Anyone who has spent a summer in Cape Town should really have paid a visit to Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. Whether you’re a fitness junkie who wants to tackle a mountain climb, entertaining laaities who have more energy in their left pinky than you can muster in a day or a fan of the Sunday sunset concerts, the Gardens are a Cape Town institution.

Those of you who pay some attention to detail will know the Gardens are busy celebrating their centenary and the highlight of the events is the Kirstenbosch Centenary Auction & Raffle, taking place this evening at the Old Mutual Conference Centre in the Gardens. What makes this event so special is that we will finally get to lay our eyes on the Kirstenbosch Crown Jewels Centenary Jewellery Collection, a ten-piece collection inspired by the flora and fauna of the Cape Floral Kingdom and created by seven award winning jewellers.

What do we need to know about these jewels and why does this auction have tongues wagging? Uwe Koetter, Platandia, Prins & Prins and Peter Gilder from Cape Town, Cari Mari and Kitri Devjee from Pretoria and Vijay Shah from Durban, were given a list of iconic plants to choose from for their designs. They all chose different subjects and were free to interpret them as they wished. The results are said to be breathtaking and people are preparing to loosen up the purse strings to do their bit for environmental conservation and education.

The purpose of the event is to kick-start a campaign to raise the R65 million required to expand and enhance environmental education over the next five years at South Africa’s ten national botanical gardens, using them as exciting, living outdoor classrooms for school children and university students from disadvantaged communities.

The event, taking place this evening, will see a variety of goodies up for auction. These include original art works by world-renowned botanical artists, stays at Singita game lodge in the Sabi Sand Game Reserve (pictured above) and a garden villa in the south of France, a wine tasting tour through Constantia and a garden design by South Africa’s leading garden designer. Raffle prizes include spa treatments, day tours to fascinating places in the Cape, sculpture, wine and some surprises. You can see the full catalogue HERE.

Canapés and complimentary wines will be served from 6PM when bid registration will also begin, with the auction and raffle taking place at 7:45PM. Let’s do our bit guys and girls, we have seen first-hand the devastation possible without any warning over the past week or so, now let’s show some love to one of the true gems of the Cape Floral Kingdom.

If you would like to receive an invitation to the event please email kbcrownjewels@gmail.com or call 082 491 0344, as attendance is by invite only.

Alternatively donations can be made to the following account:

Bank: ABSA Bank of South Africa

Account name: Smith Tabata Buchanan Boyes (Registered attorneys)

Branch: Claremont – code 632005

Trust A/c No: 403 570 4865

Ref: Your name/Kirstenbosch/WC030631 Swift code: absazajj