VERGELEGEN CAMELLIA GARDEN   

A dedicated team had worked together to ensure that the garden with its magnificent white, pink and red blooms received the accolade it deserved. The guest of honour was Camellia expert Jan van Bergen, who donated many of the Camellias to Vergelegen over the years, and who received the South African Nursery Association’s (SANA) highest accolade, a SANA Gold Medal, at their annual convention in May this year for service to both the horticultural industry and plant breeding in South Africa.

	Other horticultural experts who contributed towards this ICS recognition included Dr John Rourke, former head of the Compton Herbarium and a member of the Vergelegen Heritage Trust; recently retired Vergelegen horticulturist Erich Theron; and Keith Kirsten of Keith Kirsten Horticulture International.
Erich Theron, Hank Lith, Dr John Rourke, Sandy Ovenstone, Deon Bronkhorst, Jan van Bergen

The Camellia Gardens at Vergelegen include approximately 550 cultivars, from as far afield as Australia, New Zealand, France, Japan, America and South Africa.

There are two parts to the camellia gardens

The Barlow camellia plantings consist of classic, pre-1940s Camellia japonica cultivars, most of which are now large, mature shrubs of up to five metres in height. Most of these Camellias were planted by Cynthia Barlow after her family bought Vergelegen in June 1941 after the deaths of the previous owners, Sir Lionel and Lady Florence Phillips.

The Barlow family sold Vergelegen to the present owners, Anglo American, in 1987. The collection was established at Vergelegen from 1995 when ICS member and retired Camellia nurseryman van Bergen donated several plants of each of the cultivars he had imported into South Africa, as well as new selections that he himself had bred. More than 700 plants have been gifted to the estate to create a show Camellia Garden.

Young and mature Camellias have been added to Vergelegen over a period of 15 years from van Bergen’s Boskoop nursery in Pretoria. These have been nurtured and supplemented by horticulturist Erich Theron, who joined Vergelegen in 1989 after working with van Bergen in Pretoria for five years. The estate continues to receive new species from van Bergen and these will be planted in an ongoing process, says Vergelegen horticulturist Richard Arm.

Bea Rogers

The Estate has also appointed Michelle Soetzenberg in charge of the upkeep of the Camellia Gardens. She has worked in the estate gardens for 18 years and her father, Herman, was born on the farm.

Strict criteria To meet the ICS admission criteria, every camellia plant on the Estate is being given an identification label, and Vergelegen has invested in additional horticultural reference books to ensure that extensive information on Camellias is readily available. Management is also exploring establishing a GPS location point for every Camellia so that they can determine the variety even if the bush is not in bloom.

Guillio Nuccio

Three main areas

The Camellias have been planted in three main areas: at the bottom of the Great Lawn; near the Vergelegen Restaurant; and below an expanse of yellowwoods accessed by a swing bridge over the pristine Lourens River (the only South African river that is officially a Protected Natural Environment) that runs through the property.

Camellia Gardens of Excellence globally

	Vergelegen’s collection is the second Camellia Garden of Excellence recognised in the southern hemisphere. The first honour was bestowed in 2001 on Melbourne’s Royal Botanic Gardens, renowned for having the finest collection of plants in Australia from southern China, including 800 Camellias.
Anticipation {Wiliamsii hybrid camellia}

China has the Chinese Camellia Cultural Park in Jinhua City, Zhejiang Province (2005). The four Japanese gardens are Tsubakiyama Forest Park (2003), Goto Camellia Forest Park, Goto Island, near Nagasaki (2010), Ishibashi Cultural Center Camellia Garden, Kurume (2010) and Kurume City Camellia Garden (2010), both near Fukuoka.

The three UK gardens are the Antony Woodland Garden, Torpoint, Cornwall (2003), the Marwood Hill Gardens, near Barnstaple, Devon (2003) and Mount Edgcumbe Country Park and Gardens on the Rame Peninsula, south-east Cornwall (2003). Switzerland has the Locarno Camellia Park (2010), Germany the Kamelien Paradies in Wingst, Germany (2001) and Italy offers Villa Anelli, Lake Maggiore, (2010).

The four United States gardens are the Descanso Gardens, La Cañada, California (2001), Huntington Botanical Gardens, San Marino, California (2001), Massee Lane Garden, Fort Valley, Georgia (2001) and the Norfolk Botanical Gardens, Norfolk, Virginia (2001).

Best time to visit The gardens can be viewed from April - when the early variety of Camellia sasanqua appears - to August, when the other Camellias are at their best. There are many wonderful varieties and some of the most beautiful and rare include Francie L and Anticipation from New Zealand, Grace Albritton, Tiffany and Lasca Beauty from the USA, Laurian Brown from South Africa and Tama Electra from Japan.

Camellia expert Jan van Bergen enjoying Anticipation {Wiliamsii hybrid camellia}