Old Nectar in Stellenbosch is the perfect place to experience the springtime glories of an extremely  personal,  beautifully maintained  garden.

Stretching over four hectares in the Jonkershoek Valley, with a neoclassical gabled  manor house at its heart, the garden represents decades of foresight and hard work by one of South Africa’s most knowledgeable and passionate plantswomen, Una van der Spuy (1912-2012).

The farm had neither electricity nor indoor bathrooms when young Mrs van der Spuy moved in, in 1941. Mrs van der Spuy  initially grew vegetables and berries for the local market, then roses and shrubs, which were sold throughout the country as far north as  Malawi. The income was invested in the garden and outbuildings – there are now several renovated cottages available for long-term rental.

On our visit we parked under giant old oaks, then took a short stroll to view the beautiful neoclassical gables on the manor house. Mrs van der Spuy’s initial garden staff  were young Italian prisoners of war from the Abyssinian campaigns and as you stroll along you can spot multiple pillars that they built, now supporting long-established climbing creepers and roses.

The last of the winter-flowering camellias and clivias were still in bloom, and our view evolved into rhododendrons, azaleas, ferns, petrea and ornamental ponds. One of our first stops was to inhale the glorious scents of roses, planted in the 1940s.

This is a wonderful garden in which to learn more about trees, numbered from 1 to 160. You can check them against the list provided when you pay the entrance fee. Apart from the old oaks, and the newly evolving arboretum garden, each tree was planted by Mrs van der Spuy. There are South African perennials such as wild olive, Outeniqua yellowwood, forest elder and Cape chestnut, plus numerous arboreal examples from as far afield as central Japan, China, Western Europe, South and Central America, the Balkan Peninsula and Australia. We spotted the yellow scented flowers of an Australian frangipani, the purple blooms of a tulip magnolia from France, and a pink flowering cherry from East Asia. Seated on a bench beside a lovely Lombardy poplar, we heard a tap-tap-tap and I spotted a woodpecker for the first time.

This is not a static garden, as Mrs van der Spuy’s heritage continues with plantings of both trees, lilies and grasses in the arboretum, which has a lovely setting looking out to the Stellenbosch Mountain. The estate has just appointed well-known horticulturist Cherise Viljoen, a former senior manager at Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, as the Old Nectar general manager. One of her first duties was to oversee participation in the Open Garden of South Africa initiative from October 30-31 2021.

Find out more: The gardens are open year-round and entrance is R50/person, which includes a map of the garden and details of the various horticultural areas, plus a tree list. When we visited, there was an art and photography exhibition in the former wine cellar You can bring your own picnic and absorb the tranquillity of nature in peace at your leisure. See www.oldnectar.comImages ©Judy Bryant