PREVIEW: Author to share wondorous tales of life in the garden
One of the most-beloved tourist attractions in the Lowveld today was merely an impractical pipe dream 50 years ago. But this is a story of a dream come true, and next year, the Lowveld National Botanical Garden will celebrate its 50th birthday.
To coincide with the jubilee celebrations in 2019, a new book by Elise Buitendag will be released on the first 12 years of the garden’s existence.
This coffee table book, Genesis of a Garden, includes not only some of Buitendag’s fondest memories of the garden, but also an assortment of her wonderful paintings.
As soon as the news of a future botanical garden in what was then Nelspruit became known, Buitendag volunteered to assist with the required surveys of the indigenous flora that she had come to love so dearly.
“Previously I had worked at the National Herbarium in Pretoria where I had only worked with dried specimens, so it was very interesting to see these plants in real life, in their natural habitat,” Buitendag remembers.
She accepted the position of honorary botanist and was there when it all started. In 1970 she was formally appointed as part- time botanical officer of the garden.
