Bedazzled by Babylonstoren

Posted on May 11, 2015 by Janet

If I have one small regret on our South Africa garden tour, it is that some experiences are so heady and wonderful I would love them to go on for hours…even days. Alas, there’s always a schedule to keep and another place to be. Nonetheless, I feel that longing acutely in the afternoon of Day 11 of our tour – a day in which we also visited Vergelegen in Somerset West, before dropping in on Henk Scholtz in Franschhoek. Now we are setting out to explore the spectacular gardens at Babylonstoren.

But first, a little background. Like many large farms in the Western Cape, Babylonstoren has a very old pedigree. Situated between Franschhoek and Paarl in the Drakenstein Valley about 37 miles (60 km) from present-day Cape Town, it was part of the original land grants to Dutch settlers and established in 1692 by Pieter van der Byl, a former soldier with the Stellenbosch Dragoons. A koppie (small hill) on the land reminded him of the biblical tower of Babel, thus was born the farm’s name. (The full history of the farm and its various owners can be found online)

Now fast forward more than three centuries to 2007 when media power couple Karen Roos (former editor of Elle Decoration) and her husband Koos Bekker (CEO of the large media group Naspers) found Babylonstoren while looking for a weekend retreat to remind them of the farms on which both had grown up. They bought the 590-acre property and within a few years, set about restoring the 1777 Cape Dutch manor house and the outbuildings in the original werf (farmyard) to create a 14-room boutique ‘farm hotel’ and restaurant. Both love gardening and had been inspired during a French holiday by the work of designer Patrice Taravella at the former monastery La Prieuré d’Orsan. They hired him to create the spectacular 8-acre (3.5 hectare) potager we see at the heart of Babylonstoren today. Taravella’s garden plan, which can be explored in detail online, laid out a stunningly ambitious blueprint for a host of fruit and nut trees, berries, herbs and vegetables that echoes the original plan of the British East India Company Garden in present-day Cape Town (below)….

…..but in an ecological way that would integrate best organic practices with medieval-tapestry-inspired, walled gardens to produce a bounty of beautiful edibles for use in the farm’s shop and restaurant.. And in keeping with the estate’s name, it was envisaged as a modern-day nod to the mythical ‘hanging gardens of Babylon’. This is Patrice Taravella’s plan for Babylonstoren.

We begin our tour with a stop in Babylonstoren’s shop, where preserves and marmalades and fruit cordials and honeys like the ones below are just a few of the products made from the garden’s bounty.

Lemons come from the Citrus Block in the garden, which also includes several varieties of oranges, grapefruits, limes and mandarins.

There are also lovely gift items, all arranged with the good taste and restraint you might expect from an owner who oversaw scores of home décor photo shoots in her career.

We head out past the restaurant, appropriately named Babel, whose menu features the 300 different fruits, vegetables and herbs (not to mention wines) produced on the farm.

Nearby is the Babel labyrinth – and if I were a bird flying overhead, I would see that the labyrinth “spells” the word Babel in the drifts of Spanish and French lavender and other fragrant herbs.

These are the raised lily pools. Not only do they boast a stunning backdrop of Simonsberg (background, left) and other nearby mountains, they also feature….

…..beautiful water lilies (Nymphaea) in just the right peach hue to match the pool. Later, there will be lotuses.

And, perhaps more importantly, here are the flowers of Cape pondweed (Aponogeton distachyos) or “waterblommetjies” whose rhizomes are cooked up in a traditional South African stew called Waterblommetjiebredie.

Let’s follow the sign into the garden.

Yes, there are olive trees – a beautiful allée of them along here, featuring Mission, Delicata and Frantoio varieties (more varieties are grown on the acreage of Babylonstoren’s farm). The olives are cold-pressed to make olive oil used in the shop and restaurant.

There are two vegetable gardens, one with a carefree profusion of edible cabbages, root crops, fruits and flowers….

….overseen by a pair of clay pot gardeners…

…and a wandering rooster. Ducks and chickens with a taste for snails wander the gardens too.

These ‘Portugal’ quince trees (Cydonia oblonga) are kept low and rigorously pruned to provide a few large fruit each. When ripe, they might be honey-grilled to serve with grilled meat at Babel or made into dulce de membrillo, a quince jelly that can be cut into pieces.

