Spring has settled in across the Cape, and on Sunday, 18 October, Garden Day gives everyone a reason to get outside and enjoy it. Now in its 11th year, the celebration is less about perfect lawns than time spent among plants, with this year’s theme, From Garden to Table, putting growing and sharing at the centre. You can mark the day in your own backyard, but the region offers plenty of company. Rondebosch hosts an orchid show beneath Devil’s Peak, a winelands farm teaches flower crown making with fynbos from its own garden, a Stellenbosch sculpture garden fills its paths with big cats, and Norval Foundation lays out its lawns for picnics.
Garden Day at Dylan Lewis Sculpture Garden
Artist Dylan Lewis opens his studio and seven-hectare sculpture garden on the slopes above Stellenbosch for Garden Day. Guests can wander the paths at their own pace or join a guided tour.
A flower crown station is set up among the Dombeya rotundifolia trees, which are in brief and spectacular bloom at this time of year.
The garden began in 2009, when Lewis hired an excavator and started shaping the land himself. More than sixty sculptures now sit along marked paths among fynbos and other indigenous planting, drawing on the human form, big cats and shamanic figures.
Cost: R280 per adult | R160 pensioners and students. Book now via their website.
When: 18 October 2026 | 8.30am to 4pm | Guided tour at 10am
Where: Dylan Lewis Studio and Sculpture Garden, Paradyskloof Road, Stellenbosch
Cape Orchid Society Orchidelirium Spring Show
The Cape Orchid Society stages its spring show over a weekend, with members and private growers displaying their best specimens at close range. The name nods to orchidelirium, the Victorian craze that sent plant hunters into dangerous jungles in search of rare orchids.
Alongside the displays, specialist vendors sell orchids and companion plants and supply the pots, media and other items needed to keep them healthy at home. Society members and growers are on hand with advice, including on growing a Cape orchid garden.
A R20 raffle offers a collection of high-quality orchids as the prize. The show is one of the society’s two flagship annual events and runs for one weekend only.
Cost: Free
When: 18 & 19 October 2026 | Sat 9am to 4pm | Sun 9am to 3pm
Where: 6th Rondebosch Scout Group Hall, Chess Road, Rondebosch, Cape Town
Create Your Own Flower Crown at Babylonstoren
Babylonstoren’s flower team runs a Garden Day workshop in which participants build their own crown from fynbos and greenery picked in the farm’s garden. The sessions are presented by Gundula, Constance, and Andra and begin at the Farm Shop.
All flowers and materials are included, and juice is served. The farm suggests bringing friends, parents or children along, and the crowns range from classical laurel styles to looser, more whimsical designs.
Each session is limited to 16 places, so booking ahead is essential. The workshops sit within a wider Garden Day programme at the farm, which also includes chef-led dinners around the weekend of 16 to 18 October.
Cost: R750 per person. Book now via their website.
When: 13 & 15 October 2026 | 11am to 1pm
Where: Babylonstoren, Klapmuts-Simondium Road, Simondium, Western Cape
Garden Day Picnic with the Cape Horticultural Society
The Cape Horticultural Society hosts a relaxed all-day gathering at Wynberg Park for Garden Day, open to anyone who loves gardens. Visitors bring their own picnic, or a plate to share if they like, and are invited to wear a floral hat to join in.
The Society will also mark the occasion with a lasting contribution to the park. It is sponsoring new tree labels, which will help visitors learn more about the trees growing there.
The Cape Horticultural Society brings together experienced and amateur gardeners to share knowledge and promote biodiversity. It holds monthly meetings in Newlands and runs private garden visits and technical demonstrations through the year.
Cost: Free
When: 18 October 2026 | 9am to 4pm
Where: Wynberg Park, Trovato Link Road, Wynberg, Cape Town
Garden Day at Boschendal
Boschendal invites guests into its Werf Food Garden for a hands-on look at how a regenerative garden works. Set among abundant planting and seasonal produce beside the historic Werf, the experience is built around five educational stations.
The journey moves from waste to soil, soil to life, and seed to bloom, introducing the people, plants and natural processes that keep the garden thriving. Groups rotate between the stations during the morning, and each station sends guests home with a keepsake, so there are five in all.
The aim is to leave visitors with a fresh appreciation of what grows beneath their feet, along with ideas to try in their own gardens.
Cost: R600 per adult | R50 per child under 12. Book now via Quicket.
