Latest news with #Fynbos
IOL News
4 days ago
- Business
- IOL News
South Africa's Fynbos wins gold at UK flower competition as Kirstenbosch maintains strategic absence
The beautiful display of Fynbos that won gold. Image: Supplied For the sixth consecutive year, Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden did not exhibit at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. The South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI), which manages the iconic garden, confirmed that its decision to step away from the world-renowned event was made in 2019 and remains in place. According to Nontsikelelo Mpulo, Director of Marketing, Communication and Commercialisation at SANBI, the decision was based on a combination of practical and strategic considerations. 'The Chelsea Flower Show was a costly exercise for the organisation with no clear return on investment,' said Mpulo. 'Our displays featured indigenous flowers and materials that were often confiscated at the UK border and not permitted for use. Additionally, our sponsors withdrew their support.' The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic further affected SANBI's financial stability, and revenue has yet to return to pre-pandemic levels. While a return to Chelsea has not been ruled out, Mpulo said the organisation is exploring local alternatives, including plans to establish a Biodiversity Expo in the Western Cape and Gauteng. 'It has been some time since Kirstenbosch participated in the show. The questions you pose have periodically come to the organisation, and our position remains the same,' she added. Despite its absence from Chelsea, Kirstenbosch continues to be celebrated internationally. It has been named one of the top ten gardens in the world by The New York Times, received the 2024 TripAdvisor Travellers' Choice Best of the Best award, and was voted Best Botanical Garden in Africa by the World Luxury Travel Awards in 2023. South Africa won big Image: Supplied Kirstenbosch also became the first South African botanical garden to receive Level IV accreditation from the ArbNet Arboretum Accreditation Programme and The Morton Arboretum in the USA — an honour currently shared by just 46 gardens worldwide. While Kirstenbosch was not at Chelsea, South Africa was proudly represented by designer Leon Kluge and horticulturist Tristan Woudberg, whose spectacular fynbos exhibit won a gold medal at the 2025 show. The display captured the beauty and diversity of the Cape Floristic Region through two towering mountain slopes divided by a ravine, designed to evoke a secret Cape waterfall in springtime and constructed with over 25,000 stems of fynbos blooms. Grootbos Private Nature Reserve was one of several sponsors supporting Kluge's display, alongside Hazendal Wine Estate, the Rupert Nature Foundation and Southern Sun. Michael Lutzeyer, owner of Grootbos, expressed his pride in the team's achievement. Chelsea Flowers in Stanford will be open to the public in spring from 10-24 September 2025 Image: Supplied 'I am delighted and proud of Leon Kluge's fynbos display which received international recognition and a gold-award at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, confirming what we at Grootbos have always known — the Cape Floristic Region is one of the most beautiful and unique regions of the world and fynbos itself is the star of the show. "Grootbos was one of the proud sponsors of the exhibit which celebrates the beauty of fynbos — thank you and well done to the whole team who worked so hard. Grootbos Private Nature Reserve and the Grootbos Foundation have protected and conserved this landscape for 25 years and the RHS Chelsea Flower Show has confirmed that the world (and even the fox) believes this biodiversity hotspot is worth protecting.' To ensure South Africans can also experience the magic of Chelsea, Grootbos and the Grootbos Foundation will sponsor a full-scale replica of the winning display in the village of Stanford. Titled Chelsea Flowers in Stanford, the exhibition will run from 10 to 24 September 2025 and coincide with the region's spring bloom.
The Citizen
29-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Citizen
24 hours in pictures, 28 April 2025
24 hours in pictures, 28 April 2025 Through the lens: The Citizen's Picture Editors select the best news photographs from South Africa and around the world. A helicopter battles a vegetation fire in the Table Mountain National Park, Cape Town, South Africa, on April 27, 2025. Fire fighters battled an extensive blaze that spread rapidly across the mountainous regions of Cape Town skirting suburbs but destroying large areas of Fynbos vegetation, flora and fauna in the reserve. Picture: Matrix Images / Nic Bothma Children wave Vietnamese and Japanese flags ahead of a welcome ceremony at the Presidential Palace in Hanoi, Vietnam, 28 April 2025. Ishiba is on an official visit to Vietnam from 27 to 29 April 2025. Picture: EPA-EFE/LUONG THAI LINH / POOL Cardinal Christoph Schonborn leaves Vatican at the end of fifth meeting of the Congregation of Cardinals, Vatican City, 28 April 2025. The cardinals continue their deliberations during general congregations held following the death of Pope Francis, in preparation for the assembly to elect a new pope, known as the conclave. Picture: EPA-EFE/FABIO FRUSTACI A passer-by walks in front of a graffito of Berlin-based artist Eme Freethinker that shows US President Donald J. Trump next to the writing 'Made in China' at the Mauerpark in Berlin, Germany, 28 April 2025. The United States of America and China are in a fight about tariff policies. Picture: EPA-EFE/CLEMENS BILAN South African trombonist, vocalist, and composer, Siya Makuzeni perfoms at Constitutional Hill in Johannesburg, 28 April 2024, during the HERoines of Jazz 2025. Picture: Nigel Sibanda/ The Citizen Models showcase designs by South Africa's Renowned fashion designer Gert Johan Coetzee at the South African Fashion Week (SAFW) Spring/Summer 2025, 25 April 2025. Picture: Nigel Sibanda/ The Citizen Riverlea Secondary School in Johannesburg, 28 April 2025, after 11 classes were completely gutted by fire. No injuries were reported during the incident and the cause of fire was not known. Picture: Nigel Sibanda /The Citizen Members of the clergy gather after a requiem Mass in honor of the late Pope Francis at St. Pius X Catholic Church in Pretoria, South Africa, 26 April 2025. Amongst the guests where diplomats, clergy and religious leaders from the Archdiocese. Pope Francis passed away on Easter Monday, 21 April 2025, at the age of 88. Picture: EPA-EFE/KIM LUDBROOK Jacob Zuma arrives at the Solomon Mahlangu Lecture at Solomon Mahlangu Square on April 27, 2025 in Mamelodi, South Africa. The uMkhonto Wesizwe Party is dedicated to telling the history of this country on their own account as black people and aims to set the record straight on some very critical historical events in the liberation struggle. Picture: Gallo Images A flowering rape field colours the landscape near Kisbagyon, northern Hungary, 27 April 2025 (issued 28 April 2025). Picture: EPA-EFE/Peter Komka New Apostolic Church Young People in Christ congregations take part in their annual Dragon Boat Race event, 26 April 2025, at Florida Lake Boat Club, in Roodepoort. Teams travelled from all over Gauteng, and from as far afield as Mpumalanga and Limpopo. At least 800 rowers, making up 37 teams, took part in the competition. With specators approximately 2 500 people attended the team-building event. Picture: Michel Bega/The Citizen The Ploemies at the 2025 Cape Town International Jazz Festival on Day 01 at Cape Town International Convention Centre on April 25, 2025 in Cape Town, South Africa. The annual music festival celebrates both local and international jazz musicians, and showcases a diverse range of artists. (Photo by Gallo Images/Dereck Green) MORE: 24 hours in pictures, 25 April 2025
