GARDENING Enjoy fynbos and succulents

SPRING INTO ACTION AT THIS FESTIVAL Showcases the flowers, plants and landscapes of four iconic areas.

A’s spectacular parade of spring flowers is once more on display in Joburg.

It is not the re-creation of the Kirstenbosch Exhibit at Chelsea, but a locally built display that equals, if not surpasses, the standard of our overseas award-winning efforts.

On show at Garden World’s Spring Festival, it showcases the flowers, plants and landscapes of four iconic areas; the Table Mountain National Park, Namaqualand, Coffee Bay in the Eastern Cape, and the historic Arderne Gardens and Arboretum in Claremont.

When it was not possible for the Kirstenbosch Chelsea Exhibit to be brought back to South Africa, Jan de Waal, Garden World’s CEO stepped into the gap.

It highlights the role of the horticultural industry in instilling pride in our unsurpassed natural heritage. A firm favourite is the typical Namaqualand farm scene, that displays drifts of Namaqualand flowers, as well as a diversity of succulents, bulbs, and drought tolerant herbaceous plants.

This area is part of the Succulent Karoo biome.

In the Namaqualand National Park there is an estimated 3 500 plant species and more than a thousand are endemic.

Osteospermum “Blushing Beauty” and Gazania “New Day” are drought tolerant, sun-loving hybrids of our indigenous species. The small town of Coffee Bay is found on the sub-tropical coast of the rugged 160km Wild Coast in the Eastern Cape Province.

Indigenous forests and grasslands line the large river valleys and grow down to the long, sandy beaches. An estimated 900 different forest and grassland species have been recognised as having homeopathic, traditional or commercial importance.

Nemesia occur naturally along our sandy coastlines and from these, hybrids like Nesia “Banana Swirl” have been developed with bigger flowers and bushier growth. This park is one of the seven New Natural Wonders of the World, having the richest single floristic region in the world with 1 500 plant species found on Table Mountain and 2 500 fynbos species on the Cape Peninsula with 500 species being Ericas.

Some of the most striking of the fynbos belong to the protea family with 24 species occurring here. These include king protea, sugarbush, golden cone bush and tree pincushion.

No indigenous garden should be without beauties such as Susara, Madiba, and Niobe.

Proteas love an acid compost in full sun, and the roots are not to be disturbed. The Arderne Gardens is a Provincial Heritage site with over 400 trees on a 4.5-hectare property. It boasts the largest collection of exotic trees and shrubs in the Southern Hemisphere. Many of the trees are over a century old.

The shade-loving heirloom rhododendrons, camellias and azaleas bloom in mass at the end of winter with their flowers lasting for several weeks.

For a lush, woodland look combine tree ferns such as Dicksonia antarctica and Cyathea australis with Arum lilies.

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