West Meets East

IN SOUTH AFRICA (PART 1) Living in the western hemisphere has meant that we have gorgeous flora and fauna available all year. Up here in Montreal, Canada the winter does interfere somewhat with our growing season but thanks to places like California and Florida in the United States and countries like Ecuador, Columbia and of course the beautiful tropical islands of Trinidad and Barbados, we are able to get fresh flowers year all round.

I knew there were places on this vast earth that had seasons where they grew beautiful flowers all year and a few years ago I made promise to try and visit one each year.

My first trip was to beautiful South Africa where I visited the Botanical Gardens in Cape Town and found the most gorgeous protea flower.  We get them often in our shop but to see the “King” growing in his country was a real treat.  The national flower of South Africa is the protea and I know this simply because years ago my dad did many events for the Consulate here in Montreal.

I had the pleasure when in South Africa of staying with a great friend from Montreal.  I arrived at night and was exhausted from the long flight so had a nice glass of South African wine (another thing they do well) and hit the hay.  The next morning when I walked out onto her patio I saw not only the breathtaking view of the famous Table Mountain but the most spectacular garden………..calla lilies as large as my head, bottle brush bushes, scabiosa, proteas and the list goes on and on.  I immediately got a knife, cut some flowers and showed her how to have flowers in her home every day.

I don’t want to share this great adventure all at one time so stay tuned and I’ll get back to you with more great pictures and stories from beautiful South Africa, perhaps even a few of our incredible safari experiences.