Check out new varieties
BALLSTRAATHOF ESTATE: OPENING ITS DOORS TO THE PUBLIC FOR THE FIRST TIME
Not many gardeners will have a chance to experience something like this.
Most of the time, it is a good thing that we can’t see into the future. But what if the future promised to be filled with flowers of every shape, shade and size?
Garden lovers can peek into the future next Saturday when BallStraathof opens its extensive trial gardens and greenhouses to the public. On view will be hundreds of different varieties of annuals, perennials, grasses, foliage plants, and vegetables; all of them being trialled for possible release in 2018 and 2019.
“Normally we just open our gardens to nurseries and growers,” says product manager Kathy Varney, “but the colour and variety is so amazing that this year we decided that gardeners shouldn’t miss out on it.
“We hope it will give gardeners an opportunity to see all how the new varieties grow, the different colours available and unusual combinations.”
What is there to see? Visitors can start by walking the 2.5ha gardens surrounding the BallStraathof offices in Honeydew.
The densely-planted and landscaped gardens feature areas of deep shade as well as dappled shade, hot west facing embankments, beds that receive morning sun and full sun, sloping areas, and south facing beds. In other words, all the conditions that gardeners normally cope with.
Like everyone else, BallStraathof observed the water restrictions, only using their two boreholes when absolutely necessary and then only watering with a hose.
Assessing plants for drought tolerance is an important part of the trial programme, which is why subjecting them to normal garden conditions was so important, explains Kathy.
Among the drought tolerant
varieties being tested are sedums and echeveria as well as hardy perennials and heat tolerant annuals.
Students from the Lifestyle College of Garden Design have been invited to build a large show garden.
“The idea,” says Kathy, “is to give them the opportunity to create a garden from scratch, using whatever plants they want from our greenhouses which is a challenge on its own because there are so many plants to choose from.”
The “wow” element is the trial
greenhouse; almost the size of a rugby field, filled end to end with thousands of plants, most of them in flower. It is not something that many gardeners have the chance to experience.
Each visitor will be given a flag and invited to vote for their favourite variety, which helps BallStraathof find out what gardeners like, which, Kathy points out, could be quite different to what nurseries and growers think will sell. It also gives gardeners a say about what they would like to see in garden centres next spring and in the following two years.
With plant breeders from around the world constantly producing new plants, or new colours, or improving the growth habit, it is essential to test those plants under local conditions.
For that reason, the trial programme is ongoing. Every stage of the plant’s life is monitored and recorded, so that production time from sowing of seed to flowering plant can inform future planning.
Once plants are large enough they are moved from the greenhouse to the garden, for their final trial.
For more information contact 011 7942316