Gardeners World S52e13 07-06-19
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00Hello. Welcome to Gardener's World. I'm just tying in sweet peas in here. And you do need
00:21to just keep tying them up until the tendrils fully develop and then they will entwine themselves
00:27on whatever you use to support them. And at this time of year, there is a real sense
00:33of summer just rolling in off the back of spring. And here in the writing garden, we've
00:38still got some cow parsley and these wonderful alliums, great bobbles of white flowers, which
00:44the bees just love, and the silene. It is one of those plants that once it gets hold,
00:51which only takes about a year, it spreads like mad. But for the moment, I will forgive
00:56it all that for its sheer beauty and joy. On today's programme, Nick Bailey celebrates
01:08the blousy beauty of rhododendrons. They might be bold, they might be brash, but I reckon
01:15there's a rhododendron out there for all of us. Carol, Jo and Francis visit the RHS Chatsworth
01:23Flower Show to see the very best of the plants and gardens on display. And I've got a lot
01:30of planting to do. In the vegetable garden, I shall be putting out cabbages and climbing
01:34beans, and it's time to plant out the tender climbing annuals in the jaw garden. We've
01:54extended the orchard beds, so now they run right down towards the gate out to the fields.
02:01So the first stage when you're starting a border like this is to get your shrubs in,
02:07so they have room to grow and they will dominate the planting. I'm starting just with one very
02:13simple shrub, but one that I absolutely adore. It's the spindle. Now this is a variety called
02:23Red Cascade, which has a very distinctive pink fruit. I want to put one about there.
02:33I'm going to pop this up here. So a couple of shrubs as the backbone of the border.
02:43Now, this is regercia. And this is a classic case where you've got two plants that do not
02:52share the same growing conditions. A spindle, which likes good drainage, limestone, chalk,
02:59and then regercia that likes clay, even boggy conditions. But because I'm growing it down
03:05slightly lower, and because this floods, I can get away with it. This is actia. Incredible,
03:15dark burgundy stems. And then it's topped with a white flower. Two things you really do need
03:23to be aware of at this stage, which is that your perennials are likely to be bigger than the
03:28shrubs or certainly as big. And the second thing is have a look from every viewpoint.
03:34So if I pop that, say there, I've now got a clump and I think it's getting a little bit
03:41of structure, although it's very early days. Now, this barrel is full of rothsay revela,
03:48which is a marvellous burgundy coloured dahlia with white tips and flowers for months on end.
03:56And the point about this is it will be lifted in October. So it's temporary planting.
04:04And we can put this one here, and I think one down here.
04:11Finally, I have two trays of annuals. Annuals are a godsend. You can fill it up,
04:17you get a fairly instant display that will look good all summer. So certainly a tray or two of
04:24annuals are essential when you're starting a new border. Right, I'm going to start by getting the
04:30shrubs in. Now you can see it's slightly root bound and the answer is just to gently break
04:44the roots. Don't try and untangle them. By breaking them, what you'll do is stimulate regrowth.
04:52There we go. That will be fine.
05:00When you have a plant like a spindle that likes good drainage,
05:04you'll do no harm by planting it slightly proud of the soil because it may well settle.
05:12Firm it in well.
05:14It's lovely to get to planting at last, because this is the culmination
05:19of quite a long process. Getting it to the point where you can just start
05:22to get plants in the ground. And it'll then go on to take as long as it does.
05:29Now I'm sure that you are aware that yesterday was the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings
05:37in Normandy in 1944. And to mark the event, Gardner's World has an inspiring story.
05:51On the 6th of June 1944, Allied forces launched a sea, land and air invasion
05:59of German-occupied France in an operation that came to be known as D-Day.
06:06We heard about 96-year-old Dennis Davidson in Coventry, who served with the Royal Army
06:12Service Corps in Normandy. And he decided to create something special
06:18to commemorate the memory of his fallen comrades.
06:37What I see are the fields and the hedgerows of Normandy.
06:48This is creating something good from something evil.
06:54My name is Dennis Joseph Davidson.
07:10Well, the main photo is a very good-looking young man. Oh, it's me. 1944.
07:17I was in Normandy. I was with the Royal Army Service Corps.
07:24Attached to the 7th Armoured Brigade, which later involved in the heaviest fighting of the war.
07:36The Battle of Villiers-Brecage. This battle was fought in the upper lorches of Normandy.
07:45We lost 300 tanks one afternoon. 300 tanks.
07:54Boys, young soldiers, blown to pieces.
08:01I remember one morning, I saw some aircraft coming in. When I was lying on the ground,
08:10wondering whether a friend or enemy, I picked an apple up.
08:13And that apple seemed to symbolise something. The fallen apple.
08:22To me, it's the same as the Flanders poppy.
08:27The poppies grow in Flanders fields, so the apples grow in the Brecage in Normandy.
08:39We are in the Peace Orchard of Coventry, which I helped set up.
08:47There are about 230 apple trees here.
08:54This is better than I dared believe it would be. Absolutely wonderful.
09:02This is not a memorial garden, not in the least.
09:07It's to celebrate the lives of those young men, who gave their lives, who gave their all,
09:14so that we could live our life that we live today.
09:20A seed is sown, a tree grows, an apple falls, and so the cycle goes on.
09:28And so the cycle goes on.
09:33The children come from local schools and they play and they have fun,
09:37and exactly what I was hoping for.
09:46I'm certain that my friends would be well pleased with what we've created.
09:53This man in the photograph would say, I'm very proud of you.
10:09I do think that planting an orchard is one of the most creative and life-affirming things
10:15that anybody could ever do.
10:18Right, I'll turn the hose off.
10:22Push on.
