Big city flower show blossoms

Visitors enjoy colourful day out

HUNDREDS of Capetonians, wine and Champagne glasses in hand, strolled the lawns of the Castle of Good Hope, admiring show gardens and floral displays on the second day of the Cape Town Flower Show.

The event, which started on Thursday, includes 20 show gardens by some of the country’s top landscape designers, as well as talks by gardening experts, a cut flower arrangement competition, an art exhibition and the latest in gardeners’ accessories.

The four-day show, which ends at 5pm tomorrow, is modelled on the Chelsea Flower Show in the UK.

Local show director Karey

Fact box

THE CASTLE’S doors open today at 10am and close at 9pm. Tomorrow, the show is on between the hours of 10am and 5pm.

Tickets are available at the door or at Computicket at R180 for adults and R90 for children aged between 10 and 17. Evett said she was excited her idea had at last become a reality.

“It has been a long time coming and a long time in the planning.”

Thousands of visitors had already bought tickets.

“They all seem to be really enjoying it. They like the venue, they like the gardens, they like the flowers,” Evett said.

She said organisers had booked the Castle for next year and 2018. “It’s an annual event and we are committed to it.”

After strolling through the gardens, many of which highlight indigenous plants that thrive in water-scarce environments, visitors enjoyed glasses of wine, Champagne and craft beer in a large marquee tent. Vendors, meanwhile, did brisk trade selling everything from fresh oysters and pulled pork quesadillas to ice-cream.

The show includes a retail element and many visitors browsed gardeners’ accessories or bought seeds and seedlings.

PICTURES: LEON LESTRADE A panorama of the Cape Town Flower Show at the Castle, displaying some of the 20 show gardens.

The South African Mint’s show garden, created by award-winning landscaper Leon Kluge, is inspired by origami.