On Tuesday morning Barbie and I set off on a little road trip to go “plant hunting”. We were looking for slightly less common plants, specifically ornamental and unusual grasses which Barbie plans to make a feature of in her garden. Two weeks ago when I attended the Rare Plant Fair in Stellenbosch I bought a beautiful grass from Fairholme Nursery who were in attendance. The grass is Panicum Virgatum “Shenandoah”, and after looking around locally and not finding it, we learnt that Fairholme Nursery specialises in perennials, grasses and lavenders. So off we set to go and find Fairholme Nursery in Elgin.
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So first off I have to mention that if you plan to go there, you will need to call them first and get proper directions! They are not easy to find, there is no signage and no big board welcoming you to Fairholme, in fact they are tucked away off any major route and unless you know exactly where they are, you will not find them. The reason is that they are in fact not a mainstream nursery but a wholesale nursery. They only sell to landscapers and retail nurseries, not to two newbie-gardening-idiots who decide to trek all the way to Elgin on a whim and come knocking at their doors. But in typical friendly country-style we were warmly greeted and an exception made as we had come all the way from Cape Town, but not before being told that “next time” we need to buy a minimum of 30 plants if we want to visit (or visit on the annual “Open Day” in October, when the general public are able to visit the nursery).
No problem, Barbie had a “grass shopping list” not quite a mile long but she managed to find all the grasses on her list and we left with about 20 good size plants and what promises to become a beautiful grass garden! How we got them all into the car I don’t quite know, but we managed and all the beautiful grasses are now sitting on Barbie’s front porch, waiting to be planted. I can’t wait to see how it turns out!
A bit of feedback on Fairholme Nursery – It is huge! And really impressive! And the plants are beautiful! Their selection of grasses was fantastic, we were in “grass heaven” here. Attached to the nursery is the owners home which boasts a hugely impressive garden. (their garden is part of the Elgin Open Gardens Festival held annually). It is a large and many-faceted garden with a magnificent view, terraces, pergola walkway, woodland garden, grass garden and rose garden. I took a few photographs of the garden which you can see in the photo gallery below, but as we were in fact intruding on this day, I was hesitant to take too many. We will have to go back in October during the Elgin Open Gardens Festival and take more photographs to share with you of this simply magnificent garden.
Contact Details & Address:
Owners: Duncan & Liz Henderson
Address: 2 km from N2 along Viljoenshoop Road in Elgin / Grabouw, Cape Overberg, Western Cape.
Telephone: +27 (0)21 848-9738 or +27 (0)82 550-8703.
Photo Gallery on Flickr: