Barrydale in Bloom ‘25 | #LetsBarrydale

Barrydale in Bloom is a journey into Barrydale’s free-spirited soul. It offers genuine smiles, open gates, unexpected stories, blooming colour, quirky creativity, and that unmistakable Klein Karoo magic that lingers long after you’ve left. This is the joy behind #LetsBarrydale — a village as whimsical and delightful as its open gardens.

---

Starting this blog with a Dr Seuss quote feels about right: “Did you ever fly a kite in bed? Did you ever walk with ten cats on your head? Did you ever milk this kind of cow? Well, we can do it. We know how. If you never did, you should. These things are fun, and fun is good.”

Doing something just because it’s fun sums up Barrydale beautifully.

So here’s my (much simpler) version: #LetsBarrydale.

No kites, no cats, no cows. Just the wonderful creativity and eccentricity that thrive in Barrydale. It’s playful, unexpected, a little whimsical… and absolutely worth experiencing!

It actually took me longer than usual to gather my thoughts about Barrydale in Bloom ‘25. Normally, I’m quick to write about events I've attended - capturing the sounds, sights, colours, and emotions while they’re still fresh and unfiltered. That’s been my rhythm with events such as the Montagu Herb Festival, the Montagu Art Meander, and other Klein Karoo happenings.

And although this wasn't my first visit to Barrydale, it was my first ‘Barrydale in Bloom’ experience, and it needed to sit with me a bit. It lingered, asking to be held a little longer before being translated into words. 

But truly, the sentiment applies whenever you find yourself in this Klein Karoo village. It has a way of getting under your skin in the best possible way. I left with that feeling you get after a really good story — the kind you want to tell properly, not rush through.

Maybe it’s the intangible energy that has settled in this Klein Karoo village—eclectic yet grounded. Whatever the reason, it’s taken me a week to articulate my experience on the page. 

What is ‘Barrydale in Bloom’? 

It’s an annual weekend celebrating the town’s gardens and the creativity of its people. On offer are open gardens, talks, workshops, and an artisanal market featuring local artists and makers, homemade lemonade, and a vegetarian harvest table. (But most important: All proceeds are in aid of the Barrydale Hospice Charity.)  

“They were all brilliant. They wrote books and painted pictures, and if they ever stopped talking—which I was sure they would never do—they planned to change the world.” -Gloria Whelan. 

This feels tailor-made for Barrydale.

There’s a wild yet gently free-spirited creativity winding its way through the streets. A kind of boho-hippy ease that pays little attention to schedules and instead moves with the soft, unhurried rhythm of a community that has made peace with its 'inner gypsy.'

It’s unmistakable. 

As an obvious visitor - without the flowing dresses, tie-dye apparel, and tattoos - I'm always made to feel welcome here. Warm smiles, effortless conversation, and the gift of ‘slow time’ make it wonderfully easy to exhale and settle into unrushed calm.

The ‘Barrydale in Bloom’ welcome

On arrival, we headed to the Karoolkie Cellar to buy our tickets. The once-off entry fee gave us access to all twenty open gardens and any of the featured talks over the weekend. 

We got a smile, a programme, a map, and a giant recycled plastic flower brooch that made me feel instantly more “Barrydale appropriate”.

The rest was up to us.

But first…coffee

For me, a trip to Barrydale begins with the ritual of a cappuccino and a croissant at the historic Karoo Art Hotel, where colonial charm meets Klein Karoo authenticity and quirkiness. 

It's one of my happy places. 

There’s something about the space that makes me want to pull out a leather-bound journal and scribble things down —anything, everything.

That’s the Barrydale effect. 

It nudges you toward creativity, invites you to be present, and reminds you that a slower, organic way of being still exists.

The open gardens

With coffee in hand, I skimmed the programme of talks and open gardens, plotting a rough route because we only had the morning. (A crucial Saturday afternoon rugby match loomed, and I did not want to get a permanent red card, so some strategy was required.)

But Barrydale laughs at schedules.

This isn’t Open Gardens Joburg with manicured routes. Here, participating residents simply open their gates and welcome whoever wanders in. 

Some homeowners chatted. Some left you to meander. Either way, the gardens decided the pace.

And truly, you can’t rush it. 

My long ‘to-do’ list quickly surrendered to the Barrydale way: slow down, go with the flow, and let the gardens lead me where they wanted me to go.

“I believe a really good way to understand a culture is by its gardens.” -Monty Don in the BBC series ‘Around the World in 80 Gardens’

Garden #1 | The orchard, the propagator, the storyteller

At first glance, this indigenous garden seemed… unassuming. Underwhelming, even. 

But then we met Jonathan — passionate owner-gardener, self-taught propagator, lover of fruit trees, and natural storyteller. 

And that’s the first lesson of Barrydale: ‘Never judge a book by its cover.’

