Gardeners World S52e14 14-06-19
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00Garden this week, the place to be now on BBC2 is Birmingham.
00:05Hello, welcome to Gardeners World live here in the middle of Birmingham.
00:11Yes, it's a flower show, it's got show gardens, a huge floral marquee,
00:15beds and borders to inspire, plants to buy and a barrel full of ideas to take home to your garden.
00:20And what Frances, I and the whole of the rest of the team particularly love about this show
00:24is that it's our show and it's your show. It's a chance for
00:28all of us to get together and share that one common passion, love of everything to do with gardens.
00:58Frances and I are here in the Watchmakers Garden, which won Best in Show. It's designed
01:14by Alexandra Froggatt and it's very special. I think it's got an awful lot to it. It's based
01:21upon the watchmakers that were part of the jewellery quarter, which was really important
01:25here in Birmingham. And the notion is, is this is where a watchmaker worked at the turn of the
01:3119th to 20th century and outside is his garden. But he was some gardener. I mean,
01:36he grew a decent vegetable or two. And the lovely thing about these is
01:40that they're all kind of heirloom varieties, but they're so perfect, aren't they? They're so
01:45incredible. What I find interesting in a garden like this, where the detail is right down to the
01:50sort of little piles of dirt and the nettles. And the way that the water butt is silted up
01:57and he's growing watercress and that sort of thing. And you see the lovely wildflowers growing.
02:02But when it comes to vegetables, they are immaculate and perfect.
02:06Would you like to see one that's maybe slightly bolted?
02:09Well, it'd be interesting, wouldn't it? But I think that what is fun about a garden like this
02:14is that you have the mixture of horticulture and a kind of a whole novel. There's a world here.
02:19There is. But that so often crosses, don't you find that your hobbies as a gardener are so often
02:24the same as other people who do other crafts. They all cross over and there is that connection.
02:29But finally, amongst the many good things about this garden,
02:33I really like the way that you can come in. Anybody can come in, have a good look around.
02:38Not very often that you can really have a nosy around. Now, talking about nosing around,
02:46Joe is going to show us around some of the other gardens here at Garden Spotlight.
02:53Yeah, there's certainly plenty of inspiration and drama this year. Look at this garden.
02:57It's called Revelation. It's the largest show garden here. This is designed by Mike Baldwin
03:04and the team at Derby College. There's over 75 students being involved in designing
03:10and building this garden. And it's one that the visitors to the show can explore.
03:16And as you turn the first corner, it's not what you would expect at all.
03:22And the great thing is that the students had study days at great British gardens
03:27like Hestercombe, Sissinghurst and Great Dixter. And so there's a cornucopia of different style
03:33gardens. I love this first one where you've got this tropical style planting.
03:38This has definitely been inspired by Great Dixter.
03:41Oh, now this space has a very different, tranquil, reflective feel about it. Plenty of water.
03:49And the planting with the olea, the onypodum and the stachys has definitely got a nod to Sissinghurst.
03:57And this is the peaceful garden, mainly greens and, of course, a great British oak.
04:02You can almost hear the classical music playing in this garden.
04:07This is the love garden. And here we have a love bower made of birch and hazel,
04:13much more cottagey style planting in here. And this is the last one, the garden of joy
04:17or the garden of fun, as I call it. And can you imagine being a horticulture student
04:23working on this vast project? And here at the show, they're going to get immediate feedback
04:27from all the visitors that can walk through here.
04:37To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow. How true. That's a quote by Audrey Hepburn.
04:43And this is the Macmillan Legacy Garden designed by Martin Wilson.
04:47And it's an incredibly simple layout, but it works beautifully well.
04:50So on either side of the path, we've got at least a meter and a half of planting.
04:54And then at the back, there's way beyond two meters, which gives real depth.
04:59And that's so simple, but it works brilliantly well.
05:02Then I like the way he's created these gifts, which are these large containers.
05:06And I like the way they're placed within the planting areas.
05:09They're not just placed on the paving, adding plenty of height and volume
05:12and a nice rhythm to the space as well.
05:15And what I like about this garden is on one level, it's incredibly simple,
05:18but the planting adds so much depth and interest.
05:21It really keeps the focus within this small space.
05:32There are two front gardens here as part of the Young Landscapers Awards.
05:36And two landscapers on this side are competing with their neighbours
05:40on the other side over there.
05:42And what I like about these gardens is they are perfectly realistic
05:46to work in someone's front garden.
05:49I wouldn't want to choose between the two of them.
05:51They both look fantastic to me.
05:53But I do fancy spinning that car.
05:57Hello, can you pass the keys out?
06:02Thank you.
06:11Mind the gap.
06:13You're always hearing gardeners talking about the June gap.
06:16That period after spring flowers have finished
06:20and before summer's exuberance really gets going.
06:23But here in the floral marquee, there are loads of ideas
06:26to keep the colour going in your garden.
06:29Pop in a poppy.
06:30Dig in a digitalis.
06:32Create colour with a cosmos.
06:34But most importantly, put them all together in winning combinations.
06:47And how about this for a winning combination?
06:50These colours perfectly combine.
06:52First of all, on the corner you've got Verbena Rigida.
06:56It adds this smokiness from its foliage.
06:59Sprinkled with vivid purple flowers.
07:02And then in total contrast,
07:04you've got these large heads of Euphorbia Polychroma.
07:07It's a plant you usually associate with a spring,
07:10but it's still going strong in June.
07:12It looks perfect with a Verbena.
07:15And then just to emphasise that purple colour,
07:19in the background you've got Campanula Sarastro.
07:22This is a Campanula.
07:23It's a sterile hybrid.
07:25So not only will it contribute these big waxy purple bells
07:30all the way through June,
07:31but it'll keep on going right the way through the summer.
07:42Well, the rose is one plant that's at its very best in June.
07:46And no rose could be more beautiful than this one.
07:49This is Rosa Jeff Hamilton.
07:51But roses need company.
07:53They love to be mixed with herbaceous perennials around their stems.
07:58Why not use something like this Achillea?
08:00It's truly zingy.
08:02This is Achillea Moonshine.
08:04And it's almost fluorescent.
08:06But the perfect foil for the rose.
08:08And if you want to finish the whole picture,
08:11how about a grass or two?
08:12This is Anathemale.
08:14And it's bronze and orange colour.
08:16Pick up the colour of the foliage of the rose
08:19and all together create the most beautiful combination.
08:23Definitely bridging that gap.
08:32This jewellery box of a stand
08:34is absolutely packed with perfect plants for June.
08:38First of all, on this corner,
08:40there's Irrigarum Carbon Scariness.
08:42It's a little Mexican daisy.
08:44And it's the perfect plant for filling in all those spaces
08:48in between other plants.
08:50And one of its great charms
08:52is that its white daisies turn to pink as they age.
08:56Exactly the same thing happens in this plant too.
08:59This is Nicotiana Mutabilis.
09:01And here the flowers open white and then become pink.
09:05It's an easy annual.
09:06Grow it from seed each year.
09:08And if you want something more solid,
09:11in the background is this glorious Eryngium.
09:14This is Eryngium Yosetlin.
09:16And it's been silver all summer long until this moment.
09:21And now it changes to brilliant blue.
09:24With plants like these, in combinations like these,
09:28you need never endure a summer slump.
09:37This year, we are really keen to meet some of you
09:39and help answer those gardening questions.
09:42As we speak, Arik is already out there solving problems.
09:47Fran, it's so nice to meet you.
09:48It's a good thing about being a gardener as well,
09:50we get to meet our viewers.
09:52Thank you for having me.
09:53No, I'm glad you're here.
09:54So are you new to gardening as well?
09:55Yes, yeah, I plant things and they live or they don't.
09:59And yeah, I'd like it to be a bit more formal than that
10:02or a bit more thought through than that.
10:04Tell me, you've got a problem.
10:05I've got a brand new house, a brand new garden,
10:07a new built garden.
10:08Let's have a look at it.
10:09There's, as you can see, big blank fences.
10:12The neighbours can all see everything that's going on
10:15and just like to make it a bit more private.
10:17OK.
10:18And beautiful.
10:19I get that picture.
10:20I see that a lot and it can be so overwhelming, can't it?
10:24Yeah, I have no idea where to start.
10:26OK, so the boundary.
10:27Let's think about that boundary and that overview
10:29that you're getting from your neighbours.
10:31What we want to do is be able to bring in some kind of height
10:34to screen out by something green.
10:37Trees are great for bringing privacy into a garden.
10:41Your budget and space will define how mature they can be.
10:46Young trees are more cost effective but require more patience.
10:52For the fence, obviously that expansive wood,
10:55really I think it's about bringing in some extra climbers on there.
10:58You want to start to be enveloped in the green.
11:00Oh, that would be lovely.
11:01Yeah, that would be great.
11:03And a couple of tips for the borders.
11:04Things like these lovely foxgloves.
11:06They're fabulous because they've got some nice height to them.
11:09They work well in partial shade.
11:12Bare fences can seem daunting.
11:16But by growing larger shrubs, taller perennials
11:18or training climbers against them,
11:21they will become less obvious over time.
11:26So with a bit of patience, a little bit of research,
11:29you can certainly start to green up your space.
11:31Oh, that'd be wonderful.
11:32Thank you so much.
11:34The Association of Professional Landscapers has got its own avenue here at the show.
11:38And I think it's a fantastic opportunity for designers and landscapers
11:42to show the public what they can really do.
11:45And this year's theme is all about travel.
11:47And I get to have a look around them.
12:04This is a really lovely piece of design.
12:07It's quite simple.
12:08If you imagine looking from above, it's a series of rectangles.
12:11But I do love the way the designers play with the levels.
12:15In a small space, it sort of made you engage and slow as you move through.
12:21Water.
12:22Not only have they got the sound so you can enjoy that area,
12:25but you've got this movement that goes all the way through.
12:28Do you know, when it comes to the planting,
12:30you do get a real tropical feel.
12:32But they're all plants that you can get hold of.
12:35So you could do this in your own garden.
12:37It works really well.
12:41And actually, I've got a young man responsible for it.
12:43Hello, Tobin.
12:44Hi, nice to see you.
12:45You all right?
12:46Yeah, well, thank you.
12:46Because it's your first garden, isn't it?
12:48Yeah, first show garden.
12:50So I've been working as a designer for about 18 months now.
12:52And we got offered this opportunity.
12:54So I grabbed it with both hands.
12:55And yeah, so really, really chuffed with it.
12:57And so inspiration, where did it come from?
12:59The brief was a semi-retired couple
13:01who have travelled extensively throughout their lives
13:03and wanted to reflect some of that in their garden
13:05now that the kids have flown the coop
13:06and it's just them in the house.
13:08I'm not particularly well-travelled myself.
13:09So it was more ideas that come to me about exotic travel.
13:12I've tried to use some bog standard plants as well,
13:14like the geums,
13:15things that you find in a common garden.
13:17But actually, in this situation, it just changes them a little bit.
13:19You could forget you're in the middle of Birmingham.
13:21Yeah, that's the plan.
13:23I think if you keep designing gardens like this,
13:24you never know, you might be designing them all over the world.
13:27Here's the plan.
13:27Thank you very much.
13:30This garden has been inspired by New York,
13:35and in particular, a place called The High Line,
13:38which is a fantastic garden that's been created on a railway line.
13:41And these seats that come out of the ground
13:44are a real feature from that space.
13:46But what else I like about it is the use of steel.
13:50It gives it an urban feel.
13:51And this circle, which is an archway,
13:54that that shape is picked up in the water feature at the back there,
13:58and also in the fire pit.
14:01Also, look at the planting,
14:02and it really demonstrates that you do not need a load of colours to create interest.
14:06It plays with verticals, horizontals, texture, and form.
14:11The last little tip is the direction of the paving.
14:14If you imagine back there, that's your house.
14:16The moment you change the direction of the terrace,
14:18you've got something to build off and really create movement.
14:22It's a really cool space.
14:28One of the things I love about these show gardens
14:30is they're stacked out with ideas that we can use in our own spaces.
14:34Here, just at a turning point on a path,
14:37there's two myrtles.
14:38The scent will pick up,
14:39so it's a really easy thing you could do at home.
14:42I also love these tanks.
14:44They're old cattle tanks,
14:45but I love the way that the galvanised colour is picked up in the lavenders.
14:50And behind me here, it's a wildflower meadow,
14:52and that itself will bring a load of wildlife
14:56Talking about wildlife, look, two clipped rabbits.
14:59Sometimes gardening is just about putting a smile on your face.
15:11Hello, guys. Lovely to meet you.
15:13Now, you're both Gardeners' World viewers,
15:14and you've got a particular challenge in your garden.
15:17Yeah, so we've built a pond, basically, and it's standing out.
15:20It needs to be integrated with the rest of the garden.
15:22It's standing out.
15:24It needs to be integrated into the garden a bit better.
15:27So I can see on the video here the problem that you've got.
15:29So the pond's looking great,
15:30but you've got a very dry bed around the back of it.
15:32There's no transition.
15:33So that's why I wanted to show you this area just here.
15:37So I think this is working quite well.
15:38There's a small pool.
15:39There's planting going on in it,
15:41but by using these ferns,
15:42this is a splenium here,
15:44the hosta,
15:45and the digitalis at the back,
15:46it gives that sort of lushness that fits in with the pond.