10:32A few weeks ago, I thinned the seedlings in my seed bed.
10:37These are all brassicas of various sorts, and the red cabbage is now ready for transplanting.
10:46And when you're lifting them, ease them out with as much root as possible and a nice plug of soil.
10:52It's important that I quickly go and transplant these before the roots dry out.
11:10Before you plant any brassica, it's a good idea to add an inch or so of compost.
11:15It gives it a boost, because bearing in mind these are leafy crops,
11:18and if they just get a little bit of a push, they grow away strongly.
11:22If I plant one out like that, and I'm burying it quite deeply and firmly,
11:30really push them down in the ground.
11:36So if you want prized, large, round heads, give them a bit more room.
11:42If you just want a relatively small, delicious red cabbage, this will do fine.
11:52I need to give them a really good watering, and then make sure that they are protected.
12:04But other than that, they really don't need much attention at all.
12:15You don't like the hosepipe, do you old chap?
12:22Now, from brassicas to legumes.
12:31These are climbing beans, a variety called Eva that I sowed about six weeks ago,
12:36and now they are ready to put out.
12:38If you didn't do that, don't worry.
12:40You can sow beans directly now.
12:43Put a couple of beans at the base of each support,
12:46and then when they both germinate, remove the weaker of the two.
12:52So, you can gently tie these in, but the growing stems are very fragile at the moment.
13:08Better to have them a bit floppy initially, but not damaged.
13:11But other than that, all they've got to do is grow,
13:15and pods will develop in about two months' time.
13:23Now, although it's lovely to be back at Longmeadow,
13:26doing some real gardening, getting my hands dirty,
13:29the flower show season is still in full flow.
13:33And now it is the turn of RHS Chatsworth in Derbyshire, with its glorious backdrop.
13:40And Jo, Carol and Francis are exploring the very best of it.
13:52Hello and welcome to the beautiful Peak District,
13:55home to one of the most historic houses in England.
13:59And for a few days only, the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire
14:03transform their front garden into the RHS Chatsworth Flower Show.
14:14With 10 show gardens here, packed full of inspiration,
14:18you're spoilt for Chatsworth choice.
14:22We're also on the hunt for ideas that you can lift and, well,
14:30steal and use in your own garden.
14:34But first, Carol is unsurprisingly already in the floral marquee,
14:38surrounded by flowers.
14:40So what's caught her eye this year?
14:47Us gardeners are used to looking at most of our plants on the ground,
14:51but there are some plants that make us lift our eyes to the heaven.
14:55And this has to be the daddy of them all.
14:58It's Echium pinninana, and it's called blue steeple, very aptly.
15:04It's a member of the borage family, and as such,
15:07its blue flowers are absolute magnets for bees.
15:11It's always covered in them.
15:13When it's flowered, it'll die.
15:16But by then, it will have set so much seed
15:18and chucked it around here, there and everywhere.
15:21And in two or three years, with a bit of luck,
15:24you'll have a whole forest of these magnificent spikes.
15:36This has to be one of the most scrumptious, exotic climbers I've ever seen.
15:41It's Sissus discolor.
15:43It comes from East Africa, and you can tell by just one look
15:47that it's the sort of plant that twines itself around in a tropical jungle.
15:52It's a house plant.
15:53You can grow it in a conservatory or a greenhouse,
15:56but you must ensure that it's never, ever in direct sun,
16:00or these leaves will scorch.
16:02It's commonly known as Rex begonia,
16:05because immediately you see those leaves.
16:07That's the plant that they remind you of.
16:18Heucheras are not renowned for their stature,
16:21but here's one, Heuchera thomas,
16:23which is head and shoulders above the rest.
16:26It's probably the tallest flowering heuchera.
16:29It inherits this height from one of its parents, Heuchera cylindrica.
16:34I love these pale green flowers.
16:36They're a perfect foil for this mass of minty green leaves,
16:40each with dark markings.
16:43Growing up in the South,
16:44each with dark markings.
16:46Grow it in partial shade,
16:48where it'll really sparkle and light the place up.
17:03If you're after tall, stately plants in your beds and borders,
17:07then delphiniums have to be the ultimate.
17:10They are the go-to plants for height.
17:13These are all forms of Delphinium illartum,
17:16illartum meaning lifted up.
17:19It's the tallest of all the delphinium species,
17:22and these are all cultivars from that.
17:25Delphiniums are hungry plants,
17:27so make sure you add lots and lots of compost
17:30when you're planting them,
17:32and make sure too that the soil is reasonably well-drained.
17:35They don't like sitting around in soggy soil.
17:38You can use them as punctuation marks or focal points,
17:42or to make a glorious crescendo in your summer borders.
17:57I love a plant with a bit of height.
17:59This is Malabar spinach.
18:00It's a climbing spinach originating from Asia.
18:03You can eat every part of it,
18:05and it grows on anything.
18:07Just make sure it gets plenty of sunshine
18:09because it likes a little bit of heat.
18:12Now, every year, RHS Chatsworth selects one specialist nursery
18:15and crowns them Master Grower.
18:18This year, Heritage Fruit and Veg Growers Penard Plants
18:21have been given that accolade.
18:23Now, you might think being Heritage,
18:24you know exactly what to expect,
18:26but these guys are more exotic than you might think.
18:38I've got a great interest in edible plants.
18:43My grandfather and my father were very keen vegetable gardeners.
18:49We never had prepared vegetables in those days.
18:52Everything was fresh from the green grocer
18:55or they came off the allotment.
18:57And so I was looking for varieties that my father grew
19:00or my grandfather grew
19:02and really couldn't find the seed for them.