We happened to be his first visitors of the day, so he gave us a personalised, private tour. Every sapling, graft, and flourishing branch reflected Jonathan and Louise’s patience, dedication, and green-fingered grit.

Halfway through, the official vintage photographers arrived, and that’s when Jonathan shared a story that stopped time for a moment: The woman in the red coat at Westminster Abbey.

Years ago, while living in the UK, Jonathan wandered into Westminster Abbey on Remembrance Sunday. A lone woman in a red coat sat in a pew with a single shaft of stained-glass sunlight falling across her, turning the moment almost sacred.  Jonathan snapped an ‘illegal’ photograph. 

Caught by an official and about to have his film confiscated, Jonathan was unexpectedly rescued by the woman herself, who invited him to sit with her for a while. As he listened to the woman in the red coat’s story - whose husband had died in the war - she asked him to please send her the photograph.

He did — with his handwritten name and address on the back.

And then, silence. For years.

Then one day, an envelope arrived with the photograph and a letter from her children. Their mother had passed away, they wrote, but that photo — Jonathan’s photo — had been her favourite.

He still has that photograph.

That’s Barrydale - slow down long enough, let the place work its magic, and the stories will find you.

Garden #2 | Roses, bonsai & a tortoise

Next was Sorgvry Guesthouse, and it could not have been more different from our first stop; a complete shift in mood, colour, and energy.

Pastel roses, soft scents, a tortoise minding its business, bonsai trees, and an offer of coffee and German cheesecake on the patio.

This was a “stay longer than planned” sort of place; A garden that invited you to exhale and linger.

Garden #3 | An English country garden

This was a dreamer’s garden - a garden of delight - overflowing with Victorian loveliness and nostalgia. Honeysuckle, Queen Ann’s Lace, clematis, Inca lilies, salvia, rambling roses, and lavender spilt over paths and filled every corner. 

It felt like stepping into an impressionist painting: the romantic and informal planting of flowers arranged not by rules but by instinct and joy.

We didn’t need the owner to welcome us; the garden itself seemed to nudge us forward with each turn of the path, revealing another vignette of botanical loveliness. 

You couldn’t rush through it — your feet naturally slowed, and you found yourself drinking in every detail. 

Garden #4 | The Magpie garden & Atelier

Behind an iconic recycled art studio was a garden that was exactly what it said on the can: wild, eclectic, and completely unconventional.

A little ‘secret garden’ gate opened into a world of shiny objects, discarded treasures, and upcycled oddities that had found new life among the plants. 

Everything felt collected rather than curated — bits and bobs scattered as though they’d simply floated to their rightful spot. Nothing matched, and yet everything belonged

It was an ode to the joyful disorder of nature, where creativity and chaos mingle freely.

I wouldn’t have been surprised to see a flower fairy dash behind a sculpture or a garden gnome wink from beneath a shrub.

This wasn’t a garden to analyse — it was one to experience, to smile at, and to delight you in unexpected ways.

Garden #5 | Labyrinth, rose mandala & quiet sanctuary

The Kamala Karoo Sanctuary was another world entirely.

A serene retreat garden and an unexpected oasis space created for mindfulness and stillness.

Shaded walkways and hidden nooks offered places for quiet reflection. And everywhere you looked, there was an exotic mix of plants that added texture, colour, and discovery.

Set on a 5,500-square-metre property, the scale of this garden's landscaped vision was instantly impressive. A labyrinth, a rose mandala - with its concentric, accessible pathways - and a spot where I “found my wings” gave the space both structure and soul.

Garden #6 | The ‘boho’ garden & a cat

Our last stop of the day — the Beauty Way Garden — came complete with a resident cat who decided to accompany me on my wanderings.

This garden, with its unapologetic rustic charm, organic pathways, curved shapes, glass greenhouse (grower of seeds and stories), mismatched seating, salvaged treasures, vibrant colours, a vintage wheelbarrow overflowing with flowers, and a teapot in a tree, was the epitome of bohemian, free-spirited living. 

Every corner felt lovingly improvised, as though the garden had grown itself in joyful, accidental layers.

And of course, there was a hammock. Every good boho garden needs one.

Six gardens, countless impressions

We managed to visit only six of the twenty gardens, but they gave us a behind-the-scenes glimpse into Barrydale’s platteland mystique, its creativity, and its generosity.

And now I know why it took me a week to write about it.

Dr Seuss was right: fun is good.

And that is exactly what Barrydale in Bloom is about. It’s a reminder to follow the road to a different place that makes you smile and where you’re bound to find stories, creativity, and whimsy. 

For me, that's #LetsBarrydale.

If you’ve never visited Barrydale in Bloom, consider this your nudge to experience the magic for yourself next year; flower brooch and all.

---

Written by Leanne Johnson