15:49But I've got some extra recommendations I would like to show you.
15:52So there's a few different plants down here.
15:54This is regercia, which is a lovely herbaceous plant.
15:57It dies back in the winter.
15:58This will come up to between 70 centimetres and about a metre high.
16:02Lovely lush foliage,
16:03so it will create that transition out from the edge of the pond.
16:06And it also, once it thickens up, gives great wildlife cover
16:09so frogs can make their way in and out of the pool.
16:12For a bit of contrast to that,
16:14I reckon it's well worth trying a miscanthus,
16:17and this is one called Morning Light.
16:19What's nice about this is it's quite vertical.
16:21It'll go up to about five foot or so,
16:23and if you plant it at the back of the pond,
16:25you'll of course get those lovely reflections.
16:27And it also will integrate,
16:28if you're using reeds or iris or similar things in the pond,
16:31that sort of style or feel of the foliage will...
16:33Yeah, we do have reeds, actually.
16:35Yeah, we do have reeds in the pond, and that's looking good.
16:37My final recommendation is this.
16:40This is ligularia,
16:41and I think it's an absolutely gorgeous foliage plant.
16:44It has big orange-yellow daisy flowers,
16:46but it's this foliage which produces a delicious dome
16:50up to about 70 centimetres.
16:51What do you reckon?
16:52I think that's lovely.
16:53That would work, wouldn't it, Lee?
16:55Yeah, yeah.
16:55So there's a nice quality to the foliage,
16:57beautiful colour tones which pick up the regercia,
17:00and then that lushness somehow just fits with the pond for me.
17:03Yeah.
17:03Now, I do prefer more of a moist soil,
17:06and I know some of the soil around your pool is a bit drier,
17:08so if you can work in some horse manure down to about 60 centimetres,
17:12that will hold loads more moisture.
17:14This will grow away beautifully.
17:16Perfect.
17:16Thank you.
17:17Thank you.
17:20I'm here on this remarkable stand.
17:25It's Tom Smith's Fruits,
17:27and it is the first time I think that I have ever seen
17:30an entire orchard inside the Thor Marquis.
17:34Now, I like to have the full range of fruits,
17:36and many of them are worth their place just for decoration,
17:39but when it comes to just supplying the delicious taste,
17:44you've certainly got to have apples and pears,
17:46and a really good way to grow them,
17:48even if you think you haven't got any space,
17:50you can grow them like this, as espaliers.
17:52Now, espaliers just mean that they are trees
17:55with the branches trained horizontally
17:58with a gap of about two foot between each layer,
18:00so you can go up as high as you like,
18:02and then cut off when they reach the top of the fence,
18:05or the wall, or the wires that are restraining them,
18:08and the fruit that you get from them
18:10will taste just as good as they would on the largest tree.
18:15Mike, the stand looks fantastic.
18:17Thank you.
18:17What I love about it is that it's loud and proud,
18:21yet very stylish.
18:23It's open, and it's a great stand.
18:25Do you think people are growing fruit
18:27with the same enthusiasm and perhaps confidence
18:30that they should do?
18:31No, because I think fruit is an easy thing to do.
18:34It doesn't need the maintenance of vegetables,
18:37and if you make a mistake,
18:39it comes back the next day as well and gives another chance.
18:41I mean, a lot of people do find and worry
18:44about damage from late frost, or early frost,
18:47or how they overwinter things.
18:49Is that necessary?
18:51Should people be anxious about that?
18:53No, I think people can be too anxious about it.
18:55A big thing we find is people come to us and say,
18:57the citrus trees have died.
18:59Where do you keep them?
19:00In a conservatory.
19:01They don't like conservatories.
19:03They don't grow in conservatories in their own country, do they?
19:05Mind you, your bananas won't take any cold at all.
19:08No, they're very susceptible to it.
19:10As someone who loves growing fruit and eating it,
19:12I hope it inspires people to grow more in their own garden.
19:16That's what it's all about, isn't it?
19:17Thanks very much.
19:21Although they do seem to attract slugs and snails like no other plant,
19:26everybody loves hostas for their glorious foliage
19:31that is both elegant and voluptuous.
19:35And we went to Nap Hill in Surrey to visit a nursery
19:38as they prepared their wide range of hostas
19:41to bring here to the show for the very first time.
19:47Well, I had a nursery for 27 years
19:54and then eventually I was forced to relocate.
19:57And so I thought, what would I really love to do?
20:00And I've always loved hostas, growing hostas.
20:03So I thought, here's an opportunity to specialise in hostas.
20:07So that's how we came to be here.
20:12Well, I worked at several nurseries before seeing a hosta
20:16and when the business was set up,
20:18got involved and just fell in love with hostas very quickly.
20:23Just the diversity of varieties
20:26and how you can have ones as small as a teaspoon
20:30and some as big as dinner plates
20:32and that just really keeps your attention.
20:38I had a collection of hostas which I started back in the late 1980s
20:43and sort of kept on growing that collection.
20:46And I think we now have about 850 varieties on the nursery
20:51of which we have 400 odd varieties on our website.
20:56So this is like our inner sanctum.
20:59So this is where we keep the oldest and most established plants,
21:02beautiful specimens.
21:03So when we're getting ready for the shows,
21:05sometimes really difficult to choose which ones to take.
21:08Do we take a cross regal, a regal splendor?
21:12Too many to choose from sometimes.
21:17This is hosta sagae,
21:19one of the largest ones we have on the nursery.
21:23Sadly too large to take to gardeners' world live.
21:26A plant I've had for 20 plus years.
21:30Just a beautiful plant.
21:31Huge, huge leaves and a really strong grower.
21:39This is one of my favourites here on the nursery,
21:42a hosta miniskirt,
21:44a miniature variety from America.
21:47These plants are probably a year and a half old.
21:50This is one that I'd highly recommend.
21:54This magnificent variety is hosta designer genes,
21:59yellow leaves which really emphasise the red stems.
22:04Very popular variety for us.
22:06Then here we have hosta praying hands,
22:09probably our most popular with such a unique leaf,
22:13most hosta collectors see it as a must have.
22:17Then also in any hosta collection,
22:21you have to have a blue.
22:23They're stunning, the waxy leaves,
22:25just so deep and beautiful.
22:28We'll certainly be bringing all of these to gardeners' world live.
22:37Well hostas are originally from the Korean peninsula,
22:41Japan, China, that sort of part of the world.
22:45Then they slowly, with plant hunters,
22:47migrated to all over the world really.
22:51They're very, very tolerant plants
22:52because they grow in all sorts of weather conditions.
22:56We have quite a lot of people who collect hostas
22:58who sometimes buy the plant because of its quirky name,
23:02so which is nice.
23:03And so with the different types of mice, for example,
23:06you know, funny mouse, church mouse,
23:08blue mouse that goes on and on and on,
23:10but they're particularly sought after.
