. A quick-reference table lets you tell at a glance whether the plant attracts butterflies, birds, or what sort of cultivation requirements it has. You'll also be able to scan the basic cultivation tips to choose the right species (and how to care for them). Are you looking for a tree, container plant, or groundcover?

And while there is only so much that can be included, Glenice Ebedes has made a lovely selection of species, many of which bear fruit and flowers that are attractive to insects and birds (and by default other small wildlife). I was quite surprised, actually, to see a number of plants I've known for years in gardens in and around the Cape Peninsula, that I hadn't even known were indigenous.

I think what appeals to me most about the book is the fact that it gives an intro into rethinking gardens along the lines of working with nature and not against it. Southern Africa is blessed with different regions, most notably its succulent biome, as well as fynbos, Afromontane forests and bushveld, among others, and Ebedes suggests choosing a theme for your garden along one of these lines (keeping in mind in which region you live and whether you need to be waterwise – so important these days). By planting indigenous, you increase the biodiversity of your immediate environment, and create refuges for insects, birds and wildlife, during an era where the natural wilderness is under so much pressure thanks to urbanisation, agriculture, mining and pollution.

While this is by no means an exhaustive guide for gardeners, it is a great starting point that will, I hope, encourage folks to learn more about the fascinating and beautiful plants that thrive in our often harsh climate.

Warcraft: The Beginning (2016)

As an Orc horde invades the planet Azeroth using a magic portal, a few human heroes and dissenting Orcs must attempt to stop the true evil behind this war. 

With films like this, I'd rather leave my review a while after release, purely to avoid the hype – good and bad. While I never stepped into the black hole that is World of Warcraft, loads of my friends did, and I listened to their tales of derring-do with a fair amount of envy. My own experiences with the game franchise began and ended with Warcraft 3.

So when they announced a film for the game, I was interested, especially considering the cast (um, hello Travis Fimmel, Clancy Brown). Not only that, but this was the first of Duncan Jones's films that I've seen, so I was quite inclined to give the entire production the benefit of the doubt.

It seems in the media that it's become incredibly fashionable to totally bash films like this the moment they come out – the reviewer gleefully tearing the work a proverbial new one mere hours after its release. And oh my dog, if you're looking for issues, you're going to find them with *everything*.

I will say straight up that I enjoyed this film – and I am the target audience (gaming, SFF fan). I was entertained, and in that sense, the film did its job. The graphics were... Well, I grew up during the 1980s with all the blue-screen and stop-motion action. This was a visual feast that hit all the right buttons for me.

I've heard a lot of people bash the story as being weak, and I'm going to disagree. Yes, it was a simplified story considering the large cast of characters and how much is going on with the lore – so to a degree the writers had to paint in broader strokes. This is a movie, after all, not a TV series. But to me the plot was internally consistent. There were some lovely reversals and betrayals – not completely unexpected, but FFS, this was fun. I *enjoyed* myself. That was the point. Games generally are quite pulpy, and watching Warcraft felt like being immersed in one long cut scene. I admit I'm patchy on lore so *a lot* of what happened most likely went way over my head, but I went along with it. Friends of mine who've played WoW were transported saying that the world building was spot on, so that pleases me.

In case you're wondering why the OST is so epic – the composer is none other than Ramin Djawadi of Game of Thrones fame, which only made my experience at the local IMAX all the more awesome.

This is not a deep film by any stretch of the imagination. Stock standard themes abound – of how power corrupts and how we all win when we are able to take a moderate stance (a weeeeedle bit on the propaganda side there, if you ask me). But this one's a keeper, and I'll most certainly watch it again some time in the future. At any rate, there's no stretched-out landscape porn a la The Hobbit and the pacing will keep viewers on the edge of the seat.

Also, griffins. I'm a sucker for griffins. There. I said it.