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Bless this blommetjie.

Straight out of Hartebeespoort, this little-known South African flower has made it big in the UK, winning Plant of the Year at the Chelsea Flower Show.

The prestigious garden show, held every year for five days in May by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), features cutting-edge garden design, breathtaking floral displays and innovative garden products, with some 168 000 visitors attending the show each year.

This year, the Agapanthus Black Jack, bred by De Wet Plant Breeders in Hartebeespoort, took the crowning glory. Andy de Wet (pictured above) and Quinton Bean began producing new Agapanthus in 1995 and this particular breed took 15 years – well finally, the Black Jack has been noticed.

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News24 notes that the dark-flowered plant with green stems beat 15 others shortlisted in the prestigious competition.

According to the RHS organisation, Patrick Fairweather of Fairweather’s Nursery in the UK had trialled the plant and said it was drought-tolerant and perfect for decorating balconies and small gardens.

He said: “Black Jack sets a new benchmark for dark-flowered agapanthus. The umbels are huge, rounded and densely packed, with up to 100 florets for an extended blooming season. Requiring some frost protection, it’s perfect for terraces, balconies and small gardens, and is low maintenance and drought-tolerant.”

Peter Freeman, new product development manager, said the company was “absolutely thrilled” per BBC:

“It’s the darkest of all the agapanthus, and what the breeders have been so clever at doing is creating darker flowers, creating bigger flowers, but also creating plants that send up more flower spikes,” said Mr Freeman.

De Wet Plant Breeders added that the plant was “disease resistant, stable, with no hidden flaws”.

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They also said that they were “over the moon” about the win.

“It’s amazing. It’s the culmination of many years of work with international recognition,” he said.

Bean reckons that there’s so much scope to improve the plant, though, since “historically, it’s been foreigners improving South African flowers”:

 “It’s about time South Africans make a South African plant famous,” he said.

Well, that time has come and we couldn’t be any more proud of a blommetjie.

[source:news24&bbc]