23:13The mice, aren't they?
23:14Yeah.
23:18When you're feeding your hostas,
23:20it's important to choose the right feed.
23:23If you want the leaves to get the feed,
23:26then it's high nitrogen that you're looking for.
23:28If you particularly like the flowers,
23:30which some people do,
23:32then you want to go with something
23:33that's high in potash, like a tomato feed.
23:37Then it doesn't need to be too regular,
23:39but watch your plants and see what they're telling you.
23:42If they're not looking happy,
23:44then there's no harm in a bit of feed.
23:48With hostas, getting the drainage right
23:51is the number one tip.
23:53If you can get that right,
23:55the growing medium is not as important.
23:58On the nursery, we use a koi bark mix compost,
24:03which is peat-free and it's quite free draining,
24:07and it works well for our giants and our miniatures.
24:10Miniature varieties really don't like being overwet.
24:14It's the quickest way to kill them.
24:17If they dry out, you can usually get them back,
24:19but if they get too wet, that can be it.
24:24Here on the nursery, we use garlic wash
24:26as one of our main slug controls.
24:29Obviously, with Duffy here on the nursery,
24:32we don't like using pellets.
24:34It's really cheap and easy to make.
24:36We just use a glug of the concentrate,
24:39which is a couple of cloves of garlic
24:41boiled up in a couple of litres of water,
24:44and then you just strain out the concentrate into a bottle,
24:48and then it's just a glug of that
24:49into about five litres of water.
24:52So we do this roughly once a week,
24:54depending on the weather.
24:56If it rains, you may want to do it a couple of times a week,
24:59but once is usually enough.
25:05Hostas are extremely popular in America.
25:07They're the number one perennial,
25:09have been for quite some time.
25:12And if the Americans can have
25:15number one herbaceous plant as a hosta,
25:18we're going to do our bit to see if we can bring it.
25:20Yeah, I don't see why not.
25:22Yeah, so we're going to push them up there for the UK.
25:25Exactly.
25:35So it's your first time at Gardeners World Live.
25:49How has it gone?
25:51Nerve-wracking, but really, really exciting.
25:53It's all good, yeah.
25:54Any particular favourites that people are liking?
25:57Hands Up.
25:58Yeah, Hands Up has been really popular.
26:00Yeah, really popular.
26:01Just very unique, something different.
26:03Lovely, subtle differences in colour on the leaf,
26:06which makes it really special.
26:09It looks like quite a tough one.
26:10Is it a little more tough than a normal hosta?
26:12It is. The leaves are a little thicker
26:14and a little bit more robust than some hostas.
26:19And I'm guessing you're getting the age-old question about the slugs.
26:22People always want to know that, don't they?
26:24And the garlic is amazing.
26:25Does that really work?
26:26We find on the nursery, really, really good.
26:28Yeah, we've printed recipes for people who come,
26:32just to save our voices.
26:34Just because we're saying...
26:35It's the first question on people's lips
26:36when they think of hostas, isn't it?
26:38A lot of things as well.
26:39On our main display, we've got a big hosta in a copper pot.
26:43It's gorgeous.
26:43And copper really works.
26:45We're trying to show people what they can really do
26:47at home successfully without using pellets.
26:50Well, well done.
26:51Thank you so much and thank you.
26:55Now, here's something I've just discovered.
26:57There is this marvellous Aeonium Velour.
27:00And it's got wonderful sort of ruby colour coming through.
27:05But this darker one is also Velour.
27:09Exactly the same plant.
27:10And the reason why they've got different colours
27:13is because they were kept at different temperatures over winter.
27:17Where it was cooler, it stayed darker.
27:19But where you had warmth in spring,
27:22that has developed that richer burgundy colour.
27:27Well, who would have thought that?
27:29Yes, always something new to learn.
27:32Now, we've still got plenty to come on today's programme.
27:36We will meet the third generation of a family
27:38growing award-winning Dianthus.
27:42Adam is delving further into the small gardens to pick his favourite.
27:47And we'll be catching up on the garden designer, Chris Myers.
27:52If you're short on space but big on floral ambition,
27:57then you'll be glad to know that the beautiful borders
28:00are back here at the show.
28:02And Mark and Nick have been along to enjoy the very best of it.
28:12Mark, this has got to be one of my favourite bits of the show.
28:15All these inspiring raised borders.
28:17There's 29 of them this year.
28:19It's incredible, isn't it?
28:20Year on year, there's more of them.
28:22And it's just astonishing what can be done in just eight square metres.
28:26So much inspiration, so many take-home ideas.
28:28Shall we go and see what we can find?
28:29Definitely, let's go.
28:40This border is called a subterranean sanctuary.
28:43It just shows you what you can do in sort of like dark basement flat spaces.
28:48Here, the designer has really been clever.
28:51She's used this really pale trellis work, which lightens it.
28:56And then the planting is really lush and verdant.
28:59And just look at this beautiful round reflective pool.
29:03This just shows you what can be done with just a little bit of creativity.
29:07It's a beautiful garden.
29:14This fantastic living abacus is part of the Schools Out for Summer border.
29:19It's completely interactive.
29:21Kids can move these kokedama balls about.
29:24And then the plants that are used in them represent the mathematical Fibonacci spiral,
29:29of course, which occurs so widely in nature.
29:32This particular area deals with plant evolution.
29:35So long before flowering species were appearing on Earth, there were ferns and mosses.
29:40But the bit I'm really excited about is the science section.
29:42Kids have grown these plants themselves.
29:44And of course, you ordinarily would just see the top growth.
29:47But by growing them in these giant test tubes,
29:49you can see the topsoil, the subsoil and the sub-subsoil.
29:54And it really shows how deeply roots penetrate and how much we need to look after our soils
29:59in order to ensure great, healthy plants.
30:08The Himalayas in eight square meters.
30:10Just look at that purple palette.
30:13It all blends beautifully together.
30:16From the primula viallii to panula pink octopus with these little tendrils dangling down.
30:22So we come from the sunnier part of the Himalayas down to the more shady parts
30:27where we have this lovely silver birch.
30:30And what's so great about all these plants is that they'll grow in our own garden.
30:34But more importantly, they're great for the bees.
30:38This bed just goes to prove you can create a meadow effect in the smallest of spaces.
30:43By running stipper tenuisomen all the way through the planting,
30:46the designer has created this meadow feel.
30:48The real star for me here is the nigella.
30:51It's a hardy annual which you can sow at the start of the season,
30:54produces these beautiful blooms and then spectacular seed pods
30:57which last all the way into autumn.
31:07I really enjoyed looking around the smaller gardens earlier on.
31:22And then somebody said I had to choose a favorite, which was a really tough thing to do.
