There are some who are born with the gift of a green thumb, and some who merely stumble upon it. But, once gardening has you in its soiled grip, drawing you into a lifelong infatuation with earthy aromas and assorted greenery, there is no relief. Constance Stuurman, seasoned gardener and flower artist at Babylonstoren, is one whose knack for nature stems from a line of extraordinary horticulturalists.
Renowned Babylonstoren gardener and flower artist, Constance Stuurman. EMBEDDED POST: Instagram/@gardendaysa
It was raining the day that Constance Stuurman arrived at Babylonstoren, more than a decade ago. The garden was young then – everything had been newly planted. The farm’s owner, Karen Roos, had only recently commissioned the French architect, Patrice Taravella, to plan the layout of – what would later become – an internationally acclaimed organic, historical garden.
Even in the pouring rain, Stuurman revelled in the beauty of the terrain. The soil was rich and red, the sappy greenery; glistening from the rain – the garden was kaleidoscopic. Textures and colour appeared in abundance.
Standing in the foreground of two brown gates, betwixt two fully blossomed Eureka lemon trees, Stuurman’s senses were going wild.
She could see the bigger picture.
“I smelled the Earth,” said Stuurman, in a gruff, lyrical tone. “I didn’t have to take an inch further – I got hooked by those two brown gates.”
There is a softness to her voice – and disarming humility. Satisfaction seems to radiate from the corners of her smile, as she considers the moments that led her to this garden.
Constance Stuurman, inherited her green thumb. She accredits her horticultural abilities and love of nature to her grandmother and great-grandmother, which she refers to as the two great icons in her life. PHOTO: Victoria O’Regan
Taking root
In the warm living-room of one of Babylonstoren’s guesthouses, the seasoned gardener and floral artist, Constance Stuurman, revealed the origins of her innate horticultural abilities. Outside, rain pelted down – reminiscent of the day that Stuurman arrived at the farm.
The pace of the conversation was brisk; the threshold for entry high. Stuurman’s eclectic personality filled the room.
She was born in the Groot Drakenstein Valley, but grew up in her grandmother’s home, in Elsies River. According to Stuurman, her grandmother had a large property, as was the case with many people in “the olden days”. It was in the safe curtilage of the garden, that her grandmother grew her vegetables.
“At the age of two, as I can recall still today, [my grandmother] put a shovel in my hand to make me get used to being in the soil and to the surroundings, and to the earth and what Mother Earth could provide,” she said.
Stuurman’s grandmother lived to the age of 113, and her great-grandmother, who also resided in Elsies River and helped foster her love for gardening, lived to 101. She describes them as the two great icons in her life.
“Many people ask me: “Did you go to horticultural school?” said Stuurman. “No, I didn’t,” she would reply.
My great-grandmother was the greatest horticulturalist I ever knew. ”
Stuurman began gardening at roughly two years old. According to her, she began learning the subtleties of plant care in the garden of her grandmother and some of her earliest memories from childhood are of watering the vegetables that grew in her yard. PHOTOS: Victoria O’Regan
Stuurman explains how, when she was younger, tending to her grandmother’s garden would make her feal calm and at peace. The mere act of mowing the law or trimming a hedge, she found to be therapeutic.
“I found myself finding peace in her garden. I just felt a calmness and peace of mind which told me [that] life was not as difficult as I might think,” she said.
Stuurman started learning the subtleties of plant care in the garden of her grandmother; some of her earliest memories from childhood are of watering the vegetables that grew in her yard. But it wasn’t until adulthood that her passion grew into practice and she learned the craft of gardening.
Despite learning the basics of gardening at an early age, Stuurman only returned to gardening at a much later stage, she said. Once she returned home to the Groot Drakenstein Valley at the age of 32, she took up the craft of gardening as a profession, according to Stuurman. PHOTO: Supplied/Genie Vittu
Growing pains
After passing matric with four distinctions, and going on to work in the food industry for several years, Stuurman moved away from the “hustle and bustle” of the city, back home to the Groot Drakenstein Valley, at the age of 32.
