I was born in the Netherlands in 1941 and became interested in succulent plants when I was 13. Shortly afterwards, I joined the Dutch-Belgian cactus and succulent society “Succulenta”, of which I was awarded honorary life membership in April 2019.
Since 2001, I have had the privilege of living in the Little Karoo in South Africa, where interesting succulents grow almost on my doorstep and as I am retired, I have lots of time to study and photograph them.
I try to publish at least one short post per week and every now and then a longer article. As and when new information and additional pictures become available, existing posts will be updated and republished.
The blog focuses on two areas of interest.
Firstly on anything that has to do with succulent plants as they occur in nature, especially in South Africa.
Secondly on photographing plants, succulent or not, cultivated or growing in the wild.
It would be great to hear from you and learn what you are interested in. Therefore I invite you to share your ideas, suggestions, questions, comments and opinions with me and other readers.
You can contact me on fnoltee@mweb.co.za.
Frans Noltee
Dear Frans
I have been a Lithops grower for many years and would like to contact you via a private mail and would like to know how I could contact you.
Paul
Hello Paul,
You can contact me on fnoltee@mweb.co.za.
Hi frans
I was recently in the kalahari and came across a very unusual plant , I am trying to discover what it is and haven’t been able to.
I have a photo but don’t know how to send it
It grows in a cushion like delosperma sphalmanthoides, about the size of a head of broccoli, but the leaves aren’t like delosperma sphalmanthoides, the leaves look like oscularia deltóides, but smooth and not textured as O.deltoides are
I can email the photo to you
Hello Joe, thanks for your message. I have no idea what this plant could be, but a photo might point us in the right direction.
Hello Mr. Noltee, I’m a new subscriber to your marvelous blog and have been enjoying browsing the post filled with excellent photography and information. I recently watched a presentation on succulents of South Africa given by ex-pat Americans Buck Hemenway and his wife Yvonne. They retired and moved to Calitzdorp, Klein Karoo. He previously operated a cactus and succulent nursery in Southern California. They have been instrumental in organizing the Calitzdorp Succulent Society found at vetplant.co.za , which puts on the annual ‘Vetplantfees’ succulent festival. I mention this gentleman and organization as you might enjoy becoming acquainted due to your similar interests and life experiences. ~ I’m looking forward to continued post herein. Thank you, John O’Brien
P.S. – I have two playlists of videos about South African plants on my YouTube channel. Channel name is LOVE OF PLANTS 🌻. Playlist are titled , ‘South African Plants #1’ and #2.
Dear Mr. O’Brien,
Thank you for your kind words. As it happens, I used to live in Calitzdorp for 12 years before moving 200 kms to the west (but still in the Little Karoo). Although Buck and Yvonne moved to Calitzdorp only after I left there, I know them rather well, because I still mutual friends in the town. Kind regards,
Frans Noltee
Hallo Frans,
Ik hoop dat alles goed met je gaat in deze nare Covid19 tijden.
Heel lang geleden heb ik je cactussenkas bezocht in Dordrecht (vlak voordat je naar Zuid-Afrika bent gegaan). Dat was hemels en het ‘stammetjes-virus’ heeft me nooit losgelaten.
Onlangs weer een prachtige Brachystelma Barberae in bloei gehad in de vensterbank (met dank aan Otto Zeitler).
En dat heeft het vuur weer wat meer opgelaaid, vooral om weer eens terug te keren naar Afrika om de planten in het echt te bewonderen.
Wat ik me afvraag, trek jij gewoon de natuur in aldaar om dat te doen of vereist dat nog enige voorbereiding? Moet ik nog rekening houden met slangen en dergelijke?
Hoor graag van je, met vriendelijke groet,
Bob.
Hallo Bob,
Op het ogenblik is reizen naar en in ZA niet echt een optie, maar als dat weer verandert is het een goed plan om hier wat rond te trekken. Afgelopen maandag was ik toevallig voor het eerst in lange tijd weer een keer in het veld en vond net buiten het dorp allerhande interessante planten. Als je eerst de halve aardbol moet overvliegen is wat voorbereiding natuurlijk wel gewenst. Dingen die je moet overwegen zijn o.a.: wat wil ik zien, hoeveel tijd heb ik en in welk jaargetijde kan/wil ik reizen. Hou ook rekening met klimaat (dec.-maart is vaak erg warm en druk + duur). Slangen zijn zelden een probleem als je voorzichtig bent en er zijn hier maar een paar echt giftige soorten.
Groeten,
Frans
Hello Frans. I am so glad I have found your lovely site! I have taken many pictures in the Karoo for which I cannot find species names and was wondering if you would help me identify them? Please will you contact me in connection with this. I will willingly let you have any pictures I have to add to your website as well as I believe in helping the public identify our fauna and flora in South Africa is important.