The second vegetable garden is more formal, with raised beds and a central fountain suggestive of a medieval monastery garden.

The wicker work and trellises here are wonderful.

Artichokes are planted on the edge of the vegetable garden.

There simply isn’t enough time to explore all these small, enclosed gardens thoroughly, but I make a mad dash along the main axis path, stopping every few minutes to duck down one of the bisecting paths to stick my nose inside and see what’s going on there. Look at these gorgeous, antique ‘Albertine’ roses.
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I love all the espaliered fruit with the poppies planted beneath. The fan-trained trees form the leafy walls to some of the enclosures, while…..

….encouraging the growth of myriad stone fruit, like these ‘Sunlite’ nectarines.

This is part of the gravity-fed irrigation system, which distributes water throughout the gardens from a natural stream on the property.

I look into one enclosure and find a giant tortoise nonchalantly munching her way through a lush carpet of bacopa (Sutera cordata). She and her babies find a welcome in the garden.

My feet make a crunching noise and I gaze down to see that I’m walking on a peach-pit path. That does take recycling to a new level!

I bump my head climbing through the low frame of the door into an enclosure called Almonds-Bees (clearly a good deterrent for anyone who might try to wander in here without knowing who the rightful occupants are). Being mid-October or mid-spring in South Africa, the almonds were pollinated long ago and the fruit is developing, though still fuzzy.

I love the hives here, and the bees are finding lots of forage…..

…throughout the gardens, like these cornflower (Centaurea cyanus) flowers, left, and French lavender (Lavandula x intermedia), right.

Bees can also find a haven out in the gardens of Babylonstoren, in their very own landscaped bee hotel, designed by Etienne Hanekom.

There is also a wild bee haven with appropriate nesting media for many species.

The bee nests are located beside the Subtropical Fruit garden, which includes mango (Mangifera indica), left, and papaya (Carica papaya), right…..

…. and pineapple guava (Feijoa sellowiana).

Here are strawberries in a protective enclosure to keep out hungry birds.

And would you have guessed that the vine baskets below are used to protect the rhubarb growing inside them from the sun? When the rosy stems mature, they might be cut and used in one of Babel’s signature dishes, like roast chicken with rhubarb butter and asparagus.

Red currants (Ribes rubrum) are just one of the crops in the Berry Garden, which also includes blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, gooseberries and Cape gooseberries.

Prickly-pears (Opuntia ficus-indica) have long been an edibles crop in South Africa, and six varieties of this cacti are grown in the Prickly-Pear Maze, with more on the farm.

Thirteen varieties of fig (Ficus carica) are cultivated on trellises and in avenues in the Mulberry Meditation Garden.

Yum….

Finally, sadly, it’s time to head back to Cape Town. As we drive out towards the highway, the vineyards stretch out near the outbuildings (now hotel suites) of the farm’s old werf.

I do wish we’d had a chance to sip a glass of one of the estate’s aptly-named wines, such as its signature red blend Nebukadnesar, named in honour of the king of that mythical desert garden whose spirit is invoked so richly and tastefully in these remarkable gardens at Babylonstoren. Perhaps next time……

The Wonderful, Whimsical Garden of Henk Scholtz

Posted on May 7, 2015 by Janet

It’s early afternoon on Day 11 of our South Africa garden tour, and we’ve just arrived in Franschhoek following our tour and lunch at Vergelegen Wine Estate in Somerset West. We’ve at the delightful home of garden designer/artist Henk Scholtz, who is on his front porch to greet us and tell us a bit about the garden.

We already know, of course, that the garden was featured on Monty Don’s show Around the World in 80 Gardens, a segment in which the host called it “the most photogenic garden” he’d ever visited, adding “at every turn, there’s a composed view”.

Walking in, we pass a spectacular stand of bird-of-paradise (Strelitzia reginae) in the front garden. How lovely it is to see this gorgeous plant in its native land.

Circling around the house, we come to a gate that would be fairly ordinary steel mesh, were it not for the dozens of sea shells wired to it. This is our first clue to Henk Scholtz’s particular brand of whimsy, which usually involves an element of recycling or the use of found objects.

The sun is strong today – as it has been almost every day throughout our tour – making photography difficult, but I do want a shot of this fan aloe (Kumara plicatilis), so I can show you…..

