I am so enjoying my
Kirstenbosch: 100 years, then and now 2013 calendar which was compiled and designed by Alice Notten, Interpretive Officer at Kirstenbosch, for the Botanical Society and SANBI. January looks at the Kirstenbosch Koppie which was laid out and planted in 1915 and was originally called the Aloe Koppie. The "now" photo shows the Koppie as it is today - the photo taken in midsummer and so rich and textural you can almost smell the aromatic pelargoniums and buchus.
Not many aloes to be found there now as they just didn't like that position, and were moved to the Mathews Rockery after it was built in the 1920s. Today, the stone paths and rockeries remain essentially unchanged, and the Koppie is home to the Pelargonium Garden. The sun shelter was built during the most recent re-planting of the Koppie in 2008. The Arboretum in the background looks densely forested and cool - with the lower part of The Dell in the centre.
Taken from the same viewpoint as the modern photo - looking south - this old photo shows the position of the old nursery which was in use between 1913 and 1924 - the rectangular beds in the centre. (Photo: Elliott Collection.)
This view from the Koppie looking south-east, over the Main Lawn, was taken in 1917. You can see the old Curator's House (demolished in 1947) and the nursery workshed on the right, which today would be beside the Otter Pond if it were still there today. (Photo: Kirstenbosch Archives.)
Comments