Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens are bringing home gold once again from the Chelsea Flower Show, and we couldn’t be prouder. Great job team!
Chelsea, United Kingdom (22 May 2019) – The team from Kirstenbosch Gardens have wowed the world once again and earned a gold at the Chelsea Flower Show. This is the 37th win for South Africa in 44 years.
The South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) team in London consisted of designer Leon Kluge, Tristan Woudberg and Chris Randlehoff from Leon Kluge Garden Design, dedicated volunteers, and Sanbi staff.
The team shipped containers full of indigenous plants, flowers, hand-painted edgings and Ndebele hats from Africa to England for the annual Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Chelsea Flower Show, which took place in London from the 21st to the 25th May.
This year’s exhibit featured a slate mountain, dotted with abstract waterfalls cascading from bright, larger-than-life traditional Ndebele hats, and masses of proteas, arums, restios and fynbos arranged as they occur together on the wild slopes of some of South Africa’s mountains.
Leon Kluge, the designer behind Kirstenbosch’s 2019 exhibition titled ‘Mountains of Abundance’ – created a contemporary hand-made three-metre high slate mountain, with one side depicting a silhouette of Table Mountain and the other of the Magaliesburg. This design was incredibly attractive and showcased the stunning backdrop of South Africa’s floral diversity.
According to Kluge, who also designed last year’s gold medal-winning display, each plant featured in the exhibit has a story to tell and showcases the phenomenal spectrum of South Africa’s flowers to the world.
“In addition to restios and fynbos, we have King Proteas in all the different colours this year – something I am very excited about. There are also rarer kinds of proteas included – such as a small species that lie on the sand and gets pollinated by mice. All the plants have come together to produce a magical showcase of only a fraction of South Africa’s biodiversity.”
“The pressure is always on to produce an exhibit that will surpass the previous years. Thankfully, we managed to do exactly that and are extremely proud to be bringing home another gold medal! Special thanks go to everyone involved in the creation of this year’s Kirstenbosch Chelsea Flower Show Exhibit – we have an amazing team. It is a lot of hard work but the atmosphere at the Chelsea Flower Show is always wonderful – from fellow exhibitors and the public attending the show,” says Kluge.
The display topped the gold the team received last year. They outdid themselves and brought the heart of South Africa’s beautiful environment to the Chelsea Flower Show.
“I thought that last year’s exhibit was magnificent, but 2019’s design has taken things to a new level. Seeing Leon’s designs come to life has been so exciting and in reality the exhibit is even more impressive and representative of South Africa’s rich natural heritage.” – Mrs Beryl Ferguson, SANBI Board Chair
Before the team left South Africa, they promised to bring home the gold, and they did it! We are incredibly proud.
You can see the images from the show below.
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