….what is arrayed beneath it! I have no idea what they are – suggestions of candy apples? – but they make me smile.

Strong colour also plays a role in this garden, such as this royal blue wall backing a great rusty pitchfork sculpture.

And what’s this? A plump, happy, ceramic caterpillar lazing on the path.

The back of Henk’s house is shaded with a grape-wreathed pergola. And the small semi-circular lawn is enclosed in hedging, and adorned with precisely-clipped obelisks that would look right at home at Versailles.
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A small water feature nestled perfectly into a hedged enclosure is watched over by Henk’s “security guard”. (She looks like she might be partying on the job….)

Nevertheless, all these whimsical features demonstrate a decidedly sophisticated talent – not only with garden design, but with the art of mosaic tile. Look at the mannequin’s lovely shoulder and the shells and mosaic adorning this delightful outdoor shower.

Nearby is a second sculpture, best described as a seashell goddess, with appropriate accessories.

Sitting at the tiled table under the pergola, this is your view of the garden and the mountains beyond…..

…..unless, that is, you’re distracted by the little potted ducklings.

But the truly eye-grabbing destination in the back garden is the neon-pink bougainvillea cascading romantically in front of the neon-pink garden shed.

Sometimes, more is definitely more! Thank you, Henk Scholtz for reminding us that gardening needn’t be serious to be really good. And we’ll close the gate as we leave.

A Garden Jewel in Johannesburg

Posted on November 25, 2014 by Janet

Our last private Johannesburg garden visit is to the spectacular Beechwood Gardens, owned by Christopher & Susan Greig. It’s a lovely house in the Hyde Park neighbourhood, designed in Romantic-Flemish style by Steffen Ahrends and owned originally by one of Johannesburg’s 20^th-century industrialists, cereal manufacturer Rudy Frankel.

Though the property’s name originally celebrated a massive copper beech tree that had to be removed after a storm, it is also graced by a huge specimen of North American water oak (Quercus nigra).

We are met by Beechwood’s full-time horticulturist Steven Gouveia and escorted via a shady side path toward the back garden. The property was originally landscaped in the 1940s by the renowned South African landscape architect Joane Pim, so the tree canopy is mature and the garden has good “bones”.

More than one gardener in Johannesburg has proudly drawn our attention to a beautiful shrub decked with mauve-striped white blossoms and flowering in dappled-heavy shade. It is the native South African forest bell bush (Mackaya bella) or “bosklokkiesbos” in Afrikaans, with azalea like blooms and glossy evergreen foliage.

Strolling through Beechwood’s woodland garden, our attention is drawn to a neat pile of cut tree limbs lining the path. It’s not firewood, says Steven, but simply a purposeful pile left to decompose and create sanctuary for nesting bees or other insects.

The path delivers us to the back garden, where empty clay pots await the season’s annuals (and remind us that this is, indeed, springtime in South Africa). And what’s this? Luscious yellow clivias (Clivia miniata var. citrina)…..

…. flowering like a little meandering river in the lawn under a shrub.

There was a time in the late 1980s when these newly-bred yellow clivias were so rare, they commanded a king’s ransom per single plant. There are numerous yellow colour forms now.

Christopher and Susan Greig are in the garden and greet us warmly. Christopher is the great-grandson of Charles Greig, who arrived in Gold Rush-gripped Johannesburg from Aberdeen in 1899. Soon he was producing clocks for the mines that were springing up around the young city, and over the next century, Charles Greig would become Johannesburg’s pre-eminent jeweler, with five stores in the city.

Susan brings out freshly-baked cupcakes (she runs a cooking school from the property) serving them beside the beautifully-furnished outdoor sitting area adjoining the house.

Then Christopher takes us on a garden tour, explaining what he’s done with the 3.5 acre garden in the 14 years that they have owned Beechwood, which is open to the public on the last consecutive Friday and Saturday of each month except December.

We begin with the series of six interconnected naturalistic ponds and a bog.

Though it’s too early in the season for the lotuses, the waterlilies are in full bloom.

And the ponds attract Egyptian geese, here preparing to swim away beside a planting of red Louisiana iris (Iris Hexagonae Group).

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I am not familiar with these stunningly beautiful and colourful Hexagonae irises, a complex hybrid mix of five southern iris species: I. brevicaulis, I. fulva, I. hexagona, I. giganticaerulea and I. nelsonii.

