Gardeners across Port Alfred and Kenton opened their homes and showcased their gardens during the Port Alfred Garden Club’s Open Gardens event on Saturday October 14 and Sunday October 15. This year there were 10 gardens on show. Talk of the Town asked five of the gardeners to pose for a photograph at their favourite spot in their own garden and to talk a little bit about why they love it. Open Gardens has been around for a couple years but took a long break because of the COVID-19 pandemic, this Open Garden was the first one after the pandemic. “Over a hundred tickets were sold this year for the Open Garden, the support was tremendous. I was happy to see more men interested in gardening with their significant others” PA Garden Club Chairperson Delene Hawkins said. The PA Open Gardens will continue as usual every second year.
GREEN FINGERS: Pumeza Sizibane shows off her garden that she says is made up of items and plants that are no longer wanted by other people: everything seen in her garden has been built, painted and collected from dump sites, the roadside and some hand-me-downs. Sizibane also enjoys letting her creativity shine through her gardening: she has plenty of creative artistic pieces she has hand-made herself.
IN LOVING MEMORY: Linda Bekker shares that her favourite spot in her garden was her late husband Martin Bekker’s favourite place in their home. “I would find him here every morning sitting and watching the ocean, taking in the beautiful scenery,” Linda said. “I have grown to love it myself and spend time on this bench remembering him. I can also see the hotel from here.” From 8-12 November, the hotel will host the Royal St Andrews Hotel Amanzi Challenge water sport event: another legacy from Martin to the town of Port Alfred.
AFRICAN STYLE GARDEN: Jo-Anne Hillar and her husband Owen Hilliar have an African styled garden. They describe it as a self-sustaining landscape with all round indigenous planting combinations. Their favourite spot in their garden is this bench. “We may be retired but we are always traveling separately in different places of the world and when we get home we spend some quality time together on this bench overlooking the garden,” Jo-Anne said.
MY HAPPY PLACE: PA Garden Club Chairperson Delene Hawkins, describes her garden as a self sufficient garden that requires minimal to no time upkeep, “I haven’t watered my plants in two years and they are doing great” Delene says. After moving to Port Alfred from Gauteng Delene found it difficult gardening as she still had a “Gauteng gardening mindset” she called it, after a couple of years she realised she had to change her gardening regime to one that worked for coastal gardening and her garden flourished ever since.
