On behalf of the City of Cape Town, Executive Mayor, Alderman Patricia de Lille congratulates the South African National Biodiversity Institute and Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden on receiving a gold medal at this year’s Royal Horticultural Society’s (RHS) Chelsea Flower Show in London.
This is the 33rd gold medal that the institution has received after 38 years of exhibiting at the flower show, which runs from 21 – 25 May 2013.
“Receiving this esteemed accolade is thanks to the work of so many hard-working and committed people who have spent many hours preparing the display. We are reminded on this occasion of this City’s rich floral kingdom and the responsibility we have to nurture it for future generations,” says Alderman De Lille.
This year, it is fitting that the theme of the exhibit is “100 Blooming Years” of Kirstenbosch as the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) celebrates 100 years of its conservation garden and the RHS Chelsea Flower Show also celebrates 100 of existence.
The exhibit, an enclosed reconstruction of Kirstenbosch’s Central Garden and Dell, includes a sensory walk to allow visitors to experience the garden’s beauty and serenity. The circular display features a Dell and Cycad Amphitheatre on one side and the Protea Garden and mountain skyline on the other.
The display also features some of the garden’s “Centenarians”, plants that have been growing at Kirstenbosch for at least 100 years or were introduced during the first five years between 1913 and 1917, including gardenia thunbergia, oldenburgia grandis and aloe plicatilis among others.
For 20 years, designers David Davidson and Raymond Hudson have presented innovative and award-winning exhibits and were once again pleased with the result of their hard work.
“We are ecstatic! Receiving gold in this very special year for both Kirstenbosch and the Chelsea Flower Show is a huge accolade for us – the medal is a highlight of our Chelsea experience and a reward for the hardworking team,” says Davidson.
The yearly exhibition offers visitors to the RHS Chelsea Flower Show a glimpse of the local, unique biodiversity that Cape Town and South Africa offers and invites them to explore the natural beauty themselves, which supports Cape Town’s tourism endeavours.
“This exhibit shows the world the importance we put on our natural heritage and history, and Kirstenbosch’s ‘coming of age’ gives the traveller yet another reason to visit South Africa and come into our garden,” says Davidson.
The display will be recreated at the VA Waterfront from 31 August until 24 September 2013.
Image courtesy SANBI