19:05And so in 2006, we started a range of Heritage and Heirloom seeds.
19:10The Heirloom bit really relates to perhaps local varieties,
19:14varieties that maybe have never been in really commercial cultivation.
19:18The Heritage varieties probably were commercial varieties at one time
19:26and have just dropped out of use or sale
19:28by some of the major seed companies.
19:30They are well tried, they are flavoursome,
19:34they grow well in a domestic situation,
19:38they produce a good crop,
19:40and unlike a lot of the hybrids,
19:42they crop over a long period of time.
19:44And that's why really that Heritage and Heirloom varieties
19:47are best suited to the home gardener.
19:54So the business itself, you could divide it into two halves.
19:57There's the plant business and there's the seed business.
20:02The number of packets we have probably amount to about 600 vegetables.
20:07Mike designs the packets for every single variety we sell.
20:12We started with the carrots and they all had carrots on them.
20:16And so we thought, well, it's a bit unusual.
20:18Everybody knows what a carrot is.
20:20So let's try something different.
20:21So I put rabbits on them.
20:27And it kind of went from there
20:27and then it just started snowballing on and on and on.
20:30I had no idea what to do with borage.
20:32So in the end, it's subtle.
20:37Yeah, a bit weird, but I try to make them jovial.
20:44I mean, black Russian tomatoes, one of my probably top 20, I think.
20:50I put lots of love into it.
20:52I spent hours giving it love.
20:54And then, of course, when we go to the shows, everybody loves it.
20:56That makes me feel love them even more.
21:01A lot of the seed is varieties of carrots, beetroot that people want to grow.
21:07But we're constantly looking for new, old varieties.
21:11So I am passionate about growing things that you wouldn't normally find in a UK garden,
21:18but are hardy and will grow in there,
21:20not just experimental things that might do it, might not.
21:24The most important thing is that they have outstanding flavour.
21:30Ugni Molinae.
21:31This has to be my favourite plant.
21:35It's just an amazing little small shrub, but it will give you the tastiest of fruits.
21:42Here's a larger plant that we've grown for two or three years.
21:47This plant has been around since Victorian times.
21:50This was actually Queen Victoria's favourite fruit.
21:53And I can really understand why she loved it so much.
21:58The fruit is just delicious.
22:00They look like little tiny gooseberries.
22:02When you're eating them, you perhaps think that they're going to taste like that.
22:06They don't.
22:07They're really sweet.
22:09They taste of alpine strawberries.
22:11Only the best alpine strawberries that you've ever tasted.
22:23So here we have one of my very favourite plants.
22:26This is the Szechuan pepper.
22:28For all of you that don't think you can grow pepper in this country,
22:32this is the plant for you.
22:33It's as tough as old boots,
22:35and it will produce you the most delicious peppercorns that you've ever tasted
22:40around September, October time.
22:42It'll go to six, seven, eight feet.
22:45The flowers, they're starting already.
22:47That's the promise of the pepper for later on in the season.
22:51Another unusual plant we grow here is tea.
22:55Just pick the tip, some boiling water over the top,
22:58and you've got a delicious cup of really fresh green tea.
23:03And when you can actually enjoy the produce that you've grown,
23:07then what a feeling.
23:09It is just the best feeling in the world.
23:11You can actually taste the freshness of the tea.
23:13And if you can't taste the freshness of the tea,
23:16you can taste the freshness of the tea.
23:18What a feeling.
23:19It is just the best feeling in the world.
23:24The other thing we specialize in is trained fruit.
23:28We try and keep trained fruit growing alive and well.
23:36We've got a white currant here.
23:38Most people think of trained fruit as espaliers or fans.
23:42Well, this is a yew cordon.
23:44It's shaped as a yew.
23:46And it won't grow any wider than this.
23:49And look at the amazing amount of fruit on here.
23:58This year, we're at Chatsworth.
24:00And we are very proud to be there this year
24:03because we have been awarded the RHS Master Grower,
24:06which for us is very important as somebody who grows edible plants.
24:11Here we're planting some pretty little pink strawberries.
24:14It's a variety called Just Add Cream.
24:17Because it's so sweet, all you need to do is just add cream.
24:21So hopefully, these will be ready for Chatsworth,
24:23complete with delicious fruits that we might even let people taste.
24:38Chris, the strawberries made it.
24:40Yes, we managed to get a few here and a few ripe fruit.
24:43Is it all right to try one?
24:44You can certainly try one, yes.
24:46Thank you very much.
24:51They're really good.
24:51It's really fresh tasting, isn't it?
24:53Yes, yes.
24:54As it says, Just Add Cream.
24:56Yeah, that's delicious.
24:58And there's a lot of interest here on your stand.
24:59Do you think people are getting more into that heritage seed?
25:03I think people really love the older varieties.
25:05They're beginning to realise that they were the varieties
25:07that their forefathers grew and that they've got real flavour.
25:11And actually, they were bred for the home gardener.
25:13And so they do really well in just the garden or the allotment.
25:16Are there any heirloom varieties that have eluded you?
25:20Over the years, yes.
25:21There's one thing, which is a Brussels sprout.
25:23Now, you are the love them or hate them.
25:25But the variety Peer Gynt, I sold in the 1970s.
25:30And I've never been able to find it since then.
25:33So we're really looking out.
25:35But I've searched the world and never found it.
25:37What's it like?
25:38It's a little dwarf variety.
25:39So it would cope with the Derbyshire wind.
25:42It's brilliant.
25:43Well, hopefully, someone might have it.
25:45That would be fantastic if we could find it again.
25:48Fingers crossed.
25:49Yes, indeed.
25:50Enjoy the rest of the show.
25:51Thank you.
26:01We're increasingly understanding just how important trees are
26:04for us and our environment.
26:06And from a design point of view,
26:08I think a garden always feels as if it's missing something
26:11if it doesn't have at least one tree.
26:13And they add plenty of height and structure.
26:16But we are scared of planting trees.
26:19We think they're going to get into the foundations of the house
26:21or they're just going to get too big for the space.
26:24But it's all about knowing what trees are plant and where to put it.
26:33Here at Chatsworth, there's about 100 specimen trees
26:36that create this temporary woodland.
26:39And one of them has caught my eye.
26:42An oak like this will grow for hundreds of years.
26:46And a mature oak can be host to up to 400 species of invertebrates.
26:52So fantastic for wildlife and biodiversity.
26:56But this one, I'm afraid it'll set you back about 7,500 pounds.
27:01And oh, did you want delivery with that?
27:03That could be a bit extra.
27:05But if you can't think big, as big as this, here's something else.
27:12Now, for a medium or medium-small-sized garden,
27:15this is much more appropriate.
27:18And this is a form of Cornus cusa.
27:20At the moment, it's covered in these apple green flowers.
27:25It's very of the moment.
27:26And what's nice about it is it's versatile.
27:28You can mix it in with pretty much any planting scheme
27:31and it will just work.
27:33And the flowers are, in fact, showy bracts.
27:35They're very long-lasting.
27:37And then these strawberry-like fruit take over,
27:40which the birds absolutely adore.
27:43Now, what I like about these plants is the structure of them as well.
27:46And here, they're growing a lovely little sweet pea through there
27:50to take over, prolong the season.
27:52And in the autumn, the colour this plant goes,
27:55a lovely burnt orange colour,
27:58which gets even better if your soil is slightly acidic.
28:02So that's a great choice for an average-sized garden.
28:10For a small garden, you can't go wrong with crab apples.
28:13They offer up so much and they never get too big.
28:16Now, this is a new one on me.
28:18This is called Malus peters red.
28:20And you can see it's got this lovely burgundy foliage.
28:23But before this, it has pink flowers
28:25and then it's followed by crab apple fruit
28:29in a deep red colour, which the birds adore.
28:32But what I particularly like is that it's a multi-stemmed form.
28:35It's not just a single tree.
28:37This will get to maybe four or five metres,
28:39but you can easily keep it smaller.
28:41And it'll also take some branches out
28:43and maybe lift some branches from lower down
28:45to keep a sort of really nice, loose, naturalistic shape.
28:49But one of these in your garden
28:50really will do so much throughout the year.
28:54This could be the one for you.
29:07My new best friend.
29:08And this little ginkgo proves that you don't actually need a garden
29:12to have a tree at all.
29:13You can grow it in a pot and put it out on, say, a balcony.
29:18It will stay restricted.
29:19This lovely little ginkgo will get to about three or four metres tall
29:22if it's grown in the ground.
29:24But growing in a pot will restrict it even further,
29:27in a way, bonsaiing this plant.
29:29And ginkgos go back 270 million years.
29:33They're prehistoric plants.
29:35And they've got fabulous scalloped leaves
29:38and then turn an amazing, buttery autumn colour
29:42and are tough as old boots too.
29:45But look at that.
29:47You can't have this one.
29:48This one's mine.
30:06This is the find-yourself-lost-in-the-moment garden.
30:10The whole thing's been created by volunteers at Derby College.
30:14It's supposed to emphasise, using this spiral motif,
30:19just how gardening draws you in.
30:21And also just how wonderful it is for your mental and physical health.
30:30And the planting emphasises that.
30:33It's almost ethereal.
30:34It's soft.
30:35It's romantic.
30:37And the use of plants and colour is just perfect.
30:40Here you've got this soft, steeper tenuissima.
30:44It's the most wafty of grasses.
30:46And spots of brilliant colour provided by this geom, totally tangerine.
30:52Lovely purple penstemons too.
30:55And if you come over here,
30:57you've got just the same sort of planting again.
31:01But here you've got additional plants.
31:03And some of them incredibly interesting.
31:05Things I haven't seen before.
31:07So this is Hallow Ragus, a little bronzy New Zealander.
31:12And here's Agastache.
31:14From Mexico.
31:15Brilliant bright orange flowers.
31:18If you go into this back corner,
31:20you're lost in this wonderful kind of wilderness.
31:22Tall grasses.
31:24Ami Gracelands.
31:25Estrantias.
31:26It's wild and beautiful.
31:31I think the whole garden is just superb.
31:35It really gives you that message.
31:37In fact, I could just sit down here and just enjoy the whole thing.
31:43Let it waft right over me.
31:45Trouble is, I might never get up.
32:01We all need a place to collect our thoughts and calm, busy minds.
32:04And I can't think of anywhere better than here in this wildlife garden.
32:12Now, the whole idea of this is to bring in as much varied wildlife as possible
32:16and provide habitat and food for that.
32:19And a really important component of that in any garden is water.
32:23Now, this has an enormous pond that will provide water for the whole garden.
32:28Now, this has an enormous pond that will provide places for insects,
32:32nymphs, dragonfly, larvae of different kinds,
32:35as well as frogs, amphibians.
32:37Newts will all live in this pond.
32:40And plus, it will provide drinking places and bathing places
32:44for birds and other wildlife too.
32:46Something this garden makes us think about is our lawns.
32:51Now, we love our lawns, and we're very used to seeing this monoculture of grass
32:55like this here.
32:57But here, they've also scraped up a huge section of it all over
33:00and filled it instead with wildflowers.
33:02Now, that will bring in all kinds of insects and pollinators
33:05and all sorts of other insects.
33:07And it's a really, really nice garden.
33:09And it's a really, really nice garden.
33:11And it's a really, really nice garden.
33:13Now, that will bring in all kinds of insects and pollinators.
33:17Or you could just do what they've done in other patches outside the fence
33:20and just not mow it for a bit, maybe a few months, maybe a year,
33:23or maybe even never at all,
33:25and see what wildlife comes to visit your garden.
33:44Now, of course, this garden is all about the plants.
33:47There are different kinds of plants here.
33:48There are trees, hedges, shrubs, and lots of nectar-rich herbaceous perennials.
33:54And they will all provide different things,
33:55some of them habitat, some of them food for wildlife.
33:59Now, with herbaceous perennials,
34:00it's a really good way of bringing colour into your garden.
34:03But also, it provides so much.
34:06There are succession plants.
34:07You'll have flowers all throughout the year.
34:09And then if you leave the seed heads on,
34:11that will give nesting material for birds in the winter and the autumn.
34:14But if you specifically want to target pollinators,
34:18think about a palette of colours on the spectrum of blues and purples.
34:22This garden is absolutely full of them.
34:24And it's also full of bees.
34:27There are lovely spires like the salvias, the foxgloves, and the lupitas.
34:31But also more classic shapes like the geranium and the irises.
34:34And you are guaranteed to have a buzz in your garden.
34:42There's always an opportunity to do a little bit of shopping here.
34:45And some fantastic plants in their absolute prime.
34:48That's a gorgeous iris, that.
34:51And it's also nice in flower.
34:53It would be autumn planted.
34:55And you can see exactly what you're going to get.
34:57But to get to this stage, a lot of work goes into the process.
35:00And we caught up with a specialist grower from Warrington
35:03as he prepared for the show.
35:11My name is Bert Blankens.
35:13And I've been in the bulb growing industry for the last 10 years.
35:17I was born in South Africa.
35:19I was brought up in the Netherlands, in Holland.
35:22I've always worked on farms, milking cows.
35:24And when I was 14, I also started working on the garden centre
35:29as a Saturday job up until I left Holland when I was 19.
35:35I always say we're a small nursery.
35:36But we grow a lot of things.
35:39I always say we're a small nursery.
35:40But we grow a lot of plants.
35:43This year, we had about 18,000 alliums in pots.
35:46So yes, we probably shift a few plants, yes.
35:53We're called Petricor bulb specialists.
35:55And I chose the name Petricor.
35:57It means the smell of the earth after a dry spell, after rain.
36:04This is where we store our bulbs this time of the year.
36:07We basically store them in the wind.
36:09We rotate the trays so we get fresh air from the bottom going up.
36:14Here we got our first allium subertii of the year.
36:18A lot of people always say, oh, we've had a very big flower,
36:21a massive flower last year.
36:23And this year, it's not come back at all,
36:26which is not unusual for a subertii.
36:29The reason why that is because it's grown originally from a seed.
36:32That seed will take five years to develop into a little bulb.
36:36And then it will take at least a couple of years
36:38before you actually see a little bit of a flower.
36:41It grows a big flower, and everybody's very happy.
36:44And then the following year, it doesn't come back.
36:46That is just the lifespan of a subertii.
36:50In general, these particular bulbs need very well-drained soil
36:54and, in general, light, sunny conditions.
36:58This is the Ornithogalum saundersii,
37:00or also called the black-eyed chinchirinchi,
37:02very popular as a cut flower.
37:04The flower as a cut flower probably lasts about three to four weeks.
37:09And when you grow it as a plant,
37:11the flower will last you two months, no problem.
37:14Very popular, very good lasting.
37:16It does need a little bit of care in the winter.
37:19We advise people to store it not just frost-free,
37:24but dry and at room temperature.
37:26If you keep it warm through the winter,
37:28it re-flowers a lot better the following year.
37:30We are pretty much busy all through the year.
37:33We do a lot of different shows and events every week.
37:37We have an exhibit at Chatsworth,
37:39and we have been there since that show started.
37:43This year, we're going to be taking the Allium bulbs.
37:46In plants, we probably got three or four varieties
37:49that we will still have in flower
37:51and in the right conditions for Chatsworth.
37:56This is a typical Allium bulb.
37:59This is a typical Allium, Allium basseter.
38:01And once the flower starts to grow,
38:03the leaves really go quite brown in this variety.
38:06So what we do, we cut the tips off
38:08to make the plant a bit more presentable.
38:10Even though there's nothing wrong with the plant,
38:12it just doesn't look very nice on the stand.
38:14So we tend to clean them up,
38:16and they look a lot better that way.
38:18We will also still have some Scala pruviana,
38:21white and blue at Chatsworth as well.
38:23That's always a very popular one.
38:25It's a nice, short plant, very hardy.
38:29The color is beautiful on the blue one,
38:31and it's always a very attractive plant.
38:34We've also got some agapanthus
38:35that are probably going to be ready
38:37for the show garden at Chatsworth.
38:39For the rest, we rely a little bit on cut flowers
38:43to add a little bit of color to the show garden.
38:48Planting depths in general,
38:50rule is two to three times the depth of the bulb.
38:53So that means if I've got a big bulb like this,
38:55eucomus, I would go at least double the depth.
38:59Certain bulbs, like an allium,
39:00we always advise to plant a lot deeper.
39:03That way they'll also stand up to the wind.
39:14This is an allium red mohican,
39:15also a very popular variety.
39:18When the flower is out, it's a lovely red color,
39:21and it's got a little tuft on the top.
39:23Hence, it's called red mohican.
39:25It's very much curled
39:27when it first starts to grow as a flower,
39:29and by the time it's starting to open,
39:32it's sort of straightened itself out,
39:34which is a lovely feature of that as well.
39:38Some of the varieties that we grow,
39:40people say, okay, well,
39:41I've got very heavy, wet soil in the winter.
39:43Alliums don't seem to be doing so well,
39:45which is correct.
39:46They don't want to be swimming in water in the winter.
39:49They need just well-drained soil.
39:51And they say, can we then grow them in pots?
39:54And I prefer to see them in the open ground,
39:57but yes, you can grow in pots,
39:58but make sure that if you pot them up,
40:00that you use a good-sized pot,
40:02because what happens with most alliums,
40:04they, after they finish flowering,
40:06the bulb divide itself,
40:08and for those bulbs to grow into mature, big bulbs,
40:11the roots need space to grow.
40:12And as long as the roots have space to grow,
40:14those bulbs will then grow into bigger bulbs.
40:21You know, people say,
40:22how can you enjoy potting up 15,000 bulbs?
40:26For me, it's a meditation.
40:28It's being there, planting,
40:30seeing them root,
40:32which is always a very important thing.
40:33I'm forever looking under my pots
40:35to see if I see any roots,
40:36because as a bulb, you know,
40:38once you see the roots coming through the pot,
40:39you know you've got a good, healthy bulb inside that pot,
40:43and then putting them outside and seeing them grow,
40:47and then developing a flower.
40:49It's just a lovely process.
41:01Bert, it's always nice to see you,
41:03obviously a very passionate grower,
41:05and you know, you love your plants.
41:07We do.
41:07But one question I want to ask is,
41:09you know, you're selling bulbs now.
41:11Most people plant alliums in the autumn.
41:13Is it okay to plant them now?
41:15It's absolutely fine to plant them now.
41:18We always say you store your bulbs,
41:20store them in the natural environment
41:21rather than in your cupboard.
41:23And the natural environment is?
41:24In the ground.
41:25Okay.
41:25So yes, you can plant them now.
41:27And once they're in the ground,
41:28do they tend to fizzle out over a few years,
41:30or do they get stronger?
41:31Does that depend what soil you've got?
41:33It depends on what soil,
41:34but it also depends on the variety.
41:35Which one would you recommend
41:37that's going to come back year on year?
41:39Globe Master, Purple Sensation always come back.
41:42Yeah.
41:43We saw you snipping some of the yellow leaves off.
41:45Is that a problem,
41:46because they're not going to feed back into the bulb?
41:48First of all, an allium gets most of its nutrition
41:51through the roots anyhow.
41:52And secondly, we just cut the dead bits off as it is.
41:56The green foliage is still putting some nutrition
41:58back into the bulb.
41:59And their seed heads are beautiful in the border.
42:02But do you ever recommend taking those off
42:04to enhance the growth of the bulb?
42:06That only works if you really cut the flower
42:09in a very early stage.
42:10Okay.
42:11Once you let it flower,
42:12it doesn't make a difference anymore.
42:14Okay, great.
42:14So we can leave them looking good.
42:15Absolutely.
42:16Yeah, right until they fade away.
42:17Absolutely.
42:18But it's a great exhibit.
42:19The bees are absolutely loving it.
42:21Lovely to meet you.
42:22Thank you very much.
42:31What an amazing show it's been.
42:34I think if I've got to choose just one thing,
42:36though, it has to be tulip sprangleri
42:38with these lovely red satiny petals.
42:41But I love this meadow too.
42:43It's amazing, isn't it?
42:43Especially that corner.
42:45It's really bright.
42:45And on the roof as well.
42:47Yeah, everywhere you look,
42:48meadow, meadow, meadow.
42:49Yes.
42:50Don't you love the fact that they allow dogs in?
42:52It's lovely, isn't it?
42:53It's really unusual.
42:54But I kind of wish I'd brought mine along.
42:56Mine too.
42:57Do you think they would have gone swan?
42:58I reckon so.
42:59They probably would have torn around though
43:00and created havoc wherever they went.
43:03I think my favourite parts,
43:05did you see the stumpery down by the woodland?
43:07I really liked it.
43:08But not so much for the stumpery
43:10as actually the silver birch edging to the raised beds.
43:13I thought that worked really nicely.
43:15Yeah.
43:15And also,
43:16something that surprised me about myself
43:18was I really liked rockery.
43:21But rather than using alpine plants,
43:22it was just filled with water plants
43:24and little kind of cascades going all over it
43:26on one of the stands.
43:27Really beautiful.
43:28Well, I love rock gardens.
43:29You know,
43:30they're not just on the way back,
43:31they've arrived.
43:32They have.
43:33Clearly, they're here anyway.
43:34Yeah, definitely.
43:36Anyway, it was a great show.
43:37It's been splendid.
43:39Yeah.
43:39I don't want to go home.
43:41No.
43:41Although,
43:42Pat Cloud said otherwise.
43:43Yeah, perhaps.
43:55If you want to visit the show,
43:57it's still on till Sunday night.
44:00And if you can't get to it,
44:01don't worry,
44:02because tomorrow night on BBC Two at 6.30,
44:06Arit, Adam, Nick and Carol
44:09will be bringing you a one-hour special
44:12with lots more from the show itself.
44:15Now, I'm cutting back the sweet sisley.
44:17Sweet sisley is a lovely herb.
44:19And unlike a lot of the umbellifers,
44:22the great thing about sweet sisley
44:24is that you can cut it back.
44:25When it starts to go to seed,
44:27and it's got these long seed pods,
44:29cut it back to the ground.
44:31That will look and seem rather drastic,
44:33but it will regrow
44:34and give you another performance.
