The Walk on Ludwigs Roses Farm
We might as well nickname Ludwig Mr Roses since he knows them so well, these flowers are an extension of him-self. We saw that on Reconciliation Day when a bunch of us braved the rain to walk and talk roses with Ludwig on his rose farm.
By: Letlhogonolo Ndhlovu
Armed with a hedge trimmer clipped to his belt, a cheerful personality and the will to teach; rose enthusiasts walked beside Ludwig listening intently and asking questions like, “What do you use for climber roses?” Followed by, “It is a difficult case because roses don’t cling- put a wire on a wall and when you get a stem like this (while pointing to a strong stem) tuck it under until you get another one.”
And so the morning walk went on like a conversation among friends, “Every rose started as a small little stem from the mother plants, we cut a thin slice then wrap the mother plant in plastic. There are a lot of colours on one stem, eventually one wins,” said Ludwig. So then how do we grow new roses? With a little laugh he says, “For new roses we call on the bees.”
“Roses are like your children, except with roses you select the good ones and chuck away the bad ones,” making everyone around him giggle. Everybody bent for a whiff of the sweet rose scents, which had romantic and funny names like Bella Rose, Mothers Valve and Kissing Ayoba. Other lucky roses are named after princesses and presidents like the People’s Princess and Madiba and one special rose named after a close friend, Madams. Ludwigs Roses farm receives roses from breeders around the world which remain unnamed.
When the rain seemed a little heavier, Ludwig led us to our last stop by the green house where we saw the thousands of growing rose stems and the beautiful Fuchsias. Visitors ended the walk with a taste of wine or maybe breakfast at the Spiced Coffee restaurant.
The smell of rain and flowers made this morning walk along muddy footpaths so much more relaxing; here are pictures of the walk with Ludwig: