JUDGES in the Pam Golding Properties Gardens of Grahamstown competition are getting ready for their task of judging entrants in the categories of small, medium, large and township gardens.
The three judges are landscape architects Warren Lange of HortCouture and Jo Clinton of Clinton Landscape Design, as well as horticulturist and landscaper, Jo Skae.
The gardens entered in the competition, as well as other Grahamstown gardens and homes, will be open to the public during the weekend of the Grahamstown Flower Festival, 29 and 30 October. Proceeds will go to charities of the homeowners’ choice.
JUDGES in the Pam Golding Properties Gardens of Grahamstown competition are getting ready for their task of judging entrants in the categories of small, medium, large and township gardens.
The three judges are landscape architects Warren Lange of HortCouture and Jo Clinton of Clinton Landscape Design, as well as horticulturist and landscaper, Jo Skae.
The gardens entered in the competition, as well as other Grahamstown gardens and homes, will be open to the public during the weekend of the Grahamstown Flower Festival, 29 and 30 October. Proceeds will go to charities of the homeowners’ choice.
During the festival, marquees will be erected in the shaded areas of the Makana Botanical Gardens below the 1820 Settlers’ Monument. These will house almost 30 commercial garden stalls, displaying and selling everything from plants, shrubs and fertilisers to garden furniture, lawnmowers and paving stones.
Workshops on offer to festivalgoers during the weekend cover a variety of topics including indigenous medicinal plants, fun with plants for children, using flowers and recyclable items to add a special touch to gifts and arrangements, and preventing insects from becoming pests.
Musical entertainment will be provided by the St Andrew’s College pipe band on the Saturday, and the St Andrew’s Prep marimba band and the Kingswood College jazz band on the Sunday.
This year’s event boasts a programme of events as diverse as the myriad plants and flowers that bring life to gardens all over Grahamstown this time of the year.
Festival convenor Sharon Richner says that besides the ever-popular and keenly-contested flower competition that has been the highlight over the years, the 2011 festival will boast two speakers, workshops, the ‘Gardens of Grahamstown’ competition, commercial garden stalls, children’s section, musical entertainment and refreshments.
An undoubted highlight this year will be the national launch of the eagerly-awaited and richly-illustrated coffee table book Veld, Vlei and Rose Gardens edited by Jacqueline Kalley and rose legend Sheenagh Harris, and published by Johannesburg-based Otterley Press.
One of the rose gardens featured in the book is that of Grahamstonian Vernon Marais, whose Arequipa estate outside town is home to over 4000 rose bushes.
Richner is upbeat that The Gardener magazine editor Tanya Visser will be one of the guest speakers this year.
“She was due to speak at last year’s event, but family illness saw her withdraw at the last minute. However, we are excited that she will be with us this year, talking about the 2011 Chelsea Flower Show, as well as a fun-filled take on ways to be a better gardener.”
Kirstenbosch horticulturist David Davidson of Chelsea Flower Show fame will give two talks during the course of Grahamstown’s flower festival – “The Chelsea Experience” and “Floral Festivals in the Far East”.
For the first time at the flower festival, an art exhibition will be held and this should attract keen interest among festival goers to the ‘Glass Box’ in Eden Grove next to the botanical gardens.
Competition will be fierce as usual among the numerous varieties of blooms on show in the flower competition, with the rose section always a popular attraction.
For more flower festival information visit www.grahamstownflowerfestival.co.za
