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Nature Reserve
Where is Fernkloof?
History of Fernkloof
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Fernkloof
Hermanus
South Africa
Donations
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Fernkloof Nature Reserve Where is Fernkloof? History of Fernkloof |
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Contact Information Fernkloof Hermanus South Africa Donations |
| WILD WEATHER TURNS INTO SPRING SUNSHINE AT THE 2008 HERMANUS WILDFLOWER FESTIVAL Pickers on high mountains, workers and gardeners had to hold onto their hats and face the elements in preparation for this year’s Wildflower Festival. Even on the opening day the marquee reverberated ominously as the gales attacked and by mid-afternoon pouring rain had chased away every ardent visitor. But tranquillity and sunshine returned. The minigardens enchanted with a ‘Spade Man’ toting a banjo made of a long-discarded ancient implement and posing statuesquely in a flower-filled garden. An ancient bicycle (with a spade seat, of course) and garden seats made from old forgotten bedsteads lolled gracefully under the old fig tree in Fernkloof’s amphitheatre. The ‘Recycle, Restore, Renew’ theme was taken up by the Harold Porter Botanical Garden , who showed the right and wrong way in coastal development. An elegant long pond fringed with arum lilies ran down the centre of the exhibits next to a realistic green-eyed crocodile basking on a bed of rose quartz and other stones. Wherever there were proteas (and there were many) the resident Cape sugarbird spent many happy hours visiting each one in turn, even the throw-outs in a big blue bucket of water. It posed unconcernedly for friendly cameras all day long. Tranquillity reigned inside the show hall, too, with a waterfall flowing down an Afromontane forest scene flanked by a wall of proteas. Fire ephemerals from the January Big Burn showed the rebirth of the mountain – from the tiniest pink geissorhizas to the pale blue aristeas and tall golden moraeas. Next door hundreds of specimens from the area fascinated the visitors with their complexity. Saturday saw a 1 000 visitors sampling culinary, botanical and horticultural delights – a record gate which made the profit soar to about R90 000. |
