Garden Day is an annual day of celebration by all South Africans in honour of gardens and green spaces. It’s a day to celebrate hard work and the joy gardens bring to communities and lives with a fun garden party.
Flower crowns, fruit and foliage: Friends of Garden Day celebrate in style!
“All my fondest childhood memories are about finding freedom in the outdoors. I could go barefoot, get dirty and it felt like nature would hold me,” said Dr Anesu Mbizvo.
“Garden Day is a reminder of how lucky we are to have a garden or a little pocket of nature to ourselves,” she added, who is looking forward to setting a harvest table in the garden and inviting her gran for a long, lazy lunch outdoors.
“Gardening shakes us up and calms us down. It grows patience, encourages us to fully observe and each time one plants something, it feels like a pronouncement of faith in the future. Gardens connect us to the natural world and inspire us to care for the ground and the lives that grow from it. No one knows this better than our green-fingered, Friends of Garden Day who collectively agree that our environment is critical to our well-being.”
Corli Leonard, also known as Veldmeisie, is an industrial engineer, now turned floral designer. Nature had been a constant source of inspiration for Corli and growing up on a farm she felt at home with life in tune with the rhythms of the landscape.
For Corli, Garden Day is about gratitude and allowing oneself the time to enjoy the garden and being outdoors. She is celebrating with close friends.
“Gardens in every shape, form and size have the potential to bring us together, which is why we call on all plant people to put on a flower crown and join the movement by hosting a Garden Day party in their gardens or green spaces on Sunday, October 20. Anything [and everything!] goes, from a lavish lunch on the lawn to platters on the patio with your pot plants or tea for two under your favourite tree.
“Garden Day is a celebration for garden enthusiasts and plant lovers. It’s perfect for those who enjoy inviting others into their gardens and green spaces, as well as for anyone who loves entertaining and spending time with family and friends. Draw up your guest list, invite your besties and channel your inner hostess for a celebration in the garden!”
Avid gardener and plantsman, Pietman Diener is all about the life-long joy plants and gardens bring to our lives. He openly admits to his home garden being a happy jumble.
“At home, I’m not a neat gardener, I love a frothy mix,” he laughed adding it’s not about it looking perfect.
Pietman intends to celebrate Garden Day in his garden at home with the special people in his life.
“Garden Day is an extension of my love of gardening and life is too short not to do what you love,” he says.
“On Garden Day we will eat from the garden!” he said.
After a bumper quince crop, that includes syrupy homemade preserves as well as homegrown, fresh garden salad, asparagus, beans… and flowers.
“Flowers from the garden are very important in our house – and to share with our family and friends,” he added.
Blossoming together: Cultivating joy through community gardening
When it comes to community gardens, the studies show how a shared neighbourhood garden elevates residents’ pride in their area, fosters human connection and ignites a sense of community.
Agri-entrepreneur and Friend of Garden Day, Ncumisa Mkabile’s journey from modest backyard grower to sell-out urban farmer plans to host a community tea party on her farm, showing her commitment to nurturing growth, both in crops and communities.
Upliftment agent and founder of Groa (Grow a Garden), Codi Marais, also nourishes communities by promoting sustainable and regenerative living. Groa provides practical planting skills and is passionate about promoting food security in vulnerable communities. Codi celebrates Garden Day by continuing his grandmother’s legacy, grateful for the botanically diverse country in which we live. He will be honouring the day by engaging in community outreach within Cape communities, driven by a vision to provide education and skills to the vulnerable, ‘ensuring a food secure, sustainable future,’ he says.
Ready, steady … go (or should we say grow!)
Your garden gathering could be anything from a sumptuous lunch or garden tea party to a picnic – or simply relaxing, feet up, under your favourite garden tree. Most importantly, don’t forget to wear a flower crown!
Here are 10 ways to celebrate on Garden Day:
• Invite the neighbours for a garden picnic party
• Have tea under a tree
• Convert your garden into an open-air cinema – set up a projector and a screen against a blank wall or a white sheet
• Have lunch in the veggie garden
• Throw a tea party with your besties
• Serve cake at your closest community garden
• Braai on the lawn
• Share platters on the patio
• Party with your house plants
• Host the Garden Day Olympics. Turn your garden into a playful arena for a day of friendly competition and outdoor fun with the kids
