Bedford 
Country Gardens

SA's gardening calendar favourite. Explore open gardens in Bedford & surrounds, Eastern Cape.

Bedford, South Africa.
Where Country Charm Meets Vibrant Living

Tucked against the breathtaking Kaggaberg mountain, Bedford is a gem of the Eastern Cape, a place where life is lived with heart, humour, and a deep love for the land. Famous for our Bedford Country Gardens (held every October/November), weโ€™re known for fun-loving farmers, fabulous hospitality, and landscapes that stretch as far as the eye can see.

Here, historic charm meets wide-open spaces. Rolling grasslands and dramatic valleys - Mankazana, Cowie, and Baviaans River - are home to Angoras, Merinos, beef cattle, goats, and game.

Twenty Three Years of Springs Worth Celebrating in 2026

Now in its twenty-third year, the Bedford Country Gardens event has quietly become one of South Africa’s most beloved rural gatherings – and the 2026 edition promises to be the finest yet. Every spring, this historic Eastern Cape village trades its usual stillness for something altogether more colourful, as private gardens fling open their gates and Bedford does what it does best: welcome strangers like old friends.

This year’s event unfolds over two long weekends – 30 October to 1 Nov and 6 to 8 November 2026 – with approximately 16 private gardens open daily from 08:00 to 17:00. Four distinct routes wind through the area, each with its own character: the Town Route, Mountain Route, Cowie Valley Route and Heading West Route. If you’re weaving through heritage rose gardens on a village street or standing in a farm garden with the mountains at your back, each route offers a completely different version of Bedford’s remarkable landscape.

Entry is R30 per garden per person, payable in cash at the garden you’re visiting. For inquiries or tickets, contact Stacey Leigh Shaw directly on 083 874 7816.

Accommodation in Bedford can be booked in advance at www.bedford.co.za or hello@bedford.co.za and given how popular the festival has become, booking early is strongly advised.

The event has always been more than a garden tour, and 2026 is no exception. Highlights include Ernst Pringle’s Butterfly Talks, flower shopping at Floradella Flower Farm, and guided visits to the South African Heritage Rosarium and local Mill. Hope Street invites a leisurely browse through boutique shops, while Bedford’s restaurants and cafรฉs offer the kind of unhurried, flavourful meals that make you forget you had anywhere else to be.

For gardeners and garden club members, the event is a living reference book – planting combinations, heritage varieties, design ideas and the generous knowledge of passionate garden owners around every corner. For photographers, artists, nature lovers and anyone in need of a proper slow-travel escape, Bedford in spring is difficult to improve upon.

Full programme to be released in the beginning of October 2026.

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๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜† ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—•๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฑโ€™๐˜€ ๐—›๐—ฒ๐—น๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜€

Some flowers have roots that reach far beyond the garden they now call home.

Gilly Pringle, who lives at Fairholt Farm, shared the story of howย ๐—›๐—ฒ๐—น๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—•๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฑ -ย and it begins in England with her maternal grandfather, James Davies.

A passionate gardener, James divided his time between his family in Johannesburg and his daughter and her family in England. Later in life, he married a remarkable woman who was one of South Africaโ€™s first female architects. Together, they shared a love of gardening and became enthusiastic members of the Garden Club in Johannesburg.

During his time in England, James broughtย ๐—›๐—ฒ๐—น๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐˜€ ๐—ฏ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ธ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ฆ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜๐—ต ๐—”๐—ณ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ด๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—บ. Before long, his Hellebores had become sought-after plants, with gardeners writing to him from all over to request them.

And eventually, Gilly introduced them toย ๐—•๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฑ.

And that is how a little piece of English garden history found its way to the Eastern Cape. This is beautiful reminder that gardens, like stories, are often passed from one generation to the next.

Video Credit: Ruth Pringle @_theshearingshed 

๐Ÿฏ๐Ÿฌ ๐—ข๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ โ€“ ๐Ÿญ ๐—ก๐—ผ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ & ๐Ÿฒโ€“๐Ÿด ๐—ก๐—ผ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฒ

Gardens open daily:ย 08:00โ€“17:00

๐—ฅ๐Ÿฏ๐Ÿฌ ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ด๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€๐—ผ๐—ป -ย cash payable at each garden

For festival enquiries:ย ๐—ฆ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐˜† ๐—Ÿ๐—ฒ๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ต ๐—ฆ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜„ | ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿด๐Ÿฏ ๐Ÿด๐Ÿณ๐Ÿฐ ๐Ÿณ๐Ÿด๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฒ

#BedfordCountryGardens #BedfordEasternCape #GardenFestival #Hellebores

๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜† ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—•๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฑโ€™๐˜€ ๐—›๐—ฒ๐—น๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜€

Some flowers have roots that reach far beyond the garden they now call home.

