Cape Town - It’s time to take advantage of the arrival of the season of top gardening events.
Gardeners can see magnificent flora at clivia and orchid shows, join guided two-hour Heritage Week walks, participate in an online indigenous plant auction, or join the City of Cape Town Parks Department as they compete for a gold medal at a national garden show in KwaZulu-Natal.
The details are as follows:
* Kirstenbosch Heritage Trail - always available to all visitors as a self-guided walk, the Heritage Trail follows a circular route visiting the most historic parts of Kirstenbosch, including the Dell and Bath, the Koppie, Camphor Avenue and Van Riebeeck’s Hedge. The walk takes about one-and-a-half to two hours.
Contact 021 799 8783 or visit www.sanbi.org.za/kirstenbosch
* Rare plants on auction: Now is the time to register for the Kirstenbosch Centenary Internet Online Auction which will include a host of rare plants. The auction takes place from
October 1 to 5, offering easy access to worldwide collectors and ample time for bids.
The plants to be auctioned include:
Three very rare yellow-flowering Strelitzia juncea “Centenary Gold”. Four horticulturists, including John Winter, Dickie Peterson, Phakamani Xaba and Mluleki Mbutse, have worked for a decade developing this species. The plant has leaves that look like pointed sticks, and the flower’s petals are vibrant yellow.
One Encephalartos woodii, a cycad known for being extinct in the wild. No known female specimen has ever been found. The plant available for auction is a sucker from the original plant that arrived at Kirstenbosch in 1916.
Seven Clivia “Apple Blossom”. The Apple Blossom strain, comprising eight plants code-named Q1-Q8, was found scattered among a wild population of orange-flowering Clivia miniata with some Clivia nobilis all flowering at the same time. What is so special about them is that they all have differing yellow, suffused with pink, flowers, which is not common in clivias. Their seed is abnormally large and the seedlings grow slowly. The “Apple Blossom” strain is highly sought-after by clivia enthusiasts.
One Clivia “Kirstenbosch Supreme”, bred by Graham Duncan, the curator of the Bulb Collection at Kirstenbosch. The hybrid contains both group one and group two yellow genes, something which is highly valued by international breeders and gives them enormous opportunities for producing something new.
The Centenary fund-raising Internet Auction will be conducted by the Cape Clivia Club on behalf of Kirstenbosch. To participate, register online at www.miniata.co.za/auctions. For plant inquiries, contact Cherise at 021 799 8608.
* Orchid Show: The three-day Cape Orchid Society Autumn Show starts next Friday September 27 and runs until next Sunday, 9am to 4pm, at the Alphen Centre, Constantia. Cost: R15. See unusual orchids grown by orchid hobbyists. Tea garden. Contact: Ann Leonard on 074 359 2990.
* National Garden Show: The City of Cape Town Parks Department will once again create a city-themed floral exhibit at the 38th Sunday Tribune Garden Show. The southern hemisphere’s oldest and largest horticultural event, the show takes place at the Royal Showgrounds in Pietermaritzburg next weekend.
Hosted by the Weekend Argus’s sister newspaper in KwaZulu-Natal, this national show attracts 20 000 visitors.
Last year, the Parks Department won a gold medal for its exhibit, created to fit into the overall theme, “Out of the Paint Box”.
The theme of this year’s show is “Be Yourself”. The theme is an invitation to exhibitors from across the country to showcase the local flora in their geographical area.
The result is exhibits that range from fynbos to arid and tropical gardens.
With the emphasis being on show gardens from different regions, this year’s show will include more than 70 designer gardens, together with specialised exhibits of orchids, roses, floral art and bonsai.
This year there is a strong focus on schools, and more than 50 mini gardens will be designed and constructed by children as young as nine years old.
The highlight of this show is focused on the magnificent keynote gardens in the Olympia Hall.
The Sunday Tribune garden is among the top gardens in the hall, closely followed by more than a dozen exhibits created by metro parks departments from across the country.
Under the watchful eye of South Africa’s top floral exhibition builder, David Davidson, the teams spend two weeks creating a regional representation of their city as the ultimate ecotourist destination.
Unique to the show is a 35-strong prestigious showcase of exquisite flowers made from icing sugar. Ongoing cooking demonstrations are hosted by the 1000 Hills Chefs School from Botha’s Hill.
The Sunday Tribune Garden and Leisure Show takes place at the Royal Showgrounds, from 9am to 5pm daily, starting on September27. Entrance is R50 for adults, and R35 for pensioners and children under 12. For more information visit www.gardenshow.co.za.
TIPS
* Fertilise your lawn. Sprinkle 50g (a handful) of lawn fertiliser per square metre, and water in well.
* Sprinkle a teaspoon of aluminium sulphate around the roots of your hydrangeas to improve the colour of blue hydrangeas. Place a 5cm layer of mulch or compost around the roots to conserve moisture.
* Identify the invasive plants in your garden, such as the spring-flowering Spanish broom, cat’s claw creeper or devil’s beard (red valerian), and make a plan to pull them out. Sign up to the Spotter Network and assist in identifying the location of 16 target invasive plants that are deemed a threat to biodiversity in the city. More info @ www.capetowninvasives.org.za
* September is an important month for roses as it is their peak growing period. Rose bushes are drawing up massive amounts of water and nutrients to feed the new shoots, leaves and developing buds. Consider this programme for your roses: a. Make sure your roses get at least 10 litres of water each per week. b. Keep the soil around your roses cool and moist by mulching with a 5-10cm layer of organic material. Use pine needles, peanut shells, bark chips or leaves mixed with grass cuttings. c. Sprinkle rose fertiliser granules around the base of roses – a teaspoon for small roses, a handful (50g) for large roses.
* Bulbs can be planted from now. Try the March lily (Amaryllis belladonna), tuberose, tigridia, indigenous Berg Lily (Galtonia candicans), Chlidanthus fragrans and liatris, as well as the ever-popular dahlia. Make staggered plantings of gladioli bulbs for colour over a period of weeks in midsummer. - Weekend Argus