44:36And by doing so,
44:37it enables me to get a better view of this rose.
44:41This is Madame Alfred Carrière.
44:43And the great thing about it
44:45is that it thrives on an east
44:48or a north-facing wall,
44:50which sometimes can be seen
44:51as a bit of a problem,
44:53but not for her.
45:07These four large pots
45:09at the centre of the jewel garden
45:11are a really important part
45:13of the display in each season.
45:16This year, I'm going to put in
45:19the tender annual climbers
45:21that I've been growing.
45:23These are Kabir,
45:24we've got Rhodochyton,
45:25and I want them to go up
45:27and be a bit of a showpiece
45:29of the season.
45:30So I'm going to put them in
45:31and then I'm going to put them in
45:33and then I'm going to put them in
45:35and then I'm going to put them in
45:36for them to go up
45:37and give a brilliant display
45:39in the summer.
45:41If you grow a climber
45:43in any kind of container,
45:44it does need to be generous.
45:47You want a pot that is both
45:48wide as possible
45:49and give it some depth.
45:51So these tall, vigorous plants
45:54producing lots of flowers
45:56are going to need plenty of room
45:57for the roots to stretch
45:59and also nutrition.
46:00And to that end,
46:01I've mixed up my own compost.
46:03But if you can't do that,
46:05get a bark paste rich compost
46:08and also if you buy a bag
46:10of soil improver
46:11and mix that in with it,
46:13that will give it extra oomph
46:15and also retain the moisture better.
46:26Before I fill it up,
46:28these climbers are going to need
46:30a fairly substantial support.
46:33So I've got a selection of bean sticks,
46:36roughly the same size.
46:39Good strong bamboos would do
46:42and I'll put three per pot
46:45and then I need to tie them up.
47:02Now I've got four pots
47:05and two different types of climber.
47:07We've got Kabir Scandens,
47:10the cup and saucer plant,
47:12which will start flowering quite late,
47:14round about the end of July,
47:17early August,
47:17but go on and hit its real peak
47:19in September and early October.
47:22And I've got the purple bellflower,
47:24Rhodochyton atrosanguineus.
47:27That also has rich purple color flowers.
47:30So really good for the jewel garden.
47:32So let's start with the Rhodochyton.
47:35You can see at this stage,
47:37they're relatively small plants,
47:40starting to climb,
47:41or at least trail in the pot,
47:43but they will get a lot stronger quite quickly
47:47once the weather warms up.
47:58Now these Rhodochyton atrosanguineus,
48:00they will grow a good two meters tall.
48:04Now if these are still quite small,
48:07the Kabir are getting bigger almost by the day.
48:13That really wants to romp away.
48:17It's already about two foot tall
48:20and will grow very vigorously indeed.
48:22So three plants will be too many
48:25for a pot this size.
48:27One is ample.
48:29Okay.
48:37These very fine, almost hair-like tendrils
48:42are really clingy.
48:44So once these get going,
48:46they will support themselves,
48:48but I will have to tie that in.
48:51But that you can see already,
48:53as I planted out,
48:55is a third of the way up
48:57a third of the way up the tripod.
48:58So this will go right to the top.
49:00I may even have to trim it back.
49:03Now I'm really interested to see in particular
49:04how the Rhodochyton get on
49:06because this is the first time I've grown them.
49:08They are a new plant for me
49:10and I happen to know that Rhododendrons
49:13are a newly acquired taste for Nick.
49:16So he's gone down to Bowood House
49:18and the woodland garden there
49:20to enjoy them at their very best.
49:27Visit any large country estate
49:30and you can't miss them.
49:33Big, blousy blooms in sugary pinks
49:36spilling out onto paths
49:37and rising up above us in swathes.
49:41But for the average garden,
49:44Rhododendrons have often been overlooked.
49:48I think they've been hiding in plain sight.
49:52They might be bold,
49:53they might be brash
49:54and some tend to think they're oversized
49:56for our smaller gardens.
49:58But I reckon if you look hard enough,
50:00there's a Rhododendron out there for all of us.
50:05Originating in Asia and the Americas,
50:08Rhododendrons first arrived in England
50:10in the 17th century.
50:12But it was the Victorians
50:13with their proclivity for ostentation
50:15who really took them to heart
50:17and planted them in vast numbers
50:19across their country estates.
50:24In recent years,
50:25the focus has been on one particular species,
50:28Rhododendron ponticum.
50:30And it's a real thug that's escaped from our gardens
50:34and invaded our wild landscapes.
50:36But I want to set the record straight.
50:38There are hundreds of Rhododendrons out there
50:40that aren't invasive, aren't thuggish
50:43and will do brilliantly well in our gardens.
50:46One of the most important things to know
50:48about Rhododendrons
50:49is that they're incredibly promiscuous.
50:52In other words, they hybridize
50:54and produce new plants very easily.
50:56And it's played out right here.
50:58So behind me is the yellowy green Rhododendron
51:01called Coolhaven.
51:03Behind me just here is the red one
51:06called Hummingbird.
51:07And it's a very, very, very, very, very, very,
51:10very, very, very, very, very, very, very,
51:12very, very, very, very, very, very, very,
51:14Hummingbird.
51:15And what's happened is they've freely hybridized
51:17in the garden, giving rise to this new plant.
51:21And what's fascinating is it's taken characteristics
51:23from both parents and resulted in this plant.
51:26So you can see there's some reddy tones
51:28in the flower stems at the back.
51:30You can see it's almost become peachy in the center.
51:33And the interesting thing is this is still growing.
51:35So it's going to be a while before we can tell
51:37how big it's actually going to be.
