You can’t plan a wildflower trip to South Africa.
Photography by Christin Geall.
Farmers open their lands to flower enthusiasts during the spring bloom. The Cape Floral Kingdom, on its southwestern coast, has about 9,600 species, 70 percent of which are endemic, meaning they grow naturally nowhere else on earth.
A tapestry of blue Heliophilia with golden Ursina cakilefolia, and white Osteospermum and Dimorphotheca in the Beidouw valley.
Traveling through Nieuwoudtville on the southbound journey, I spent three nights at Kersefontein, well positioned for West Coast National Park and the Hopefield Flower Show.
flavascens only grows in and around the Beidouw valley. My goals were to learn more about South African species in the cut flower trade, understand more about the farming of indigenous perennials, and to see plants introduced to global horticulture in their native habitats.
Hantam Botanic gardens is on a plateau outside Nieuwoudtville and functions as conservation area for a diverse range of geophytes; it is often referred to as “the bulb capital of the world.” Pictured: Bulbinella spp.
Other plants, such as Calla lilies, Proteas, Gerbera daisies, Ice plants, Pelargoniums, Gloriosa lilies, Bird of Paradise, Asparagus ferns, aloes, Leucospermums, and Leucadendrons are among countless others whose origins trace to South Africa.
White and purple rain daisies Dimorphoteca pluvialus with yellow Oxalis in West Coast National Park.
While megafauna weren’t on my agenda, I spotted an African penguin resting on the beach; bontebok and Cape zebra in the flower-covered veld; and an ostrich high on a sand dune with its feet buried in purple flowers and head in the blue sky.
The South African spring flower season usually begins in mid-August and lasts through September.
Rainfall and temperature determine the bloom, so if you’re planning a trip consult local tourism offices, and consider that it may be best to move from Namibia in the north, south to Cape Town, which is cooler.
For the spring season, a “flower beach safari” is set up on the site of an old diamond mining camp in Namaqua National Park (six hours from Cape Town). The yellow pictured is Didelta carnosa, a succulent.
A carpet of Romulea hirsuta with a member of the Aizoaceae or Ice Plant family, of which there are approximately 100 types in South Africa.
Into the Cederberg and to and from Namaqualand, I drove with a girlfriend through sand, mud, and mountain passes, and of course, we were chatting so much we got lost.
Baboon flower (Babiana rubrocyanea) is a red-listed species which grows near Darling in the Western Cape.