Hello Joan,
Thank you for your nice comment. I’m more than willing to try and identify plants for you. Please bear in mind however that this is often not possible, because pictures have been taken from too far away or otherwise do not show the characteristics necessary for identification. If you can live with that proviso, please go ahead and we’ll see how it goes!
Thank you so much Frans. My pictures are very detailed so I am sure you will find the info you need. Do you have an email address I can send them to?
It’s: fnoltee@mweb.co.za
Thanks Frans. I will send them to you.
Hello Mr Frans
I am very keen on Your blog, content and pictures.
Is it possible to visit You at Your collection?
I will be in Holland since 2 to 4th June.
Maybe it will be possible to meet?
Hello Piotr,
Thank you for your message. Because I live in South Africa nowadays, it is unfortunately not possible anymore to visit me in Holland. Sorry about that!
Hello
thank You very much for Your reply. Enjoy Your stay in SA 🙂
Hi Frans: My wife sent me your link as she is working to identify succulents we have photographed in the Little Karoo and elsewhere during various trips. Your site should be very useful to help us identify some of the plants. We have an educational site (thetravelingnaturalist.org) with lengthy sections on guest farms we stay at in South Africa. I saw your post about tripods for field use – I like an aluminum one by Really Right Stuff, but I’ve had more tripods than I would like to admit – they all have issues! On our site you will see a Photography Tab – it will lead to “photography for biologists” – it may benefit from your comments!
Hi Douglas,
Thanks for your comment and apologies for the late response. I had a look at your interesting website and am quite taken in by it. I’m not sure if you expect anything from me with regard to my post on tripods, but if so, please let me know.
Iam elated to find this site. I am interested in the plants of Southern Africa in particular. I love reading about the differnt Genera and species. This is definately the best site on the internet. You are a very lucky man to live among the plants you love.
Thanks for your comment; I’m glad you like the blog.
Hello Brian,
Thank you for your pat on the back; even more appreciated after having a look at the work you do yourself!
Frans,
I am sorry I have not left a message before now.
Just want to say that I thoroughly enjoy your blog.
Great photographs that are inspirational and educational.
Being a keen grower of succulents and South African bulbs, it has been an ambition of mine to visit South Africa for a long time, something I want to remedy in the next few years. Your images are fuelling my burning desire!
Thank you for all your posts.
I love your photographs! I found the blog because I am trying to identify a plant I photographed in the Karoo National Botanic Garden in Worcester, in the Western Cape Province. I am following! Perhaps you can tell me more about the plants on my blogsite?
Good to hear you like my pictures and thanks for following my blog! I’m not sure what you would like me to do, but in principle I’d be happy to oblige if I can, so please elaborate.
Thank you. I have published posts on https://enthusiasticgardener.wordpress.com with photos of plants I can’t identify and which may interest you. And have you come across the Obesa Nursery in Graaff Reinet in South Africa?
Your presentation, snapshots, ability to identify remarkable and unusual species makes for a very good read. Thanks for all the good effort on behalf of succulents everywhere. — The Healing Garden gardener
Thanks very much for your kind words.
GREAT BLOG!!! I will follow and I will be back later to catch up!
Welcome Lonnie!
Hello,
I’m from WV, United States. I collect and grow succulent and savannah plants from South Africa, East Africa, and Madagascar. I currently have a collection of about 200 plants. I started about 10 years ago and have learned a lot about keeping these plants in a very humid, high rainfall, subtropical environment. Websites like yours are extremely helpful to people like myself, both in aiding in identification and cultivation of these plants. If there would be anything I could help provide to your site; such as cultivation advice or photos, please let me know and I would love to assist.
Hello Wade,
Thank you for your comment and apologies for not responding earlier (see my reply to Regina).Thanks also for your kind offer.
I love your blog and I nominated you for the Illuminating Blogger Award! You can get the details here http://foodstoriesblog.com/illuminating-blogger-award/ I do hope you accept. Enjoy the day, Rick!
Thank you for the kind thought, Rick. I really appreciate it! Unfortunately, accepting the nomination entails spending a lot of time that I would rather use for other things. Therefore I will pass up this opportunity to fame, hoping that you will be able to follow my reasoning. Thanks again and have a good weekend,
Frans
I realized only just now that for some reason my reply had not gone through.. The gist of it was as follows:
I feel very honoured by your nomination, but accepting it entails quite a bit of work and time I can ill afford at the moment. If the nomination can be put on hold, that would be fine. If not, I’m afraid I have to let it pass, thanking you for the kind thought. Have a good day. Frans
We share a common interest, succulents, though from a somewhat different perspective. As I am living in North Florida, the few succulents I encounter are yuccas and aloe. From garden centers and my daughter’s neighborhood in San Francisco, I have collected over sixty varieties that I have growing in containers under eves and other protected places. Besides my attraction to their unusual structures and beauty, I guess the appeal is the challenge it takes to keep them thriving in the humidity and rain. I have proved that succulents can be enjoyed in the sub-tropics too, as my patio is decoratively arranged around the potted plants.