When: 18 October 2026 | 10am to 2pm
Where: Boschendal, Helshoogte Road, Pniel, Western Cape
Garden Day at Norval Foundation
Norval Foundation marks Garden Day with a full day of activities in its Sculpture Garden, with each ticket covering entry to both the garden and the museum’s current exhibitions. The programme includes flower crown workshops, face painting, a balloon artist, live music, creative workshops for children, food trucks and space for picnics.
The main performance is by Jungle Theatre, a Cape Town company that tells indigenous stories through music, dance and puppetry. Adult visitors can also take part in a complimentary tasting of three Simonsig wines.
Guests are encouraged to bring their own picnic blankets and spread out on the lawns around the sculptures. Children enter free, and members of the Foundation pay half the standard ticket price.
Cost: R250 | R125 Norval Foundation members | Kids enter free. Book now via Webtickets.
When: 18 October 2026 | 10am to 4pm
Where: Norval Foundation, 4 Steenberg Road, Tokai, Cape Town
Read More About Garden Day at Norval Foundation Here
Backyard Cafe x Velt Garden Day Flower Pressing Workshop
Backyard Cafe and Velt mark Garden Day’s 11th year with a flower pressing workshop that begins with a grounding meditation in a quiet space. Participants then forage from a selection of seasonal flowers and press their picks.
Each guest takes home an A5 Velt flower press and a booklet covering everything taught in the session. The workshop covers the history of flower pressing, how to prepare blooms, a step-by-step pressing guide and ideas for using the finished pieces.
Coffee, tea and snacks from Backyard Cafe are included, and a fynbos flower crown can be added at additional cost.
Cost: R1,300 per person | Optional fynbos flower crown R160 extra. Email [email protected] to book now.
When: 18 October 2026 | 10am to 12.30pm
Where: Backyard Cafe, 4 Sol Cohen Road, Cape Town
Spring Flower Workshop with Veld & Sea
Veld & Sea marks Garden Day with a multi-sensory workshop on edible flowers, held in its glasshouse and gardens on the Cape Peninsula. The day begins with wild herbal tea and a walk through the gardens, followed by a talk on a range of edible flowers and their culinary and medicinal uses.
Back in the glasshouse, guests make their own drinks at a rainbow botanical drinks station, using wild herbs, edible flowers and fynbos tinctures and syrups. A guided crown-making session follows, using flowers gathered on the walk together with the bunch each guest brings along.
A spring-inspired grazing table rounds off the experience. Each guest leaves with their crown, a floral gift and a PDF of edible flower notes and recipes. The price includes the crown, wild herbal teas, botanical drinks, grazing snacks and the notes. Veld & Sea was founded by forager Roushanna Gray and runs seasonal workshops through the year
Cost: R950 adults | R485 kids. Book now via Quicket.
When: 18 October 2026 | 11am to 2pm
Where: Veld & Sea, Good Hope Gardens Nursery, 7976 Plateau Road, Cape Point, Cape Town
BABYLONSTOREN X HORRELL & HORRELL: A Garden Day Collaboration dinner
Chef Schalk Vlok and the Horrell & Horrell team join forces at Babylonstoren for a one-night-only sit-down dinner. Their usual spontaneous style of cooking together gives way to a more considered menu, shaped around the ingredients that define both kitchens.
Produce from the Babylonstoren garden and farm takes centre stage, alongside carefully chosen seasonal ingredients. Each course reflects the chefs’ shared interest in honest flavours, thoughtful preparation and cooking with fire.
The evening opens with aperitifs and canapés before guests take their seats for a generous progression of dishes designed to be enjoyed around the table.
The dinner forms part of a wider Garden Day weekend at the farm, which also includes a Vlok and Horrell fire supper on Friday, 16 October.
Cost: R2,950 per person. Book now via their website.
When: 18 October 2026 | 5.30pm to 10pm
Where: Babylonstoren, Klapmuts-Simondium Road, Simondium, Western Cape
Garden Day Lunch at The Homestead
The Homestead opens its grounds for an annual Garden Day tradition, inviting friends and families to spend a relaxed day among the plants. Guests make their own flower crowns while live music plays, then sit down to a lunch built around spring ingredients.
The Homestead is an 1820s Cape Dutch heritage building surrounded by landscaped gardens, with a vegetable and herb garden that supplies the Food Fanatics kitchen. The venue hosts a handful of public pop-ups each year, and Garden Day is one of its most popular.
Cost: R595 adults | R295 kids U10. Book now via their website.
When: 18 October 2026 | 11am to 3pm
Where: The Homestead, 23 Constantia Main Road, Plumstead, Cape Town (entrance and parking in Bardia Road)
