The death of a precious giant and a tragic story
A short while ago one of our giant quiver trees keeled over. We are not exactly sure why, but we do know that this is not their natural habitat. They are happy in Namibia and Botswana and further north too. In fact being concerned about them some years ago we had a discussion with the botanist at Kirstenbosch, and he suggested we create underground dam walls around the quivers to ensure that water is diverted around their roots. And then when we irrigate we give them raincoats.
The history of the quivers is interesting. The previous owners, the Loubsers, lost their son in a tragic car accident in camp during the Angola war, and they took 3 quivers from the region and planted them on the farmhouse lawn. That was 30 years ago. As things turned out, that was the son destined to run the farm and so his death meant the farm was put up for sale.
Fortunately we still have two healthy looking quivers and are watching them very carefully and time will tell.
