SABONET Botanic Gardens - Karoo Desert NBG, South Africa

Karoo Desert National Botanical Garden

The Breede River Valley is well-known to many visitors for its fine wines, fruit, and beautiful mountains. Not so well-known is the Karoo Desert National Botanical Garden in Worcester, capital of the Breede River Valley. It is probably one of the only truly indigenous South African succulent gardens and is one of only a handful of outdoor succulent gardens in the world. In August and September each year it becomes a magnificent carpet of colourful flowers. The garden is also the gateway to the floral delights of Namaqualand—and is only an hour’s drive from Cape Town.

History
The Karoo National Botanical Garden was originally established in 1921 on 20 morgen of land at Whitehill, near Matjiesfontein. It was known as the Logan Memorial Garden and Mr J. Archer, succulent lover and former stationmaster at Matjiesfontein, was the first curator; he was appointed on 1 January 1925. Unfortunately, owing to lack of water and the re-routing of the national road, the garden was eventually closed.

In late 1944, Professor Compton, then the Director of the National Botanic Gardens, decided to look for a more suitable location for the garden. Two sites were investigated—one near Robertson and the other just outside Worcester. The site chosen was 36 morgen of land just north of Worcester and the first curator, Mr J. Thudicum, was appointed in August 1945. He was responsible for laying out the roads and pathways, and for the planting out of many a railway truckload of plants from the old garden at Whitehill. Many of these plants, especially specimens of Aloe dichotoma (Kokerboom), still survive in the original area on a hillock to the right of the main entrance. Mr Thudicum watered all the plants with buckets suspended from a wooden shoulder harness or balanced on the handlebars of his trusty bicycle! Mr Thudicum was memorialised in the name of a showy yellow mesemb, Drosanthemum thudichumii.

Subsequently, Mr R.C. Littlewood was appointed as the Garden’s first horticulturist in 1957, serving with great dedication until his death in 1968. Drosanthemum littlewoodii is named in his honour. Mr Frank Stayner curated the Karoo Garden from 1959 until his retirement in July 1973. During this time, many buildings and plant houses were built and the irrigation systems (some still in use today) were installed. A monotypic succulent genus, Stayneria, was named after him.

Some 80 years after the garden’s inception, the name was officially changed to Karoo Desert National Botanical Garden, in keeping with other desert gardens throughout the world. The name emphasises that this garden cultivates and displays plants from an arid environment.

Living Plant Collections
Bruce Bayer, previously a technical assistant at the garden, was appointed as Curator in 1973 and really put the Karoo Desert Garden on the international succulent map. The scientific collections were increased, and local and international succulent taxonomists made use of the living specimens in the plant houses. Bruce Bayer is internationally known for his work on Haworthia, having published four books and numerous scientific publications on the subject. The floral displays in the garden were also extended, making the garden famous for its masses of colour in spring. Some plants named in honour of Bayer’s work include Tylecodon bayeri, Haworthia bayerii, and Anacampseros bayeriana.

The garden has approximately 2,000 species in the index collections. In total there are nearly 3,700 taxa under cultivation, of which 65% are succulents. This includes species in the index nursery, production nursery, garden, and estate. The garden’s main living plant collections comprise the following families:

Apocynaceae, Asclepiadaceae (now known as Apocynaceae), Aizoaceae, Amaryllidaceae, Asphodelaceae, Hyacinthaceae, Oxalidaceae, and Portulacaceae.

Karroid phytogeographic beds, introduced by Bruce Bayer, in front of the main administrative offices displaying various regions of the Karoo, have proved to be immensely popular with visitors. Here plants from karroid (semi-desert) habitats are grown in small beds, each representing its own unique phytogeographical area. To date, 30 karroid phytogeographic areas have been identified. This 1,160 m² area houses nearly 900 plant species. The garden is internationally known for collections of the following succulent genera:

Conophytum, Huernia, Avonia, Anacampseros, Gasteria, Haworthia, Gibbaeum, Lithops, Stapelia, and Tylecodon.

The succulent collections are cultivated and displayed in four glasshouses with a total area of 330 m². The garden also has extensive geophyte (bulb) collections, including: Brunsvigia, Haemanthus, Lachenalia, Ixia, Sparaxis, Strumaria, Boophane, and Crossyne.

The bulb collections are grown in raised beds, 1.5 m in height. Each plant has its own compartment, allowing the plants to develop fully. Some of the more shade-loving plants have a wooden slatted roof over the individual specimens, giving much-needed shade during the very hot summer. Compared to the cramped growth restrictions of a plastic pot, the raised beds work very well because the plants are grown under cooler conditions.