APRIL TALK
Andrea Benn
“From Sheepfarm to National Botanical Garden” A talk by Eugene Marinus, Curator of the Hantam National Botanical Garden. Saturday 16 April.
A talk that became the story of a man and this garden, beautifully illustrated with pictures. Eugene grew up in Kleinmond right here in our Kogelberg Biosphere. His first job was at Harold Porter digging trenches for irrigation systems. His interest in plants led him to enquire and study, moving through to plant displays and the nursery.
He is now in his eighth year as Curator of our ninth National Botanical Garden. You may have visited Nieuwoudville, where the late Neil McGregor’s well known Glen Lyon farm is now the Hantam National Botanical Garden. This is the first new National Garden to be opened in 25 years, and the first in the Northern Cape. Much of Glen Lyon’s history has been retained, including some of the farm workers. A 1940s tractor now lies meditating while the new John Deere does the work. Old tyres have become containers for a plant nursery. There are 14 organisms named after members of the McGregor family. Those who remember the old Bedford Bus with Neil as tour guide may be glad to know that it now graces the picnic area, providing a place to sit and relax.
Hantam NBG is not intended to be a formal garden. Nieuwoudville is known as the bulb capital of the world. Hantam is 6200 acres in extent but fragmented into five vegetation types. Annual rainfall can vary from 500-600 mm to 150 mm in the drier areas towards the east. It has become the centre for long-term ecological survey with a focus on climate change. The Bokkeveld Plateau has 1350 plant species, 152 different birds and 28 butterfly species. The area lies between summer and winter rainfall. The late summer rains are the trigger for the pink brunsvegia to appear in mass. There are nine walking and mountain bike trails but beware of the thorns. There is a very modern water purifying system which, stories tell, makes the best water for whisky.
The Garden received international exposure through Chelsea in 2008 and 2012. David Davidson even took a rusted drum and some fencing from the Garden to London!
A fire started by lightning in 2008 burnt 200 hectares and took three days to control. Temperatures range from -40C to 480C and in 2013 a snowfall, the first in 48 years, gave the workers the day off to enjoy.
Plants are not labelled as the bulbs cannot always be relied upon to appear. There are 80 endemic species, among them Geissorhiza spendissima – called the Blue Pride of Hantam, Sparaxis elegans with two colour variants, Lachenalia neilii, Bulbinella dolorita – a deep orange growing in the red soil, an endemic arum Zantedescia odorata. A Bulbinella that in 2008 was thought to be on the brink of extinction appeared again in 2013 in hundreds of thousands in orange and yellow colours that didn’t merge, separated in broad bands.
Autumn is the secret season. Hundreds of visitors go in early Spring to see the massed colour displays, but in autumn there is a lot to see. There is good signage to get you out of your car. Entrance to Hantam NBG is only R20 and there are daily tours at 2 pm.