The Kay Bergh Bulb House in the north-eastern corner of the conservatory, displays a wide selection of southern African indigenous bulbous plants and terrestrial orchids. The term 'bulbous' encompasses plants with subterranean storage organs like bulbs, corms, rhizomes, tubers and tuberoids. Visitors to the Bulb House will see some of the world's most beautiful bulbs and can experience the astonishing diversity of southern African bulbous plants. The Cape Floral Region alone contains the richest bulbous flora in the world. The vast majority of the species on display are endemic to the southern African subregion, i.e. they occur here and nowhere else in the world.

The display area consists of both a permanent or planted display and a changing container display. The planted display provides a permanent backdrop of interesting foliage and features a selection of mainly evergreen bulbous plants. The popular genus Clivia features strongly in this display, and includes all four Clivia species, as well as several forms of the beautiful yellow clivia, namely Clivia miniata var. citrina. The container display area is directly in front of the permanent display and features a huge variety of container-grown deciduous, bulbous plants. They are displayed in attractive terracotta pots when in flower.

The Kay Bergh Bulb House provides a fascinating year-round window onto the world of southern African bulbous plants. The display reaches its peak from mid-August to the end of September, with a stunning selection of Cape bulbs in flower. The material for both displays is obtained from the Kirstenbosch bulbous plants living collection, under the curatorship of our specialist bulb horticulturist Graham Duncan.

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