Collect your FREE Elgin Open Gardens Map from Elgin Valley Tourism office. The 2013 Season In 2013 there will be 21 open gardens in the Elgin, Vyeboom and Bot River districts over two weekends.
These range from large established country gardens (some over 50 years old), to young, recently planted gardens in villages and on smallholdings, all in a setting of great natural beauty no more than an hour’s drive from Cape Town.
A highlight on the Elgin Valley’s event calendar is the annually Elgin Open Gardens.
There are two new gardens this year. • Basterskloof on the Van der Stel Pass in Bot River began decades back with a collection of trees from a nursery in the Kruger National Park. It is a large established garden with rolling lawns interspersed with pine trees for shade, and shrubby borders.
• Kromme Rivier lies on a road that runs between Highland Rd and the Valley Rd. It is a large garden spread out around the farm buildings, and runs down to a lake.
A number of gardens will have plants for sale, and some such as Keurbos, Heaven Scent, Fairholme and Fresh Woods will be offering unusual and interesting plants difficult to find elsewhere.
Many gardens are also offering teas and light meals, in addition to the many other restaurants and food gardens in the area. One of the main Elgin charities, Siphila Sonke, will be serving teas and lunches in the Elgin United Church hall along the Viljoenshoop Road.
Other events in the district include various art and sculpture exhibitions, such as the Elgin Artists’ Group at Glenbrae, the land artist Strijdom van der Merwe at Wildekrans, and other exhibitions at South Hill and Lavenham.
The seventeen wine estates making up the Elegantly Elgin Wine Route will be open throughout the entire weekend, and some of them are planning events.
Full details with a map are in a free leaflet. Download a copy here. The leaflet itself can also be picked up at any major Western Cape nursery in early September.
This is the 13th year of the Elgin Open Gardens scheme which has gone from strength to strength, inspiring other gardeners with the range of plants that can be grown in the cooler and wetter climate of Elgin, an area renowned for its fynbos, its apples and wines, and its nurseries.
Visit our website for more information on the participating farms. 10am - 5pm www.elginopengardens.co.za
Enquiries Barbara Knox-Shaw Telephone number 021-8440154 Jessie Walton Telephone number 0834583790 Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Website www.elginopengardens.co.za