31:27But this one for me just about edged it.
31:30It's inspired by a trip to Australia.
31:34It's a game that couldn't influence the weather.
31:36As a garden design, it works really well.
31:39It's simple, it's subtle.
31:41The spaces are well balanced.
31:45You look at the colors of the grey and that sets a tone
31:49and the proportions of the paving slabs.
31:52Look at the fence and it demonstrates that we don't have to accept
31:55those normal old fencing panels that can be quite boring.
31:58You can create something that's got a real 3D effect to it.
32:04The arbor at the end of the garden would be a really powerful focal point.
32:09It feels a good space to be in as a piece of design.
32:12As I said, it's simple but it's slick and it's cool.
32:24I think one of the very best things about flow shows is having to look what people
32:28are carting around in their trolleys, what they've bought.
32:31Being nosy, you mean.
32:33I'm going to go and have a look this way.
32:34Right, in that case, I'm going in the opposite direction.
32:44Oh, there's some lovely stuff here.
32:45Look at this.
32:47That's a hardy fuchsia.
32:48Who's is that?
32:49That's mine.
32:50That's yours?
32:51Yes.
32:52Easy from cutting, so you'll be able to tell.
32:55What have you got there?
32:57Oh, so it's a real mixture.
32:59Salvia.
33:00Salvia.
33:01Scabiosa.
33:01And a verbascum.
33:03I don't know about the pink trolley with it.
33:06How do you feel about that?
33:07It's sort of framed by the plastic pink trolley.
33:09As long as I pick it, that's fine.
33:10Is that how it's going to work in the garden?
33:12Oh, what beautiful peonies.
33:14So who's the plants person, then?
33:17Me.
33:18And I love peonies.
33:19But last year, I bought what?
33:20Molly the witch.
33:21Lockers of bitchy eye, you call that.
33:23But people shorten it to Molly the witch because it's easier to say.
33:27Ragged robin?
33:28Yes.
33:28That needs a little bit of damp soil.
33:30Have you got a bit of damp soil?
33:30We have, we have.
33:31What, in this weather?
33:32We're sort of running out of space in the garden there, so.
33:34Oh, you never run out of space in the garden.
33:37You've both got these lovely maples.
33:38Oh, I've got two here already.
33:40You're the maple sisters.
33:41Oh, we are.
33:41Get those in the ground.
33:42Keep them well watered.
33:44We just need a bigger trolley.
33:46There are lots of new varieties and plants at the show this year,
34:05but one that's caught my eye on Hardie's Cautious Plants
34:08is this wonderful Digitalis firebird.
34:11It is a cracker.
34:13I love the colour of it and its shape of this flower,
34:16this beautiful throat, this yellow throat
34:19with all of these lovely dots of burgundy colours on it.
34:22But this Digitalis is perennial.
34:25After all of this wonderful flowering, you can cut down the stem
34:29and you'll start to get all of these side shoots and more flowers.
34:33So I think this is going to be fabulous in any border
34:36where there's dappled shade or shade.
34:38It does need a lot of feeding,
34:40so it will enjoy a rich, fertile soil,
34:43but you can just sit back and enjoy it, really.
34:45I think it's a fabulous addition to any planting scheme.
35:00Calamazag Plant Nursery in Cornwall
35:03specialise in growing a wide variety of alpines and species of dianthus.
35:08We caught up with husband and wife team Stephen and Benedict
35:12in their nursery in Loo preparing for the show.
35:19We're on the south-east coast.
35:20We're about half a mile, a mile from the sea, so just outside of Loo.
35:27Let's have a little walk.
35:28Let's have a little walk.
35:30My grandparents actually retired down here just after the war,
35:33so they came down in, I think, sort of late 40s, early 50s.
35:39My granny was very keen on flower arranging,
35:41so she used to grow different types of dianthus,
35:43so we used to grow up around a lot of them.
35:48My dad liked doing more of this, sort of like the pot sort of plant,
35:51so we just sort of did a lot more of that than the cutting.
35:55And there's so many more varieties as well now,
35:57along with the different species,
35:59so we're just doing more and more of them.
36:04Definitely the Cranmere Pool would go.
36:06Look at those.
36:06Yeah.
36:08Dianthus is a huge range.
36:09There are actually over 300 species of dianthus.
36:14We specialise in quite a lot of different varieties,
36:17from shorter alpine varieties
36:20through to the varieties that you would use for cut flowers,
36:23and also a lot of species varieties, a lot of seed-grown varieties,
36:28such as this Dianthus carthusinorum.
36:31One of our native species is the Cheddar Pink,
36:33which is obviously found in Cheddar and at the Cheddar Gorge.
36:37It was nearly made extinct by the Victorians,
36:39and with their enthusiasm for collecting it,
36:41it's now obviously a protected species.
36:43It's a very, very attractive plant,
36:46and a very, very highly scented plant
36:47that we're actually growing now ourselves.
36:50And we've actually been breeding one,
36:52which we've named after our son, Freddy,
36:55which is this one here.
36:56We've sort of been slowly increasing the numbers of it,
36:59and it smells absolutely amazing.
37:06So this variety that I'm picking up here for the show is Fusilia,
37:10and this is an alpine-scented variety.
37:14It's very easy to grow, free-draining soil, sunny spot.
37:18It'll flower and flower once it starts,
37:20which is around about, sort of January,
37:22and then it'll start to grow again.
37:24Once it starts, which is around about, sort of June time,
37:27it'll flower and flower until late on in the season.
37:34This is the Cheddar Pink.
37:35We've been growing this one on now quite a bit,
37:38so it's starting to get a little bit tatty,
37:40and some of the flowers are going over,
37:42so what we do is we take some of these flowers away.
37:46Pinks actually get their name not from a colour,
37:48but because they have frilly edges,
37:50and actually that's where the name pinking shears,
37:52when clothes-making actually comes from,
37:54is from the frilly edges of the plant.
37:59One of the great things about the pinks
38:01is you can snip off just a few of the flowers,
38:03stick them in a little vase in the house,
38:04and you get the whole house smells lovely of cloves.
38:11A lot of the dianthus that we grow have got quite interesting names,
38:14and this one in particular, Arctic Star,
38:16this is an alpine variety.
38:19We believe this got its name from the Arctic Star medal
38:22that was given out to Atlantic convoy seamen
38:26during the Second World War.
38:28It's got beautiful double-scented white flowers.
38:32Very, very long flowering season.
38:33If you deadhead and feed this plant,
38:35it'll just continue to flower right throughout the season.
38:41When you want to take a cutting from a dianthus,
38:43you want to get a nice, healthy-looking shoot,
38:45but you don't want a flowering stem,
38:47so then you just cut it off, and there you go.
38:49Just strip off any really lower leaves,
38:51just so they don't rot off in the soil.
