With reference to Athina’s letter entitled “Need and shame” (Grocott’s Mail Tuesday, 2 March). Bots is the second oldest botanical gardens in the country and is a national monument of which Grahamstown can be proud.

It has been an oasis of green peace in the middle of the festival city for many decades. After a period of about twenty years during which itsadly became a no-go zone, the community has for the past  three years been able to benefit once again from its tranquillity.

This is thanks to an upgrading project funded by the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism through its Poverty Relief Programme, in collaboration with the National Botanical Institute and Rhodes University.

In October 2008, the Albany Horticulturaland Lilium Society (AHLS) successfully ran  their annual spring flower show in Bots, which resulted in the birth of the town’s newest festival.

The first Grahamstown Flower Festival took place in  November 2009 and was an unqualified success, offering a weekend of horticultural beauty and enjoyment in the area of Bots between the Lucas Avenue entrance and the Ornee Cottage.

At the end of the  weekend, the organisers were left with the wonderful feeling that Bots had been 'taken back' and could once again be enjoyed by the Grahamstown community.

The AHLS committee would like to invite Grahamstonians to join them at their next outing planned to take place in Bots on 20 March 2010 at 2.30pm,  entitled ‘Bots, Bauhinias and Brainteasers’.

Rhodes University Environment and Safety Officer, Nikki Köhly (also an AHLS member), will take us on a walking tour of Bots, during which we will participate in afun-filled and educational plant and tree identification quiz. The meeting point will be the Lucas Avenue entrance gate.

After the tour there’ll be time to enjoy a picnic tea under the trees, so do bring a hamper  and blanket along.All are welcome and there is no entry fee.

The 2010 Grahamstown Flower Festival will  gain take place in Bots on 23 and 24 October, and the festival organising committee is hard at work putting  together a stimulating and enjoyable programme of activities.

Horticultural and gardening enthusiasts  should  start preparing themselves for the garden and flower competitions, and there will again be a stimulating workshop programme. The garden stall component is set to grow and there will be even more  activities for the children than last year.

Watch www.grahamstownflowerfestival. co.za over the next few  months for more information. Let’s not be driven away from Bots again by unsavoury elements let’s stand  our ground and make full use of this haven that is our heritage.
Sharon Richner Convenor of Grahamstown Flower Festival and AHLS Chair