Gilly Pringle, who lives at Fairholt Farm, shared the story of howย ๐—›๐—ฒ๐—น๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—•๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฑ -ย and it begins in England with her maternal grandfather, James Davies.

A passionate gardener, James divided his time between his family in Johannesburg and his daughter and her family in England. Later in life, he married a remarkable woman who was one of South Africaโ€™s first female architects. Together, they shared a love of gardening and became enthusiastic members of the Garden Club in Johannesburg.

During his time in England, James broughtย ๐—›๐—ฒ๐—น๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐˜€ ๐—ฏ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ธ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ฆ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜๐—ต ๐—”๐—ณ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ด๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—บ. Before long, his Hellebores had become sought-after plants, with gardeners writing to him from all over to request them.

And eventually, Gilly introduced them toย ๐—•๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฑ.

And that is how a little piece of English garden history found its way to the Eastern Cape. This is beautiful reminder that gardens, like stories, are often passed from one generation to the next.

Video Credit: Ruth Pringle @_theshearingshed

๐Ÿฏ๐Ÿฌ ๐—ข๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ โ€“ ๐Ÿญ ๐—ก๐—ผ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ & ๐Ÿฒโ€“๐Ÿด ๐—ก๐—ผ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฒ

Gardens open daily:ย 08:00โ€“17:00

๐—ฅ๐Ÿฏ๐Ÿฌ ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ด๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€๐—ผ๐—ป -ย cash payable at each garden

For festival enquiries:ย ๐—ฆ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐˜† ๐—Ÿ๐—ฒ๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ต ๐—ฆ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜„ | ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿด๐Ÿฏ ๐Ÿด๐Ÿณ๐Ÿฐ ๐Ÿณ๐Ÿด๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฒ

#BedfordCountryGardens #BedfordEasternCape #GardenFestival #Hellebores
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๐Ÿฐ๐Ÿฌ ๐——๐—ฎ๐˜†๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—š๐—ผ!

๐—™๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜๐˜† ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜†๐˜€. ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐˜€ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐˜๐˜„๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—•๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฑ ๐—–๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ป๐˜๐—ฟ๐˜† ๐—š๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜€.

The gardens are greening. The rain is falling. The preparations are well underway. Fifteen gardeners are tending, pruning, feeding and watching their spaces come alive for what promises to be the finest event yet.

We cannot wait to share it with you.

For the next forty days, we will be here - ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐˜€, ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ด๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜€ and building anticipation for what happens when spring and dedication collide. By the time 30 October arrives, you will know these gardens before you visit them. 

๐—•๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ธ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—บ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป. ๐— ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ธ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ๐˜€. ๐—ง๐—ฒ๐—น๐—น ๐˜€๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฒ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐—น๐—ผ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜ ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด.

The Bedford Country Gardens ๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜€ ๐Ÿฏ๐Ÿฌ ๐—ข๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐Ÿญ ๐—ก๐—ผ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ, ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐Ÿฒ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐Ÿด ๐—ก๐—ผ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ. Two weekends. Fifteen gardens. One season. Come and see what happens when a village opens its most beautiful spaces.

๐—™๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป, contact Stacey Leigh Shaw on 083 874 7816 orย hello@bedford.co.za. 

Visitย www.bedford.co.za.

Social Media Sponsored by @isuzusa 

#bedfordcountrygardens #isuzu #bedford #bedfordeasterncape #opengardenssa

๐Ÿฐ๐Ÿฌ ๐——๐—ฎ๐˜†๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—š๐—ผ!

๐—™๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜๐˜† ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜†๐˜€. ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐˜€ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐˜๐˜„๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—•๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฑ ๐—–๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ป๐˜๐—ฟ๐˜† ๐—š๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜€.

The gardens are greening. The rain is falling. The preparations are well underway. Fifteen gardeners are tending, pruning, feeding and watching their spaces come alive for what promises to be the finest event yet.

We cannot wait to share it with you.

For the next forty days, we will be here - ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐˜€, ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ด๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜€ and building anticipation for what happens when spring and dedication collide. By the time 30 October arrives, you will know these gardens before you visit them.

๐—•๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ธ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—บ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป. ๐— ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ธ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ๐˜€. ๐—ง๐—ฒ๐—น๐—น ๐˜€๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฒ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐—น๐—ผ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜ ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด.

The Bedford Country Gardens ๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜€ ๐Ÿฏ๐Ÿฌ ๐—ข๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐Ÿญ ๐—ก๐—ผ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ, ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐Ÿฒ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐Ÿด ๐—ก๐—ผ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ. Two weekends. Fifteen gardens. One season. Come and see what happens when a village opens its most beautiful spaces.

๐—™๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป, contact Stacey Leigh Shaw on 083 874 7816 orย hello@bedford.co.za.

Visitย www.bedford.co.za.

Social Media Sponsored by @isuzusa

#bedfordcountrygardens #isuzu #bedford #bedfordeasterncape #opengardenssa
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