If you’re a beginner like me, you’ll want to know what you can expect to see, where and when. This is where the fun begins. While it is virtually impossible to predict exactly when, where and what annuals will flower, it is possible to predict the areas most likely to play host to this floral spectacular.

Cape Floral Kingdom

One can’t write about the Cape Flower Season and not mention, quite proudly, that we happen to have one of the world’s most diverse floral kingdoms on our doorstep. The floral wealth of the Cape coastal belt, including the hillsides and mountains beyond, ranks among the wonders of the botanical world.

And with good reason; nowhere else will you find such a concentrated diversity of flowering plants. So special is this wonderland — which is just 90 000km² — that it has been classed as one of the world’s six Floral Kingdoms (botanical regions based on the number of endemic plant families, genera and species they support). The Cape Kingdom is by far the smallest of all, but it nevertheless enjoys equal status with the others, including that which encompasses North America, Europe and most of Asia.

• The Cape Floral Kingdom is home to nearly 9000 species.
• About 20 percent of the genera and 68 percent of the species are endemic to the region.
• Five entire families are unique to the area (the Penaeaceae, Grubbiaceae, Stilbaceae, Rorodulaceae and the Geissolomaceae.)
• The Cape Flora is made up of five different types of vegetation: fynbos, renosterveld, strandveld, succulent Karoo and forests.

Kirstenbosch

This world-famous, 530ha botanical garden which contains some 6000 plant species indigenous to South Africa, provides insight into what one can expect to see on a flower-hunting trip through the Western Cape.

While there are sections of the garden devoted to the different types of fynbos and succulents — not forgetting the amazing ancient cycads — the rest of Kirstenbosch remains mostly in its natural state. But if it’s fields of dazzling colour you’re after, the spring months from August to October serve up the best displays of spring flowering annuals.

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Published courtesy of CAPE etc magazine.

The Overberg

Hermanus isn’t all this area has to offer. Although less developed, the seaside villages of Rooiels, Pringle Bay, Betty’s Bay and Kleinmond have one up on the whale capital.

Blessed with remarkable variety, the western stretch from Gordon’s Bay to the Bot River and north to the Groenland mountain has been internationally recognised as the Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve (one of the world’s 330 areas registered by UNESCO under its Man and the Biosphere Programme), a testament to the stunning diversity and large number of flowering plants (1654 species), 150 of which are considered endemic.

Being South Africa’s first registered biosphere is a huge achievement for the proud locals who are understandably loyal and protective of this special area.

Well worth a visit is The Harold Porter National Botanic Garden in Betty’s Bay. Prominent are gladioli, watsonias, everlastings, the rare red disas and especially the ericas, of which more than 50 species are to be found within this 188ha area. The main flowering season is from October to February, when the remainder of the region puts on a beautiful show of fynbos proteas, ericas and the russet restios that carpet the damp lowlands. You’ll also find renosterveld on the richer shale soils of the rolling hills around Swellendam and Caledon and small forest patches near Swellendam and Genadendal.

The West Coast

Famous for its friendly folk and scrumptious seafare, pristine beaches, sunshine and tranquillity are the order of the day. Inland, the N7 takes you through the fertile Swartland region to the equally charming towns of Citrusdal and Clanwilliam on the banks of the Olifants River. Although the countryside is mostly farmed, the wild flowers put on a show equalled to their coastal counterparts.

Besides the fields of flowering spring annuals, this region contains roughly four different types of vegetation, mainly strandveld, sandveld, renosterveld and mountain fynbos. If you’re planning on exploring the coast, don’t be put off by the dry and dreary parts further up north. Winter rains ensure glorious viewing around the end of August, when the sea lavender decorates the dunes and more sandy stretches. Livingstone daisies bring dazzling colour to the roadsides, while beyond are carpets of wild cinerarias and large, white-petalled daisies, amongst others.

Around Lambert’s Bay the more arid countryside yields succulent-leafed vygies, and creeping along the sand are yellow and orange ‘helderkruipvygie’ (Jordaaniella dubia). Inland, the sandveld fynbos is also bright with annuals. The Tienie Versfeld reserve in Darling is also well worth a visit.

This 22ha area protects a fragment of granite soil that nurtures a host of species, most striking of which are bulb-like plants such as the multi-hued babianas and lachenalias; white, red and pink sundews; the evening flowers, or ‘aandblomme’, whose heady scent fills the air at dusk, and the lovely chincherinchees with sprays of creamy blooms that grow profusely in the area.

For more info...
• Visit West Coast Tourism.
• Stop in at the Darling Wildflower show.