And here’s a closer look at the Egyptian goose (Alopochen aegyptiaca). It is native to Africa and was considered sacred in Egypt, where much of the breeding occurred.

The family swimming pool is simple and overlooked by a Luytens bench.

We step down onto the terrace adjoining the rose garden, where a pretty flower border greets us. Ranunculus (R. asiaticus) really seem to thrive in this climate, as they do in California in spring. The mixed colours are united with silvery lambs’ ears (Stachys byzantina).

Such attractive flowers – and excellent in spring bouquets.

Though mostly out of bloom this early in the season, the formal rose garden is spectacular with its boxwood-edged beds. It sits 2 metres (6 feet) below the lawns. Christopher designed the long colonnade on the left, bringing the handsome support pillars from elsewhere in the garden.

The rose garden is arranged around a formal fountain. Water for the fountains and water features is not a problem at Beechwood Gardens, which sits over a natural underground aquifer.

The sunken vegetable garden, designed by Christopher (who also grows the vegetables from seed), provides many of the ingredients for Susan’s cooking school, which is housed in the building in the background.

Like a French potager, it also features a classical central fountain and slightly raised brick-edged beds filled with all kinds of leafy plants. Here, the rhubarb is just about ready to harvest.

Later in the season (October corresponds roughly to May for temperate plants in South Africa), when the root vegetables and tomatoes have matured and the nasturtiums and cornflowers are in bloom, it must be gorgeous. Here’s the view looking back to a faux ruin.

Christopher is proud of being fully organic and encouraging all kinds of beneficial insects. To that end, he promotes the use of Mycoroot, a product that fosters healthy root growth.

Alongside the vegetable garden is a walkway flanked by fragrant French lavender and citrus trees.

Honey bees adore lavender, an excellent source of nectar — and, of course, lavender honey.

This afternoon we will leave Johannesburg and head north toward Kruger Park. But we couldn’t have finished our garden tour in the city with a lovelier, more diverse garden than Beechwood, thanks to the gracious welcome of Susan and Christopher Greig.

A Johannesburg Eden on Four Levels

Posted on November 12, 2014 by Janet

Standing in Minky Lidchi’s delightful garden in the Houghton neighbourhood of Johannesburg, South Africa, and gazing at her beautiful home with its terraced beds and intriguing front pergola with its classic columns, it’s difficult to imagine how it must have looked in 1976, when Minky, then a first year Architecture student at Wits University (the University of the Witwatersrand ), acquired the property.

“The house was really an ugly duckling,” she recalls, “and the garden was totally nondescript, except for three jacaranda trees on the eastern side.” The land, which measures 90 metres in length by 46 metres in width, sloped upwards with a 5 metre (16 feet) increase in elevation from front to back. In time, Minky would formalize five broad terraces from the incline on the slope of the site — but when she took possession, the house sat comfortably on what would be the third terrace and a tennis court occupied the fifth terrace at the rear of the property.

After renting the house out for two years, Minky then began to improve the property. “With a very limited budget I did a simple renovation to the small house, creating vistas through and across the site from the public and private spaces inside the house.” A garage and staff building were transformed into a cottage and smaller staff quarters “creating the spaces between the buildings for courtyards and pond areas.” Today, these skilfully-crafted spaces not only separate the buildings but create small journeys – like the kitchen courtyard below– that Minky has made more interesting by filling with potted plants and treasures from her travels, including the marble bath at the far end.

The koi pond, below, is flanked by an ivy-clad wall backed by a tall topiary hedge and even has a little “island” with table and chairs. Atop the pillars are sandstone carvings, some of the many works of art that grace the garden today.

Recalls Minky: “The side pond began as a space to tie the house and cottage together, but both spaces needed a focus, yet privacy. I decided a pond would be ideal as one could view it from both builidings.”

In 1982, she embarked on a second renovation, this time cladding the house’s exterior in sandstone tiles reminiscent of the Westcliffe sandstone used in the architecture of older houses in the area. Her aim was to give it a rectangular box form with a simple, pitched roof “like a child’s drawing” of a house. “Here I started addressing the edges around the house and built the terrace with large columns and stairs and planters in front of the house.” A pair of white marble buddhas from Mandalay in Burma flank the front steps, below.

