Add a touch of the exotic with South African plants

The Rainbow Nation is home to a diverse selection of plants, many of which – given the right care – will be surprisingly at home in UK gardens, says Louise Curley

- Louise Curley

WITH a varied climate and wide range of habitats, South Africa is home to an astonishing array of plants. Take the Cape Floral Region, which has been made a UNESCO World Heritage Site because of the incredible diversity and density of flora that are native to there and nowhere else. It includes Table Top Mountain, which has as many native plant species as the whole of the UK.

Incredible diversity

Distinct habitats include the fynbos, an area of scrubby shrubland unique to the country, with a climate like that around the Mediterranean. Here, plants such as leucadendron have evolved to cope with wildfires, which rejuvenate old specimens and trigger germination in some seeds. The semi-desert of Namaqualand, in the Northern Cape, is famous for its spectacular carpets of wildflowers. Plants like arctotis and gazania, which we grow as bedding, bloom en masse in spring after the winter rainy season. Meanwhile, in the east, the Drakensberg Mountains are a mixture of grassland and alpine habitat, characterized by extremes in temperature, high rainfall, and winter now where bulbs such as irises and gladioli thrive.

Hardy or more tender?

Here in the UK, adding South African plants will bring a touch of the unusual and exotic to a garden, whether it’s a whole border inspired by the country’s flora or just a couple of pots. Some, such as Osteospermum ‘Cannington Roy’, kniphofia, phygelius and a range of late flowering bulbs, are hardy enough to be grown in most British gardens; others are more tender, so while they are perennial in their homeland, you’ll need to treat them as bedding annuals here – or overwinter them somewhere frost-free.