Photography by Marie Viljoen.
The spring sunshine in Cape Town has a brittle quality, where periods of intense clarity are suddenly muted by bursts of rain.
Jaftha’s is a destination for any flower-loving visitor to the city, and for me, recently, the welcoming farm offered floral comfort during a visit from New York City to see my unwell mother.
Plum blossom at Jaftha’s Flower Farm in August. I last visited Jaftha’s Flower Farm in summer, when its rows of plum trees were dropping ripe fruit and the fields were filled with the dahlias for which the Jaftha family is famous.
Ranunculus season is from August almost to the end of September.
Buying flowers directly from any cut flower farm is a treat, and at Jaftha’s the same flowers cost around a third of local store-bought bouquets.
For visiting Americans, there is an exchange-rate bonus: The prices are exceptionally favorable at a time when one US dollar buys around 18 South African rands.
Charles Jaftha harvesting ranunculus.
A neighboring riding school shares the space with stocks, lupines, and Queen Anne’s lace.
Richly scented stocks are available through early September.
Freesias were the flower that brought me back to Jaftha’s again and again during a nearly month-long stay.
Fresh freesias are deliciously scented.
Choosing between full-blown flowers and sensible, long-lasting buds is not easy.
Charles Jaftha with the ultimate spring bouquet.
Freesia therapy while I sequestered with COVID. When I could smell the freesias again, I knew that I had turned a corner, and could visit my my elderly mother again.
Iceland poppies in bud will open in the vase. Iceland poppies are sold for a couple of weeks in early spring and are underrated for perfume.
Queen Anne’s lace and arums.
Lavender is almost seasonless in the Western Cape province’s Mediterranean climate.
The Jaftha’s buy locally-grown Leucaspermums and other Proteacea flowers to supplement their own blooms.
Sumptuous bunches of blushing bride, with Inca lilies. The flowers sold commercially around the city are farm-grown in the Western Cape.
On a chilled early spring day, customers peruse the tempting buckets of flowers. New customers keep discovering the Jafthas.