38:53Depending on how hard your stem is,
38:54you simply make a hole, pop it in,
38:57make sure it's nice and firm,
38:58and then when you've got all your cuttings done,
39:00then you put some nice fresh water on the top.
39:03Keep it moist, but it doesn't want to be waterlogged,
39:05and preferably not in full sun.
39:11These are some cuttings that I did about eight weeks ago,
39:13so they're now ready to be potted up.
39:15So they'll go into...
39:18You've got a nice mix of multipurpose compost
39:20and slow-release fertilizer,
39:22and you just get your pot and do that.
39:26So when you pot up your plant, you don't want to bury it.
39:29You want to keep the top of the plug,
39:31the cutting, at the same height as the top of your soil.
39:33After about eight weeks,
39:35you should end up with a plant like this,
39:37but to get a plant like this,
39:38you need to pinch out the central stem,
39:40otherwise you'll just end up with a very spindly plant.
39:43So if you pinch it out,
39:44then you'll end up with a bushier plant,
39:45and we'll get lots and lots of flowers on it for you.
39:53Some of the stories that we've found about Dianthus
39:56has been really, really funny,
39:58such as the Mrs. Sintkin here,
40:00which is a Victorian pink,
40:01and that was bred by a gentleman called John Sintkin from Slough.
40:06And he bred this initially for Queen Victoria,
40:10and it was supposed to be named after Queen Victoria,
40:13but his wife, I think,
40:14put her foot down and insisted he name it after her.
40:18So it became Mrs. Sintkin,
40:20and it's a very famous plant.
40:22They have lots of different uses and associations.
40:26Traditionally, as a flower,
40:28the carp pinks are known for being associated
40:30with the first wedding anniversary as well.
40:33In Korea, they have a family day where dad wears a red,
40:38mum wears a pink.
40:40Certain countries have got an association as well
40:42with pinks and carnations, such as Spain.
40:45Their national flower is a red carnation.
40:54All right?
40:55Yeah, looking nice, aren't they?
40:58We go to these shows,
40:58we're a very, very small nursery in a very remote location,
41:01and we very much specialize in this plant group.
41:06So to be able to go and exhibit at these shows
41:08gives us a great opportunity to talk to the public
41:11and hopefully get our passion out there about these
41:14and how great they are and how they can grow them.
41:28Stephen, it's great to see you and your passion here,
41:31and it's all exploded onto that stand
41:34because it looks fantastic.
41:35Thank you, Harriet.
41:36It's been an awful lot of hard work.
41:37Benedict has done me proud, I think.
41:39She's back there at the nursery working pretty hard,
41:41getting all the orders out,
41:42and obviously I've come up here to show this off.
41:45It's been really well received by the public,
41:48so we're really happy.
41:50It's so lovely that it's three generations.
41:52How does that make you feel?
41:53Very proud.
41:54It's great.
41:54Yeah, and hopefully it might be four generations.
41:56You never know.
41:58That would be really good.
41:59Tell me what's been popular at the show so far.
42:01Well, I think without a doubt,
42:02I've got a cracking little sort of alpine dianthus
42:05called Silver Star,
42:06which is a great white with a little sort of maroon eye,
42:09and that's very heavily scented
42:10and grows beautifully in rockeries and walls and whatnot,
42:13so that will definitely prove popular this week, I'm sure.
42:15Well, if only there was smell-o-vision
42:16because it certainly does smell amazing.
42:18Yeah, yeah, it's a shame you can't send it
42:20through the TV screen to people, I think,
42:22but I'm sure when they come, they'll see what I'm saying.
42:24There'll be plenty of visitors coming to the show,
42:26but if they're new to dianthus,
42:28what sort of other plants can they plant with it?
42:30We say if you've got things like roses,
42:33maybe lavenders, anything really,
42:35any plant where you've got good free-draining soil,
42:39put some dianthus with them
42:40because you'll get flower right the way through the summer
42:42and late into the autumn.
42:43That's true, and also that wonderful scent
42:45that it brings as well.
42:46Yeah, yeah.
42:47Yeah, I like that.
43:01Look at what I have just found here.
43:03This is Punica granatum, better known as the pomegranate,
43:07and it's just a seedling of what will ultimately become
43:10a small tree or a large shrub.
43:12Now, surprisingly, it will grow outdoors in the UK
43:15in a sheltered site, and it will also crop,
43:18and this is one of just over 100 small trees
43:22that you can buy on this stand.
43:29This is decasnia, or the blue sausage tree.
43:32It comes from Asia.
43:33It has these beautiful blue,
43:35hanging almost sort of banana-like pods,
43:37and they're a really strong electric blue.
43:39Looks absolutely exotic, but it's completely hardy.
43:46The most exciting plant here for me is this,
43:49which is citrus trifoliata.
43:51It's utterly hardy.
43:52You can grow it and train it flat against a wall
43:55or allow it to go free-form,
43:56and its fruits are extraordinary.
43:58They're furry, and if you can prise them open,
44:01they've got a grapefruit-like quality
44:02in terms of their flavor.
44:04All round, a real winner.
44:09There's some real gems tucked away on this stand.
44:12Now, most people tend to think
44:13that palms are really tender plants
44:15that won't grow in most parts of the UK,
44:17but that's just not true, is it?
44:18No, it's not true at all.
44:19They can take the cold.
44:21They can go down to about minus 15, minus 16,
44:23some species do, but dry.
44:26Wet and cold, not very happy,
44:27but cold and dry, more happy.
44:29So the message really is for growing things
44:32like the palms and the agaves,
44:34drainage, sharp drainage is key.
44:36Okay, so if you were to recommend a palm
44:38that most people would be able to get hold of locally
44:40and is relatively hardy, what would you go for?
44:43See, I like the Buti Cavatata.
44:45Fantastic.
44:45Thank you very much.
44:46Thank you very much.
44:54I'm captivated by a garden full of nostalgia,
44:58combining the edible with the ornamental.
45:01It's the Dahlia and Veg Garden.
45:03It's been put together by Terry Porter and John Wheatley.
45:08It's also given John the opportunity
45:10to showcase some brilliant new dahlias.
45:17I just think this is one of the most wonderful displays
45:20I've ever seen, full of dahlias.
45:23I mean, once upon a time,
45:24you would have grown your dahlias on the allotment,
45:26wouldn't you?
45:27Granddad on the allotments,
45:28most common thing you ever hear at any of these shows.
45:31Yeah, but nowadays they've become much more fashionable.
45:34They're a very fashionable plant
45:36and we created this whole range of pollinator-friendly,
45:40dark foliage dahlias that are very popular.
45:43It's glorious and I can just imagine being a bee
45:45and zooming straight in there.
45:47It's so accessible.
45:49They're perfect for pollinators.
