Johannesburg - South Africa was represented by two teams at this week’s Chelsea Flower Show in London. The first team was assembled by the South African National Biodiversity Institute (Sanbi) – Kirstenbosch, while the second team represented the City of Cape Town Parks and Recreation Department.
Regarded as the international Olympics of gardening, this is the 39th year in a row that South Africa has mounted exhibitions at the Chelsea Flower Show.
Competing this week at the Chelsea Flower Show was especially emotional for the Kirstenbosch team. A logistical trucking system faltered and airfreighted plants were delayed for three days during build-up. Moreover, a week of unexpected heat hit London, decimating blooms and fatiguing plants.
South Africa’s world class Harmony in Nature – Kirstenbosch exhibit was completed late on Sunday night. The Nelson Mandela portrait in dried protea buds was wildly popular. To the delight of the South Africans, the BBC used the Mandela portrait exhibit as the lead story in their week-long television coverage of the show.
Recorded before judging and broadcast to millions of viewers on Monday night, the BBC television team described the Kirstenbosch exhibit as one of the best in the Grand Pavilion. They went on to praise South Africa for innovation and design excellence in using dried protea rosettes to create the artwork depicting Mandela.
On Tuesday, the judges announced that both South African teams had won Silver-Gilt medals for their respective exhibits. As a silver honour that is edged in gold, the Silver-Gilt falls just short of a gold medal.
The Silver-Gilt awards were presented in a year in which an new judging system was launched at the Chelsea Flower Show.
Calls for a more scientific approach to judging have been bubbling away in the British media for many years. Top landscape designers have also called for the show judges to stop the handing out of Gold Medals “like confetti”.
The Royal Horticultural Society have been working on a new system since 2011 and it was introduced this year. Based on 36 points, the Grand Pavilion exhibits are assessed by seven judges. If exhibits get 28 points or more, they receive a gold medal.
Supporting South Africa’s ecotourism effort is a major focus of the both exhibits at the show. At Monday’s press day, celebrities such as Rowan Atkinson, Piers Morgan and Jerry Hall were followed by Queen Elizabeth, Princess Beatrice and Princess Michael of Kent in visiting the South African exhibit.
The South African exhibits were enormously similar in their ecotourism aim and message. “Our stand in the Great Pavilion is very popular with visitors from across the world, many of whom travel to South Africa as a result of seeing our floral heritage,” says Kirstenbosch team leader, Roger Oliver.
The City of Cape Town exhibit had a magnificent backdrop screen of Table Mountain and included a carpet of indigenous pincushions, proteas, restios and ferns.
The Sanbi – Kirstenbosch exhibit featured vegetation from four natural habitat types:
* The Enchanted Forest habitat at Kirstenbosch is also home to the newly constructed “Boomslang” Centenary Tree Canopy Walkway. Designed to mimic the sinuous skeletal frame of a snake, the walkway is more than just a traditional boardwalk structure. Like a snake, it winds and dips and is, in essence, a highly sophisticated bridge. Every part of its complex skeletal design contributes visually to its serpentine quality and structurally to the stability of the walkway. This display features the walkway and plants of the forest understory, including various species of plectranthus, clivia, scadoxus and other forest floor-dwelling plants.
* Savanna habitat of Limpopo province, with its mixed bushveld vegetation, is the location of the Mapungubwe National Park and World Heritage Site. Its Interpretive Centre used modern developments in structural geometry along with an ancient construction technique to implement a unique and beautiful structure, rooted to its location and awarded World Building of the Year (2009). This display features grass-land vegetation, aloes and thorn trees as well as a “bird’s nest” hide.
* A contemporary fynbos garden will feature flora of the Cape Floral Kingdom. This display features an exuberant mix of signature species.
* A representation of a pristine and fully functional ecosystem, nestled in a mountain ravine habitat. Ecosystem services are one of South Africa’s greatest assets – its biodiversity richness in terms of landscapes, ecosystems and species provides goods and services such as pure water, grazing, fisheries, medicine, energy, food, pollination, carbon sinks and clean air.
GENERAL GARDENING TIPS
* Water the garden during the morning to allow plants to dry out and soil to warm up before nightfall.
* English primrose (Primula acaulis) is a primrose with brightly coloured flower clusters on short stems making them a good choice for shade under trees or along pathways. Fairy primula (Primula malacoides) with dainty white, mauve or purple flowers also grows in dappled shade.
* Water citrus thoroughly once a fortnight and fertilise with a slow- release fertiliser suitable for citrus. Make sure water and fertiliser extend to the drip line of the branches.
* Prevent attack from the cypress aphid by working aphicide granules into the soil around the base of conifers, one tablespoon per m² and water in well. Spray small conifers with Efekto Aphicide. Apply once a month throughout winter.
Kay Montgomery, Saturday Star