Red grassPhotos: Shaun Swanepoel (CC BY 4.0) · Brian du Preez (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Gary Rogers (CC BY 4.0) on iNaturalist.
Montane grasslands · Zones 7–9
Highveld & Drakensberg
South Africa's high grassland plateau and its mountain edge: hot summer thunderstorms and cold, dry, frosty winters.
Rolling grassland, sandstone and basalt mountains, the Drakensberg and Maluti escarpments, dams and clear mountain streams.
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Places in this region
Gardening
A frost garden in the southern hemisphere: plant summer crops after the last frost in September–October; tomatoes, beans, squash and maize through summer; winter for brassicas, peas and onions.
About gardening guides →Fishing
Yellowfish, largemouth bass, carp and catfish in the Vaal and the dams; rainbow and brown trout in the Drakensberg and Mpumalanga highlands.
About fishing guides →Foraging
Wild garlic (Tulbaghia), num-num, wild peach and the grassland's edible bulbs and greens — many plants are protected in the reserves.
About foraging guides →In season now · October
What you can pick right now
5 wild edibles typically ready in October in the Highveld & Drakensberg. Seasons shift a week or two with the weather — check each one before you go.
GreenMarch – April, September – NovemberDandelion
Taraxacum officinale
A basal rosette of jagged, backward-pointing lobes, a hollow leafless stalk with milky sap, and one flower per stalk.
How to know it & its look-alikes →Photo: Jason Grant · CC BY 4.0
Has a dangerous look-alikeGreenSeptember – AprilWild garlic (Tulbaghia)
Tulbaghia violacea
Clumps of narrow, grey-green, strap-like leaves up to about 60 cm (2 ft), and on bare stalks above them loose heads of tubular lilac-mauve flowers from midsummer into autumn. Leaves and flowers smell strongly of garlic when bruised — and that smell is the test.
How to know it & its look-alikes →Photo: Gary Rogers · CC BY 4.0
GreenOctober – MarchSheep sorrel
Rumex acetosella
Small arrow-shaped leaves with two backward-pointing lobes at the base, on a wiry reddish stem. Sharply lemony taste.
How to know it & its look-alikes →Photo: Kieran Hanrahan · CC BY 4.0
GreenOctober – AprilBroadleaf plantain
Plantago major
A flat rosette of broad oval leaves with five or more deep parallel veins running end to end, and a narrow greenish flower spike. Tear a leaf slowly and the veins pull out as tough strings.
How to know it & its look-alikes →Photo: lemonsnapp · CC BY 4.0
GreenApril – NovemberChickweed
Stellaria media
Sprawling mats with small opposite oval leaves and a single line of fine hairs running up one side of the stem, switching sides at each leaf pair. Stretch the stem: an elastic inner core.
How to know it & its look-alikes →Photo: Douglas Goldman · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photographs are research-grade observations from iNaturalist, each credited to its photographer. They show a typical specimen, not every variation — never identify from a photo alone. Confirm with a regional field guide or an experienced forager before you eat anything wild.
In the water now · October
What's biting
The sport fish active in the Highveld & Drakensberg in October — where they hold, how to know one on the line, and the tactic that usually works. Check your licence and the current limits before you go.
FishSep–AprSharptooth catfish (barbel)
Clarias gariepinus
A long, eel-like body, a flat bony head, four pairs of whiskers, and one very long dorsal fin with no small fatty fin behind it. Dark grey to olive above, white below.
Where and how to catch it →Photo: Lukas Zangl · CC BY 4.0
FishMar–May, Sep–NovSmallmouth yellowfish
Labeobarbus aeneus
A big, streamlined, bronze-gold barb with large scales, golden fins and a small mouth.
Where and how to catch it →Photo: Brian du Preez · CC BY-SA 4.0
FishOct–AprLargemouth bass
Micropterus nigricans
Green with a dark lateral stripe, and an upper jaw that extends past the back of the eye.
Where and how to catch it →Photo: Nick Tobler (Cowturtle) · CC BY 4.0
Photographs are research-grade observations from iNaturalist, each credited to its photographer. Ranges and timing are typical, not guaranteed — 87 species are covered across North America, Europe and Africa.
In the garden now · October
Who else is working the garden
The insects and soil life out in the Highveld & Drakensberg in October. Most of them are on your side — learn the few that aren't before you reach for anything.
PollinatorSep–AprHoney bee
Apis mellifera
Golden-brown, banded, furry thorax, and pollen packed onto the hind legs in visible baskets.
What it does in the garden →
PollinatorOct–MarHoverfly
Syrphidae
Wasp-striped but a true fly: two wings not four, huge eyes, and it hovers dead still in mid-air.
What it does in the garden →Photo: Anne Parker · CC BY 4.0
BeneficialOct–AprLady beetle
Coccinellidae
The adult everyone knows; the larva is the useful one — a spiky, alligator-shaped grey-and-orange creature that looks like a pest.
What it does in the garden →
Photographs are research-grade observations from iNaturalist, each credited to its photographer. Ranges and timing are typical, not guaranteed — 87 species are covered across North America, Europe and Africa.
The weekly note for the Highveld & Drakensberg
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Why Highveld & Drakensberg looks the way it does
Warmth and rain decide what can live in a place. The dial starts on the kind of land closest to this region — turn it warmer, colder, wetter or drier and see what would grow instead.
Prairie grassland
Like Saskatchewan
Warm and dry: too dry for many trees, so grass grows as far as you can see — bison and meadowlarks live here.
Warmth and rain decide what can live in a place. They decide which plants can grow, and the plants decide which animals can live there.
Say it like this
- Age 2“Brrr, cold! Now make it hot. Now make it rain!”
- Age 4“Cold and dry makes tundra. Can you make a desert? Who lives there?”
- Age 6“Why can't a cactus grow in the rainforest, or a moose live in the desert? Warmth and rain decide what can live in a place.”
Go outside: Put a cup outside to catch the rain this week, and look at the thermometer each morning. Is your place warm or cool, wet or dry?
For Kids · The land and the sky