Article and Photos by Andrea Durrheim
A
lthough innovations in
agriculture seem to crop
up every year, we’re inclined to think of gardening as an area in which we
simply continue in the same way as
we have done for the hundreds or
even thousands of years.
Take permaculture as an example:
it’s got a snazzy new name, but it’s
really just a combination of clever
food gardening ideas from around
the world that people have been
practicing for generations. Still,
sometimes old wisdom becomes
new knowledge – and we’ve seen
that in agriculture too.
Erica speciosa
However, when it comes to using
our South African indigenous plants
as garden subjects, the idea is still
relatively new. Twenty years ago,
the palette of indigenous plants
that was commercially available
was woefully small considering the
incredible biodiversity South Africa
has to offer. Today, we can choose
between hundreds of species and
hybrids and we keep on discovering
new ways to use these plants to
create beautiful and practical gardens.
The beauties
When I was a child, I used to love
the pretty ‘veld flowers’, but my
Erica cerinthoides
mother warned me that
‘wildflowers are very difficult to
grow’. Today, we know that this
simply isn’t true. In fact, growing
indigenous plants (or wildflowers)
is a lot easier and lower maintenance than using traditional exotics.
Ericas are a great example. Although they aren’t the easiest plants
to propagate and they need a bit of
love to get settled in the garden as
well as occasional light trims to
keep them in shape, they’re actually
quite easy-going once they’ve settled in.
Erica sp verticillata