On Friday 13 October 2023, a group of 20 girls from Luhlaza Secondary School enjoyed a flower-filled day with Iimbovane and the Stellenbosch University Botanical Garden (SUBG). The group’s visit formed part of the garden’s Flora Festival to celebrate the SUBG’s centenary year this year.

The aim of the day was to introduce the girls to the role of botanical gardens in the protection of plant diversity, education and recreation. The girls also met the Faculty of Science’s Student Recruitment Officer, Qaqamba Mlauli, who came for the morning to welcome the girls.

After a brief welcome by Senior Horticulturist, Wanga Ncise, the garden interns Nobuhle Hlophe and Amanda Mahlungu took turns to speak about what the garden had to offer. Nobuhle started off with an overview of their plant beds that represent the four threatened Cape Lowland biome, highlighting the threatened Polhilia species, which grows in Renosterveld, and is endemic to the Cape. as well as the Eastern Cape thicket, and savannah biomes. The tour continued to the ‘Plants and people’ section, where the girls could touch and smell a variety of medicinal and African crops. The girls were amazed to discovered three different species of Helichrysum  in the garden, also known as Impepho in isiXhosa.

Passing through the shaded subtropical forest, the girls could see first-hand how the spore patterns of from fern species differ from each other.

At the glass house, Amanda introduced the girls to succulents and the different parts of the world where they came from. She also showed them the majestic Welwitschia mirabilis plant which was planted in 1926 and still continues to grow to date.

It was then time to check out the SUBG’s Botanical Art Exhibit where the girls attended an inspirational talk by Karen Stewart, who introduced them to botanical art and its importance in the documentation of plant species in herbariums. The last stop of the tour was the cycad section where Amanda explained the magnitude of poaching of cycad species, especially in places where they originally occur to ensure their productivity.

After their garden experience, the girls went to campus where they tried own their hand at botanical sketching. Iimbovane team member, Londiwe Msomi, who is also an avid artist gave the girls some pointers and guidelines to get them going. Then each girl selected an object e.g., leaves, seedpods, flowers and even little bits of moss with their fruiting bodies, which they then had to sketch. The day ended with a display of the girls’ artwork – with some so good, it can be sold!

         A group of girls from Luhlaza Secondary School attempting botanical sketching