Cape Town - The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Chelsea Flower Show was abuzz with excitement this year as South Africa made a stunning comeback after a four-year hiatus.
The country’s exhibit, sponsored by Groot Bos Nature Reserve, showcased a breathtaking fusion of the Cape’s dry and wet seasons, celebrating the country’s rich flora and offering a visual masterpiece fit for royalty.
Renowned landscape designer Leon Kluge led a team of South Africans to win a Gold Medal, Best on Show, and Best New Design Award on Tuesday.
Kluge and his team won, for the first time, the prestigious Best New Design award, for their South African proteaceae-centred exhibit, which showcases the Cape floral kingdom nestled in cracked clay, representing the harsh climate amid a representation of proteas and fynbos thriving in the Cape mountainous regions.
Kluge’s pioneering approach to garden design, inspired by nature’s myriad textures and colours, has earned him accolades from industry experts and celebrities alike.
The Cape Flora Kingdom exhibition stole the show with its vibrant display of over 22 000 stalks of 40 different protea varieties, including the rare protea pityphylla, commercially grown by a select few cut flower farms.
“We had 400 boxes of assorted flowers and indigenous proteas that have never before been seen in the UK.
“Everyone walks past our display and stops in awe, looking at these distinct species,” said Kluge.
“The Cape flora, an incredible species this year that has never been on London territory before, and we were never able to get this time of year, made it as part of our showcase.
It took Kluge’s team an entire year to plan a curation plot, and four to five days to set it up.
“Balancing all the flowers is tricky, as proteas are tricky to place outside of their indigenous habitation.
“The team’s fingers were more sore and bent than the other teams’,” Kluge said.
Jacky Goliath, part of the South African team representing national plants, said: “South African products stand out so nicely. It is an honour to represent South Africa.”
Another team member, artist and gardener Tristan Woudberg, said: “We do this for all the farmers, farmworkers, those that work in the tourism industry, and just South Africans who take pride in our unique flora.
“Our natural heritage is something to be celebrated and conserved.”
grecia,mgolombane@inl.co.za
Cape Argus