51:39However, Hummingbird behind me
51:41is tried and tested in the long term,
51:44and it will get to about two meters high,
51:46maybe about three meters wide,
51:48making a really beautiful dome.
51:50So if you've got a medium-sized garden,
51:52this is the one to go for.
51:55Soil-wise, Rhododendrons prefer moist,
51:58well-drained, acidic conditions,
52:00which means if you're planting them,
52:02check the pH of your garden soil first.
52:07Behind me here is a form called Falconrye.
52:11And it's so different to most of the Rhododendrons you know.
52:14It's got these huge, exotic, big palm-almost-looking leaves.
52:18And then on the end, these clusters of beautiful white flowers.
52:22Now, in contrast, behind me here is Rhododendron mucranatum.
52:28It's got a very, very different quality.
52:30It's got this fine texture to its foliage
52:32with these beautiful, delicate white flowers.
52:35And it's also quite dense,
52:37which means it could be used brilliantly
52:39to make an informal garden hedge.
52:41So if you've got limited space, this is a perfect plant.
52:48Another distinct characteristic of Rhododendrons
52:51is that they can look as beautiful before they open
52:54as they do when they come into bloom.
52:58And their upright buds often carry a richer pigment
53:01than the flowers themselves.
53:05You don't need to have acidic soil in your garden
53:07to be able to grow Rhododendrons.
53:08There are plenty of dwarf varieties
53:10that grow well in containers.
53:14Some of the smaller Rhododendrons
53:16were historically classified as Azaleas.
53:19But today, they've all been reclassified
53:22into that one big group of Rhododendrons.
53:25This is Silverwood behind here,
53:27which has these quite large, open blooms
53:30with yellow and orange centers.
53:31Really beautiful.
53:33One that I really love is Irene Costa.
53:36And you can see it's got this amazing floral range of colors.
53:40And they all suffuse into this beautiful mix.
53:42And both of them only get to about a meter or so tall,
53:46which means they're absolutely perfect for small gardens.
53:57Next time you're looking for color in May,
54:00look no further than the Rhododendron.
54:03Indulge in one of these sumptuous plants
54:06and I can guarantee you won't be disappointed.
54:21If you want to go and see those Rhododendrons for yourself
54:25in the Woodland Garden at Bowood House,
54:26you'll need to go this weekend
54:28because it closes after Sunday.
54:30Of course, the rest of the gardens there
54:33remain open all summer.
54:35Right, I finish with these pots.
54:37They're planted up.
54:38All I have to do now is just to keep them watered and fed
54:42and let them grow.
54:43Right, that's one of my jobs done.
54:46Yep, you've guessed it.
54:48It's time for your jobs for the weekend.
54:52Now the nights are warming up,
54:54you can plant tomatoes outside.
54:59Bury them deeply,
55:01right up to the bottom leaves if possible,
55:04and space them about 18 inches to two foot apart
55:07in an east-west direction if possible
55:10so they get maximum sunshine.
55:12And then you can plant them in the garden.
55:14I'm going to show you how to do that in a moment.
55:16But first, I'm going to show you how to do it
55:18in an east-west direction if possible
55:20so they get maximum sunshine.
55:22Put in strong stakes
55:24so they can be gradually tied to them
55:26and then hope we have a nice hot summer.
55:30Good boy, good boy.
55:32Come on.
55:42If like me, you sowed biennials
55:45such as wallflowers or foxgloves a few weeks ago,
55:47some will now have germinated
55:49and be ready to prick out.
55:50Choose the largest seedlings
55:52and holding them carefully by a leaf,
55:54prise out as much root as you can
55:57before putting them on into individual plugs.
56:08Water these and set them to one side.
56:10And then you can have another go
56:11at the smaller seedlings in a week or so's time.
56:14And if you haven't sown any biennials yet,
56:17it's not too late to do so now.
56:26Homemade comfrey feed is as effective
56:28as anything you can buy
56:30and will save you a lot of money.
56:32Cut a healthy plant right at the base
56:34and don't worry, it will quickly regrow.
56:38Strip the leaves and chop up the stems
56:40and pack as much as you can into a bucket.
56:47Top the bucket up with water
56:50and set it aside for about three weeks to brew.
56:54But I warn you, it will smell disgusting.
57:11And I suspect one there.
57:17I'm setting out the tulbagia.
57:20This is tulbagia violacea in the Paradise Garden.
57:24And tulbagia, which is a flowering garlic,
57:27has this lovely, delicate, pale, mauve flower
57:33on a tall stem.
57:34And the idea is that it wafts gently
57:38in amongst the verbena benariensis
57:40and above the steeper tenuissima.
57:42And I bought these last September
57:47when they were, oh, a fraction of the size.
57:50Grew them on over winter
57:51and they have at least doubled in size.
57:54It's a really good, cheap way
57:57of getting a large number of plants.
58:00Buy them small and grow them on yourself
58:02rather than paying someone else to grow them on.
58:05And this can just be popped in there like that.
58:09But that's it for today.
58:12And before I go,
58:13if you do have a gardening problem
58:15that you don't know how to solve,
58:17contact us via social media.
58:19And a member of our presenting team
58:21could well come and visit you in your garden
58:24and help you out.
58:26But I shan't be in my garden next week
58:29because I will be joining the rest of the team
58:32at Gardeners' World Live in Birmingham.
58:35So join us all at the same time next week
58:38at Gardeners' World Live.
58:40Until then, bye-bye.
58:43More from the RHS Chatsworth Flower Show
58:47tomorrow evening at 6.30.
58:49But next on BBC Two,
58:51with his job on the line,
58:52FBI man John O'Neill's ruffling feathers in Yemen
58:55on a mission to get to the truth in the Looming Tower.