45:51There's such a range of colours.
45:52Oh, a fantastic range of colours.
45:54Yeah, kaleidoscopic.
45:56That's right.
45:57There's a great thing about the dahlias, the colour.
45:59You've sold them.
46:01And that one in the bath isn't bad either, is she?
46:03No, that's one of my ambitions achieved.
46:05That's Carol Cline in the bath.
46:08To a company, Rachel Detain and Joe Swift,
46:12which you've already bred.
46:13It's a huge honour to be in such an elated company.
46:17Thanks, John.
46:18Thank you.
46:18Did you know that Birmingham has more canals than Venice?
46:22Well, to celebrate that fact,
46:24this year there's a show garden inspired by two canal
46:28and River Trust volunteer lock keepers.
46:30We went to meet them to find out more.
46:39We've always been keen on boats and sailing.
46:43Always loved the river.
46:44We've always loved the river.
46:45It's something we enjoy.
46:46It's good for our health and well-being, just being here.
46:50The connection between gardening and well-being
46:52and mental health is very well rehearsed.
46:54Well, this is just like a big, long garden
46:56and we've got lots and lots of water,
46:58which is very tranquil and nice.
47:00And if you see some pretty flowers,
47:01it just makes you smile.
47:05These are the Kerberth locks.
47:06There's 11 of them.
47:07They stretch over three miles.
47:10This is the old Kerberth lock.
47:12This is the old corridor into Birmingham.
47:17You can hear the noise from the modern corridor,
47:19the M42 alongside us here.
47:24The whole idea of us doing the garden
47:26came about about 12 months ago.
47:28We look after the locks.
47:29We paint them.
47:31We cut the grass.
47:33In the winter, we cut the hedges as well.
47:37So it was a way to come out into the countryside,
47:40meet people and feel we were giving something back.
47:48We were recommended to try Chris Myers.
47:50He's a garden designer.
47:52So we were delighted when he said he'd join us.
47:58When I first visited Kerberth and met David and Hilary,
48:01the initial impression I got of them
48:03was that they were incredibly passionate about the canals
48:06and about getting people to the canal to experience it
48:09because they think it's such an amazing place.
48:11And do you know what? It is.
48:13We've built some temporary ponds
48:15and we're growing on some of the water plants
48:17that Chris will use in the garden.
48:20These ones we've cut up ready.
48:21So they're only a metre.
48:22So they lift because they're so heavy
48:24because they're waterlogged.
48:25But we'll be taking them in metre chunks
48:27and putting them inside of the canal.
48:30We're building some of the structures within our workshop
48:32and we've got the help of a lot of volunteers
48:34from other areas for the actual build-up.
48:37Whilst wandering down that canal
48:38and seeing the wildflowers in the grasses
48:40and the red brickwork, nature around me,
48:43it all kind of started to form in my mind.
48:46And I felt like we could actually create something
48:48that looked quite architectural with the red brick
48:50but bring the natural world in around that.
48:54And I thought, yeah, this could really work.
48:59Okay.
49:01The biggest challenge was when we arrived on site.
49:03It was actually making the canal fit into the canals
49:06and making the canal fit within the landscape.
49:08So we had to do quite a bit of work with the digger
49:10just to make sure it was dug out level
49:11and we didn't have any issues with water
49:13running over the end of the canal escaping into the grounds.
49:17It's really starting to come together well.
49:19Putting the water plants in today
49:21has really softened that red brick.
49:22It's kind of fused everything together.
49:26Yes, if I get that, you two fronties let go.
49:29That one's let down.
49:30Right.
49:32You guys said it was heavy.
49:36Yeah.
49:38That's it, thank you.
49:44We're using a bit of that paint,
49:47some good quality mud and a bit of adhesive.
49:51We turn up on the day
49:52and you never actually know what you're going to be doing.
49:55We take Chris's direction.
49:57For me, designing a garden at Gardeners World Live
49:59is all about the guys who come to the show.
50:01They like something that's very real
50:03and I think it's really going to tick their boxes.
50:06It's just one that has to be real.
50:10One of the bits of magic from Chris
50:12is the way he's got all the ivy and grass
50:15all growing in the brickwork
50:16and his vision for that was wonderful.
50:20It's to go and get the atmosphere of the canal
50:23so people naturally calm down and feel restful by water,
50:27especially during the hustle and bustle of the show.
50:29I think we'll be a little oasis of calm.
50:32Well, the major bit that's missing is the boat.
50:35We've got the tunnel.
50:36All we need is the boat coming out.
50:37That's the next stage in the jigsaw.
50:41This is the legger's hut.
50:43It's now been stoned up,
50:45or we say stoned up in Yorkshire,
50:47but it's been bricked up
50:48and that's given it a real sort of third dimension
50:52and then to give it the feel that it has always been there,
50:55we've popped plants and bits of moss into the mortar.
51:01I see this plant here growing out of the stonework
51:05around the canals in Yorkshire
51:07and I know it as ivy-leaved toadflax
51:09and they call it Kenilworth ivy down here.
51:12We've also got a rustyback fern
51:15and we've also got a maidenhair fern.
51:18Now, the rustyback fern is quite unique,
51:21as in it's only ever been found in walls and structures
51:26around the canals of Britain
51:28and the thinking is the fact that it likes the lime mortar,
51:32it likes alkaline environments.
51:35There's an element of humidity around the canal
51:37so that's also suiting it
51:39and also it's possible that it was actually brought in
51:42on a barge through transporting goods around,
51:45a bit of the plants come in,
51:47ended up in a wall,
51:48it's thrived there and that's how it's spread.
51:51So having walked down the towpath at Kirdworth
51:54and spotting all these beautiful wildflowers
51:56on the canal side,
51:58I thought well that's going to be the perfect way
51:59to soften our canal.
52:03So I've been growing this since April
52:05and it basically has all the species
52:08that I spotted at the side of the canal.
52:10We've got buttercups,
52:12we've got the plantains
52:14that have actually already flowered and finished
52:16and then just coming through here,
52:18and it's absolutely full of these,
52:20is red clover.
52:20The canal side when I visited last year
52:23was just a sea of red clover
52:25and there were bees and butterflies buzzing around there.
52:28It's great for nature that, isn't it?
52:33We've got a load of ferns and foxgloves
52:35to put into the wild,
52:36woody, woolly area as I call it.
52:38We've also got the garden outside the Lagos Hut to plant,
52:41that's very cottage garden feel,
52:44but we've got to get it right
52:45and I want it to look like
52:46it's been a cottage garden for years
52:48so there's going to be a bit of work in that.
52:49The first ever show garden I did was 15 years ago
52:52and it was a canal themed garden.
52:54Now it won gold and best in show
52:56and that kicked off my career as a designer.
