South Africa’s golden flower genius, Leon Kluge, has done it again.
For the second year, in a row, he has brought home gold from the Royal Horticultural Society Chelsea Flower Show (RHS).
The show began on Tuesday, the 20th and will run until Saturday, the 24th May 2025.
Leon Kluge who is a landscape designer and botanist and Tristan Woudberg, an artist, led the construction of the Cape Floral Kingdom and the influences of the oceans.
Team South Africa, also has representatives from the Grootbos Foundation -Chris Lochner, Bulelani Bashe, Amy Williams and Shivula Khosa, who helped construct the winning masterpiece.
Kluge said “thank you to everyone involved in bringing the design to life and showcasing the wonders of the Cape Floral Kingdom. South African grown flowers and fynbos, cutting each of the approximate 25,000 stems between the team in order to get them into water. Even with tired bodies and hands, the energy is still high. We began some flower arraging on our mountain and started filling the canyon with water. Slowly but surely, the design turned into reality.”
Deal O’Neill, Municipal Manager of the Overstrand Municipality, said the show will be coming to home soil, in Stanford, from the 21st September 2025.
English royalty graced the event on Tuesday- the King, who is also a patron of the Royal Horticultural Society, and The Queen, along with The Duke of Edinburgh and The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester.
Picture: Grootbos Foundation