A lifetime in the garden

Watching Rosemary Ladlau and Joseph Jobe chat in a mixture of Zulu and English, you get the feeling they do not really understand everything the other says, yet the meaning is 100% clear.

For the past 44 years, Jobe has helped the floral world celebrity create and look after her just over four hectare park of a garden in the heart of Simbithi Eco Estate.

While Jobe is creeping towards retirement age at 61, Ladlau is no spring chicken herself as an admirable 91 year old. Yet, the two silver-heads continue to share their love for all things green and merrily talk as they work in their beloved garden.

“We understand each other through the garden,” said Ladlau, who has been living in the original thatched roof farmhouse – which once was surrounded by their sugar cane lands – since 1947.
Together, they have turned the garden into an oasis nestled under the canopies of the ancient trees.

“Every morning, we go for a walk and decide on a new project for the day. I am always upgrading. Joseph has a very good eye and whatever he touches, grows. He really has green fingers.”

Jobe has also watched Rosemary create her famous flower arrangements over the years for which she was known world wide. She has been president of countless floral societies, including the World Association of Flower Arrangers. She even had a rose named after her – Rosemary Ladlau rose.

It was through her floral arrangements that Jobe discovered a new passion – the art of weaving baskets which he has been perfecting over the past five years. Using vines he finds in the garden, he shapes the baskets and then decorates them with colourful, plastic packets.

“I wanted to make something useful and nice. I like making colourful baskets, because it makes people happy,” said Jobe, who has a wife, Florence and five children of which his eldest son is a qualified plumber in Johannesburg and his daughter, Cindy is a school secretary.

An artist and author herself, Ladlau admired the skill shown by Jobe and said his baskets have become very popular among her friends and family. She has even started selling them for Jobe, as he is too modest to price them.

“The baskets are an extension of his artistic talent. I have them all over my home and we use them in the floral displays at the regular All Souls Anglican Church Flower Festivals.”

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