“There was a chase within me and I didn’t know what it was. But as soon as I actually ended up in the Valley, I knew where I was supposed to be exactly,” she said.
Once returning home, Stuurman began working at a nursery, where she stayed for nine years. She recalls how a flame that existed inside her became ignited, after she started working with the soil and being in nature.
Stuurman was nearing 40 when she met Gundula Deutschlander, Babylonstoren’s current master gardener. According to Stuurman, Deutschlander was collecting wild garlic for Babylonstoren’s new garden, from the company that Stuurman was working for at the time.
After four months of curiously watching Deutschlander arrive each week to collect the garlic, Stuurman plucked up the courage to ask her: “What are you doing with this?”
Deutschlander explained to Stuurman that she was involved in the creation of an organic, historical garden at Babylonstoren farmstead, said Stuurman. But, according to Stuurman, while she had been observing Deutschlander’s “weird” routine, Deutschlander had also been watching and noticing her skills.
According to Gondula Deutschlander, master gardener at Babylonstoren, Stuurman was one of the first people Babylonstoren recruited.
“I used to buy plants from her,” said Deutschlander. “And, while I was buying, there was a trade fair with plants and garden equipment, and she appeared there as a representative of the company she was working for, and was wearing a pinstripe suit.”
Deutschlander ginned at this mental image. According to her, she had previously only seen Stuurman in wellington boots and an apron. “It was just like seeing a whole other persona of hers. I could see she was multitalented – she had the practical abilities to get down and do the dirty work, which gardening is, but she also had an energy,” said Deutschlander.
Constance Stuurman is multitalented when it comes to working with nature, according Gundula Deutschlander, master gardener at Babylonstoren. “She has an incredible style…[Stuurman] has a way of making something out of nothing – whether its in shop decoration or wedding venues,” says Deutschlander. EMBEDDED POST: Instagram/@Babylonstoren
Stuurman’s ‘retirement village‘
It was Deutschlander who picked Stuurman up and drove her to Babylonstoren that day in the rain. According to Stuurman, she did not need time to deliberate Deutschlander’s job offer to come work at Babylonstoren. Her only concern, was her age. She considered that the company might be looking for young people, and may not want to hire a 40-year-old.
“That’s what I thought then,” she said with a grin. “And, everybody thought I was 20, because I had the energy of a 20-year-old. They said ‘you can’t be 40!’”
To which, Stuurman said with the spoken equivalent of a wink: “Black don’t crack”.
Two weeks later, Stuurman was working the garden of Babylonstoren, she said.
“This is my retirement village – I’m going nowhere,” said Stuurman. “Here, I link myself to Mother Nature. Always…always. That’s me.”
You call Mother Nature, you call me.”
According to Stuurman, every day is different in the garden. As gardener and floral artist, Stuurman is also involved in creating all of Babylonstoren’s decorations.
“She does our décor,” said Liande Hamilton, an assistant at Babylonstoren’s farm shop. “She brings in fresh flowers – that’s her job in the farm shop.”
According to Marisa Fockema, media and communications manager at Babylonstoren, Stuurman’s creative talent knows no boundaries. “[Stuurman] always has time for a good conversation and is generous in sharing her knowledge of the garden and [her] plant-based decorative styles.”
Constance Stuurman’s creative talent is boundless, according to Marisa Fockema, media and communications manager at Babylonstoren. “She conjures up the most beautiful floral art – from Tussie Mussies (that smell divine and look exquisite) – to festive flower crowns and beautiful bouquets,” says Fockema. EMBEDDED POST: Instagram/@babylonstoren
When asked what her favourite thing about gardening is, Stuurman’s face turns expressionless. She pauses, and allows for the sound of the heavy rain to fill the silence. It makes you wonder whether you perhaps offended her with your remark.
“There can’t be favourites,” she said, in a tone that signified that the matter was not up for debate. “There can’t be. The garden is so versatile. All those different facets of the garden, different spaces, different shapes – they all mean something for each [person] at times in their lives.”