PHOTOGRAPHY — GREG COX
WORDS — ROBYN ALEXANDER
Whether he’s designing a visionary garden or creating a generously gorgeous floral arrangement, plantsman and gardener Dané Erwee’s distinctive aesthetic combines boldness with beauty.
For as long as Dané Erwee can remember, his life has revolved around plants. Growing up on a vegetable farm means that plant knowledge has always been an integral part of Dané’s life, and his path from being a child who helped with the cuttings has led quite naturally onwards from being a young man studying landscape design at university to his emergence as one half of the game-changing floristry duo, OKASIE.
To ensure that they had the flora they needed to create distinctively dramatic floral arrangements, Dané and Chris acquired a property in Johannesdal, South Africa, on which they could “plant for the vase”, says Dané.
Dané and Chris acquired a property in Johannesdal on which they could “plant for the vase”, says Dané.
Located in Pniel, just on the Franschhoek side of the famously lovely Helshoogte pass, 1207 combines multiple
indoor event spaces with boutique accommodation, as well as featuring a variety of beautiful outdoor venues.
In the kitchen of one of the accommodation suites (left) branches from a Cape rough skinned lemon pop against a teal wall and a large dish holds freshly harvested granadillas. The pastel-coloured milk glass plates, vases and jugs on the shelves were all found at Cape Town’s Milnerton Flea Market.
Every corner has been carefully considered at Johannesdal 1207. Above, a recessed shelf painted in tranquil blue showcases a small, unsigned still life, as well as a bowl filled with glazed ceramic fruits and seed pods.
Dané says, that for him, creativity is all about “the mood that something radiates”.
Above, a spectacular arrangement of winter-flowering camellias in baskets intermixed with potted ferns, created by Dané, are at one end of the intimate Die Stoep (The Veranda) venue at Johannesdal 1207. Pictured right, this dramatic arrangement by Dané, featuring hydrangeas and trailing Amaranthus caudatus in multiple glass vessels and vases, is placed on a vintage table in Die Stoepkamer (The Reading Room) at Johannesdal 1207.
What is important in both garden design and floristry, Dané says, is that for him, creativity is all about “the mood that something radiates” – adding that at present, his taste is taking him “beyond balls of carnations towards something wild… the wilder the better”.
In the suite above, a simple boxed wooden headboard made from recycled planks and topped by a trio of small artworks sets off yellow quilted pillows and a bedspread beautifully. A tall Camellia sasanqua plant provides a romantic botanical touch.
Plants are present everywhere at Johannesdal 1207. In another suite (right) in the boutique accommodation section of the development, a vintage rattan bed is surrounded by the greenery provided by a selection of plants in classic terracotta pots. The plants include an aralia, a Ficus robusta and cattleya orchids; Dané is currently much interested in the aesthetic created by combining these – or other more lush and broad-leaved species.
Bold and unusual blooms are of particular interest to Dané. In short, whether he is crafting a bold floral arrangement or creating a new garden, it’s all about “finding the right plant combinations”, Dané says, in order to create new visions of beauty.
It’s all about “finding the right plant combinations”, Dané says, in order to create new visions of beauty.
A shaded corner of the garden (right) at Johannesdal 1207 includes a water feature made using an old urn, flanked by moonflower creepers and with an abundant creeping wire vine planted at its base. The latter is a twining and low-growing plant with delicate foliage that hails from Australia and New Zealand and makes an excellent, mat-forming ground cover in shady areas. It can also be grown as a container plant, both indoors and out.
Immersed in a bubble bath, you’ll be imagining yourself whisked away to a tropical island paradise in this suite’s bathroom. This spectacular botanical display – curated and styled by Dané – includes a sword or Boston fern, a Monstera deliciosa leaf, a kentia palm, a pencil cactus and a banana-like Strelitzia nicolai.
The wavy grass covering the rooftops makes it appear as if the ground as been ‘lifted’ above the footprint of the house, creating an almost subterranean quality in the interiors, and blending beautifully with the surrounding trees. It also doubles the size of the garden.
