The Mediterranean climate of the Cape Region is ideal for growing wine grapes, such as these outside the town of Stellenbosch in the Western Cape. Image credit: Dfmalan
Human history in the Cape Region of South Africa dates back as much as 150,000 years, with evidence of active hunter-gatherer tribes in the region 21,000 years ago. Bushmen occupied the area until the seventeenth century, when European settlers arrived.
Although little or no agriculture was possible on the poor fynbos soils, the Dutch brought French Huguenot settlers in the late seventeenth century to produce wine grapes on the richer renosterveld soils. Many common garden bulbs, including gladiolus, watsonia, freesia, agapanthus, and calla lily, are native to this region.