Situated in a peaceful seaside village, Lavender & Lime is the perfect place to chillax with a cup of coffee, hot chocolate or milkshake, depending on the season.

Also on the premises are many beautiful and practical plants for your garden and to brighten up your home. Decor is never really complete without some indoor plants, and who doesn't enjoy a walk in the garden in the cool of a summer evening.

Let us introduce our tree!

Scientific name: Phytolacca Dioica (Phytolaccaceae)

Common name: Belhambra

Alternative common names

• Monkey grape, Ombu, Poke berry, Umbra Tree (English)
• Belambraboom, Dikboom, Bobbejaandruifboom (Afrikaans)
• uMzimuka (Isizulu)

How does it spread?

It spreads by seed dispersal

The Tree

It competes with indigenous species. Due to its large size, even a single tree could have a significant effect on a natural ecosystem. In urban areas, seedlings often germinate along fence lines or walls and can cause considerable damage to property if they are allowed to grow to tree size.

Indigenous birds could neglest the dispersal of indegenous plants as a consequence of their preference for the fruits of this alien species. It has an umbrella like canopy and its trunk can have a girth of up to 15m and can grow 12-19m high.

P. Dioica's massive, fire resistant trunk contains water storage tissue, an excellent adaptation against the intense grassland fires common in the South American region. The sap of the tree is poisonous and not browsed by cattle. The leaves can be used as a laxative.

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Welcome to our friendly and tranquil atmosphere. Well-behaved, well-controlled pets, who are also well-socialised with other animals, are also welcome.

Talking of animals, sometimes they can give us a lesson in life, as in the video below.

• It is best to face a challenge head on, even when it seems really scary at the time.
• It is a good idea for some of the bigger, stronger ones among us, to tackle the problem that cannot be faced alone, especially by the smaller or younger ones. Some might be physically stronger, emotionally stronger or spiritually stronger.
• Safety is not so much in numbers alone, as it is in caring for and helping each other; standing up for each other

And on a human level, Admiral McRaven has excellent advice for all people, whether military or civilian, male or female, young or old.

Note:

There are many, many plants in stock which change with the seasons. Instead of a product list for both coffee shop and nursery, this site contains a product list for the coffee shop and an article about the historical tree, which was chopped down recently, for the nursery. The roots had already started pushing and damaging low brick walls.

Feel free to visit us, to see for yourself, the lovely array of plants, flowers, shrubs and young trees.

And if there is something you really want, and we do not have it, we will do our best to source it for you, if it is, in fact, feasible to grow said plant in your envisaged environment.

Gardening and plant care advice is free with each visit and a smile is always free, wherever we are.

Encouraged by his grandfather to pursue education, rather than staying on the family farm, Norman Borlaug applied to the University of Minnesota, but failed the entrance exam. He entered the General College instead and then transferred to the College of Agriculture's forestry program after two quarters.

After attending a lecture by Prof Elvin Charles Stakman, Borlaug became interested in Stakman's research. When his position was cut due to budget constraints, he asked Stakman if he could go into forest pathology. Stakman advised him to study plant pathology instead. This he did, studying under Stakman, earning a Master of Science degree in 1940, and a Ph.D. in plant pathology and genetics in 1942.

Dr. Borlaug contribed to the alleviation of hunger by developing resistant variants of wheat as well as the dwarf variety. Dwarf varieties waste less of the plant's resources in growing long stems and therefore put more into producing a good head of grain. He also planted seeds from the first harvest in a second area at a different altitude. This resulted in reaping double the harvest. In addition, the seeds developed adaptations for growing in different climatic zones, an unexpected bonus to the benefits envisaged by the research team.

Apart from his actual college studies, he received more than 50 Honorary Degrees. And in recognition for his countless and unequaled contributions to one of the basic needs of mankind, namely food, he was awarded:

•  the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize
•  the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1977)
•  the Public Welfare Medal (2002) by the National Academy of Sciences
•  the National Medal of Science (2005)
•  the Congressional Gold Medal (2007)

Borlaug Hall on the Saint Paul Campus of the University of Minnesota is one of many buildings, streets and avenues, all over the world, that are named after him.
In 2014 a statue of him was placed in the National Statuary Hall of the United States Congress; he is the sole scientist represented.

And yet, Dr. Borlaug was heralded as an unsung hero in Gregg Easterbrook's 1997 article "Forgotten Benefactor of Humanity". And what about our current times? How many people, outside of the areas where he worked, academia in Minnesota and politicians in the USA, know of his efforts, achievements and the many beneficial results of his research?

More about Dr. Norman Borlaug on Wikipedia