Blooming Beautiful

Clanwilliam's annual wildflower show in its century-old Blomkerk pays tribute to the richness and diversity of the area's floral delights

- Ron Swilling

Clanwilliam is a rooibosgrowing area. But it has another distinction. Come springtime it is surrounded by a countryside blooming and brimming with Cape floral splendour.

Focusing on a 90-kilometre radius of the town, the Clanwilliam Wild Flower Show represents all the places that you may want to visit in flower season but can’t possibly fit into one journey, including the Strandveld, Sandveld, Nieuwoudtville, Succulent Karoo, Knersvlakte, Biedouw, Olifantsrivier Valley, and the Cederberg mountains. It’s a one-stop visit for flower exuberance, housed in the old church that has over the years become known as the Blomkerk.

The show is a labour of love, if ever there was one, and the women from the Wild Flower Society, the community of Clanwilliam and the surrounding farmers band together and prepare for it with gusto. From the largest quiver tree to the smallest kalkoentjie (Gladiolus alatus) lovingly placed in its tin of water, the impressive display pays tribute to the floral delights of a vast area and to the richness and diversity of our natural spring bounty.

“The flower show is part of Clanwilliam’s soul,” chairperson Alida Stone tells me. It was especially valued in 2017 after the worst drought in 100 years ravaged the area. I was fortunate to arrive for the 2018 show as two sluice gates of the Clanwilliam Dam were opened and water gushed into the river. 2017 was a sad year for Clanwilliam and the surrounding towns that depend on the visitors who flock to the area in flower season. “It was the first year that the show had to be cancelled, and it broke our hearts,” Alida says. “We chose ‘Rejuvenation’ as the theme for 2018 in February, with hope and with trust and with faith.” It was a good omen and the first rains brought relief and joy, and eventually the much-awaited flowers.