The front terrace has become a favourite place for Minky to enjoy the sounds and views of the garden. She loves collecting real objects that once had practical uses, such as the gypsy cooking pot on the table. At the centre is a Mexican “circle of friends” sculpture.

Gardening began in earnest then as well, and she drew upon the memories of the wonderful European and English gardens she had visited as a child with her mother, “an eccentric gardener”. She began to plant slowly, feeling her way by trial and error with the help of Lot, below, her long-time “left-hand person” in the garden and on the property.

Once again, the house was rented out, but Minky was now a qualified architect with a practice that allowed her to put more time and resources into the property. She began work on the bottom terrace at the front of the garden, adding the round pond visible from the front door of the house. “The idea in developing the site was to create vistas wherever possible, and I took my cue from the slope and the rectangular shape of the house.”

In 2002, after more than 25 years of renting the house out and being its absentee gardener, Minky finally moved in and began working on the upper terrace nearest the back of the property. “I took away the tennis court and created the grapefruit and lemon orchard, which now has cherry trees as well, adding to my own produce of existing vegetables and herbs.” The orchard consists of a formal, four-square garden carpeted with fragrant Spanish lavender, and the cherry trees have produced their very first bowl of cherries.

The Spanish lavender (Lavandula stoechas) attracts honey bees which in turn pollinate the citrus blossoms.

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And the small water feature in the path.

Here, at the very top of the garden, an arch inset with a millstone rests atop a carved screen from Jaipur, India.

“Whenever I can, I take the opportunity to travel,” says Minky. “The garden is filled with finds from distant lands. I sometimes brought entire containers – to sell some of the contents, and keep others. India was a treasure trove; the stone grilles in my garden walls were made there for me.”

Minky’s architectural background is evident on the swimming pool terrace, with its interior brick walls and those hand-crafted stone grilles. The arched Indian door leads to the garden’s working area, complete with a worm farm, compost, nurturing plant area and entrance to the cottage containing the pool pump and laundry area. Beyond is the rich borrowed landscape provided by her neighbour’s trees.

Another view of the swimming pool terrace, below. On the lawn is a sculpture titled ‘Desert Rose’ by the renowned Johannesburg artist Edoarda Villa. It is reminiscent of the crystal formations that occur under certain damp conditions in the desert in Namibia.

Heading back to the house from the pool terrace, the visitor walks down lushly-planted sandstone steps.

Fragrance is important to Minky – something she has called “the chaos of scent”. Her favourite perfumed plants include star jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides) and murraya (M. paniculata). She planted gardenias near the car arrival and peppermint underfoot in the driveway so when she drives in “the wheels break the leaves and you smell the peppermint”. The kitchen courtyard features neatly pruned shrubs of yesterday-today-and-tomorrow (Brunfelsia pauciflora) “so that you can smell their perfume at dusk in and around the house.”

And she loves her roses, from the shrubs lining the second terrace wall to those climbing the pillars by the pond.

“There is no greater pleasure for me than picking my own roses, herbs and vegetables,” she says “As it is summer now, I have fresh roses in my bathroom, bedroom and dining room constantly, and share these with any visitor.” Her favourites? ‘My Granny’ with its small pink buds; ‘Just Joey’ is “so rewarding”; ‘Duftwolke’ has “a wonderful colour and a deep scent”; and ‘L’aimant’ is so beautiful and soft.

As a first-time visitor to South Africa in this very first garden on our 2-week tour hosted by Donna Dawson, I was impressed with the incredible range of plants that could be grown here, from temperate roses and stone fruits to tropical palms, citrus trees and tender shrubs such as the lovely Queen’s wreath (Petrea volubilis ).

Later on our trip, we would feast our eyes on the indigenous plants of South Africa’s renowned fynbos ecosystem, but this garden exuded the gracious and friendly ambiance of a skillfully-designed landscape that embraces visitors with open arms. Thank you, Minky, for the warm introduction to a brand-new continent.

Janet Davis Explores Colour

In the garden & the world

Tag Archives: garden design

Bedazzled by Babylonstoren

The Wonderful, Whimsical Garden of Henk Scholtz

A Garden Jewel in Johannesburg

A Johannesburg Eden on Four Levels

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