52:59I was just somebody else's gardener at the time
53:01so this is very much a trip down memory lane for me.
53:04To come back here and do another canal garden
53:07after all that time, it's fantastic.
53:20Chris, the garden looks great.
53:22It's like it's been here forever
53:23which is a real trick, isn't it?
53:24Yeah, I wanted to create a garden
53:26that looked like it'd been here forever,
53:27like a canal does
53:29and I wanted people to come and say,
53:30hang on a minute, was that here before?
53:33And they're actually saying that.
53:34Yeah, they just blocked it off at either end as well.
53:37How was it working with the volunteers?
53:38Initially, it was quite scary.
53:40When you do a show garden,
53:41you're generally working with plants, people,
53:44landscapers who were at the top of their game.
53:46The volunteers really helped us out.
53:48The volunteers are all very new to this.
53:50Looking at the garden,
53:51it is an amazing tribute to the hard work they've put in.
53:54It looks brilliant and I'm really proud of them.
53:56Yeah, and the feedback from the visitors is great.
53:58These canals are important spaces, aren't they?
54:00They're very important for the environment,
54:02biodiversity and for us, for well-being,
54:04which is the whole point behind this garden.
54:06Yeah, I spent a lot of time as a teenager by the canals
54:09and I absorbed all the nature around me
54:11without even knowing it
54:12and now I take my kids for a walk down the canal
54:14and it just chills us out, we love it.
54:17I thought you were just going to fill the whole garden
54:19with one narrow boat
54:20and there was going to be no space for anything else,
54:22but it's in proportion, isn't it?
54:23That's it, that was the whole idea of using a boat that size.
54:25It fits perfectly within this environment.
54:28There's been so much water during the build,
54:29I guess you just put the liner in
54:31and let it fill up by itself.
54:32I actually woke up in the middle of the night a few nights ago
54:35when it was pouring down with rain
54:36and I just had a nightmare that the canal had overflowed
54:38and washed all the plants away.
54:41Well, it's still here.
54:42Congratulations.
54:43It looks great and thank you very much.
54:44Well done.
54:47Thank you.
54:57Gardeners World Live,
54:58my two favourite things,
55:00shopping and plants.
55:01Oh, that is a dangerous combination.
55:03It certainly is,
55:04but should we go and get nosy
55:05and see what people have been buying?
55:06Yeah, let's do it.
55:07Okay, see you later.
55:10Hello, look at these bobby dazzlers.
55:13Great colours
55:14and of course they have these lovely seed heads
55:17and be able to collect the seeds afterwards as well.
55:18That's the idea for next year.
55:20You've done this before, haven't you?
55:21I've got my green eyes full already
55:23with about 200 foxgloves.
55:26Hello, hello, hello.
55:27What's going on here then?
55:28Two of you turfed out.
55:30My mum.
55:30Your mum?
55:32Just to make room for more plants.
55:33So what have you got?
55:34You've got a lovely Campanula.
55:35Yeah.
55:36It's that pink octopus.
55:37It is, yeah.
55:37We were looking for a blue one as well,
55:39but we can't find a blue one.
55:40We've got the Digitalis.
55:42So I like to encourage bees to come to the garden, yeah.
55:45Cool. Is it your first time at a show?
55:47No, I come every year.
55:48You do?
55:49Yes.
55:49And go home with a load of plants?
55:50Yes.
55:51That's what it's all about, isn't it?
55:52It is.
55:54I wanted some ground coverage, so...
55:56This is a good one.
55:57Can you pronounce him?
56:00No.
56:02Rhodopoxis?
56:03Well done, well done.
56:05They are a lovely plant.
56:06You'll get special starry flowers.
56:08And I'm hoping next year there'll be even more.
56:11There will be.
56:12That's it. They'll bulk up and they'll bulk up and they'll spread.
56:14Lovely.
56:16Lovely stamp.
56:17It looks amazing.
56:17So what are some of these plants here?
56:19Right. Well, first of all, we've got the Bluebell Creeper here,
56:22the Solia, which will grow down to about minus 5, minus 10,
56:26with good drainage, sun or shade.
56:27And of course, the Oleander.
56:29We call it Oleander, but proper name is Nerium, Nerium Oleander.
56:32Again, I've had bees as low as minus 12.
56:35Really?
56:36Yes, with the drainage, absolutely.
56:38As long as they're in that good drainage soil,
56:40you will not go wrong with this.
56:41That's amazing.
56:44Hello.
56:45Oh, hello.
56:46What have you bought?
56:48It's an interesting mix you've got going on here, isn't it?
56:50The thing I'm the most excited about,
56:53I've bought some marines called Stephanie, which is my name.
56:57And you've bought lots.
56:58My new garden.
57:00So you have a new garden?
57:01Looking at a new house, so...
57:03You bought the bugs before the house!
57:06Oh my gosh, look at this, look at this.
57:09I've got a Begonia, and it's a big one.
57:11It is a big one.
57:12So Danny bought it, and I'm called Danny, so yeah.
57:14So it's a perfect match.
57:15You like growing Begonias?
57:16I've got 10 left out of 15 that have come back this year,
57:19which are coming back again, so yeah.
57:21Very good.
57:22I do like them.
57:23Right, be honest with me.
57:24Yeah.
57:24Are they yours, or are you just carrying a bag?
57:26I'm just carrying a bag.
57:27Exactly.
57:28You've got some Echinopsis.
57:29Yep.
57:29Wow, it's got a good taste on this, mate.
57:31She has.
57:40It has been a good show, and even the weather hasn't been that bad, has it?
57:45No, I mean, it's not raining now.
57:47Fingers crossed.
57:47No, there probably will.
57:49And amongst all the things that have been here,
57:52what have you singled out as being your favourite thing?
57:55It's very hard to pick one thing horticulturally,
57:58but I would say the thing that sets this show apart from others
58:00is actually the atmosphere, the people.
58:02Everyone's so engaged, they're buzzing,
58:04they're really enjoying being here and getting involved,
58:06and it's just lovely to see.
58:08It is that combination of people feeling relaxed and yet engaged, isn't it?
58:12Well, so it should be.
58:12This is our show.
58:14So come along, enjoy it.
58:16It's on till Sunday night.
58:18You may well see some of us,
58:20and we will be back next week at 8.30.
58:23I will be at Longmeadow with Nigel and Nellie.
58:26And I will be at an allotment with some wildlife,
58:29and that's quite exciting.
58:30That is very exciting.
58:31So join us.
58:32Bye-bye.
58:32Bye-bye.
58:36How can a street of families in Bristol
58:38reduce the amount of single-use plastic in their lives?
58:41Hugh and Anita face quite a battle.
58:43Watch now on BBC iPlayer.
58:46Drama next, and the pressure's starting to mount on everybody.
58:49It's The Looming Tower.