The Rotary Club of Newlands welcomed Chelsea flower show winner, Leon Kluge who shared his heroic tale to enthusiastic guests on Monday October 7.

Over 100 guests assembled at the Western Province Cricket Club bowls clubhouse for a dinner to listen to Mr Kluge’s exploits in winning the top prize.

Mr Kluge,44, from Franschhoek who is a landscape architect by profession, says winning a participating in the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Chelsea Flower Show in London in May is like the “Olympics of flower shows.”

Mr Kluge is a veteran of taking part in flower shows, he says that he try to take part in at least 30 flower shows per year.

In this year’s Chelsea Flower Show , Mr Kluge who was supported by artist Tristan Woudberg and volunteers of a private local conservation reserve won gold for his display titled, “The Cape Floral Kingdom of South Africa,” where he won top spot for the categories of Best New Design and Best Exhibit.

He says it took a year to prepare this show, which involved selecting a variety of different protea flowers. Him and his team had to arrive in London two weeks before his flowers arrived. His flowers had to take the long journey travelling from Cape Town to Dubai and then to London. He also had to prepare a makeshift garden display using a clay design where his fynbos would be displayed to make a stunning aesthetic view for the judges.

“It is one of the highest awards to win in the flower industry, we are happy that we won it for South Africa,” he says. He also got to meet King Charles III after winning the big prize.

He says he was grateful to also be welcomed by the rotary club where he could share his story.

President of the Rotary Club of Newlands, Teresa Thomson says normally their club has meetings with guest speakers every second week with only their club members. “We realised how popular Leon would be so we invited the public to come see his talk,” she says.

Mr Kluge says his next goal is to participate in a flower show in Luxembourg later this year.

Leon Kluge speaks to guests about his flower show exploits.

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Chelsea flower show gold medalist receives warm reception by rotary club