Many of you who follow me for my photography have probably figured out by now that in my other life, my family owns a large plant nursery in Texas.

And I won’t pretend like my interest in the FLORA of Africa is equal to that of my interest in the FAUNA (I think we can all agree that animals are much more entertaining to watch than plants), but I am always hyper aware of all the vegetation I see around me when I travel.

The plains of Africa are often so visually similar to the plains of Texas that I am always fascinated by the trees and shrubs that they have THERE but that we can’t grow HERE… and I always come back with a list of plants for our growers and plant buyers that I’d love to have in my yard! 😝

But alas.

It’s usually not possible and I am frequently told that I can’t have those beautiful African plants, and some of you might have guessed the reason why: Even though Texas and many parts of Africa can go toe to toe with our brutal summer HEAT, we consistently get much colder here in Texas and almost always dip below freezing in the course of our winters. 🥶

This would be the death knell for many of these wonderful African plants. 🫤

Oh well, at least we can enjoy them in my photos! 😜