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  • 2 days ago
Gardeners World 2025 episode 9
Transcript
00:01This is pretty isn't it?
00:03I love a good show.
00:06I think the lovely thing, it's our very first big one of the year.
00:10It's like it's the first time people have been let out to buy plants.
00:16Hello and welcome to Gardeners Whittle from RHS Melbourne Spring Festival.
00:22We're celebrating spring in all its colourful creative glory.
00:27And we've actually had a spring so far which has been great.
00:31It's an amazing spring. Everything's been in bloom so much earlier in my garden than it's ever been.
00:36So I'm really interested to see how this hot sunny weather has affected what's on display here.
00:42I think the first thing you might see is a few smiles.
00:44But what I love about this show, first of all it's been going 40 odd years
00:49and for me it really sort of kicks the season off.
00:53But before we go off exploring, here's a little taste of what's to come in the next hour.
01:03Could there be a more glorious backdrop for our very first flower show of the season?
01:10Oozing all the charm of a quintessential rural fair.
01:14The Malvern Spring Festival is a fabulous floral celebration.
01:19It's a real gardener's show. It's full of take home advice.
01:23I just feel like it's such an earthy trendsetter.
01:26The show gardens are crammed with fresh ideas to inspire.
01:30And we'll be following the journey of one designer as she realises a dream of bringing her very first show garden to Malvern.
01:38Malvern is the pinnacle. It's the coolest of all of the shows I think, which is why I chose it.
01:43The heart of the show has to be the floral marquee, packed with rarities, seasonal colour, scent.
01:53At this time of the year, it's enough to take your breath away.
01:58Surrounded by all these beautiful blooms, this is my spring highlight.
02:03Each year, one nursery is chosen as master grower and we'll be meeting this year's nominated nursery woman and her collection of seasonal stars.
02:18To me, Camassia means spring. I am completely mesmerised by them and have been for nearly 30 years.
02:26And we'll meet the floral marquee's youngest exhibitor, making his debut at the show.
02:33Are you taking it all?
02:36Yeah. Oh, I think all of it.
02:38Oh my goodness.
02:40One of the newest exhibits to the show is the incredibly popular Festival of Houseplants.
02:46Lush displays, rare gems, this is the place where houseplants get the spotlight they deserve.
02:53And that's just the beginning. All of it set against this stunning landscape.
03:03Right Sue, there's loads to see. We must crack on.
03:06Let's drive straight into the show garden.
03:08Come on then. We'll do it that way.
03:09Yep.
03:10Off we go. First of many.
03:25I love a show garden. And this is a beautiful one, climbing up so we've got a different perspective than a flat garden.
03:31Interestingly, design-wise, look at the control of those steps and then you drift down with the stone used in a completely different state.
03:40So that feels very different straight away.
03:44And what's this up here above us?
03:47It actually looks like a sail, doesn't it?
03:49Yeah.
03:50You follow it back in and it's connected there, look, to the pens.
03:53So as that moves, that creates that piece of art.
03:57And this is such a beautiful wind-capturing garden.
04:00Yeah.
04:01And I'm beginning to realise I don't make the most of wind in my garden.
04:04Because you can see, if you've got a light canopy, you know, of the trees, they move so beautifully.
04:09We can see that asa over there, can't we?
04:11I think what you've done is what a lot of us do.
04:13You've moved in there and thought, I've got to deal with the wind.
04:16So we deal with it in a practical way, so we start to filter the wind because instantly we want to feel more comfortable.
04:23But you're right, then it's a matter of finding the balance as to, yeah, but how can I get the best out of the wind?
04:29This is quite beautiful, isn't it?
04:31You've got the sound and a little bit of movement that just leads your eye down.
04:36Here, what I love is the aces and then you go down a layer.
04:41There's just some good old hard-working shrubs, things like Berberus vibranums, which become great backdrops for the other filter.
04:47Yeah, I love a hard worker.
04:49You and me both.
04:50Yeah, and I love the way you can come down and see it at all different levels.
04:54And that's just nice following that water down as well, isn't it?
05:07Adam, pink, a sea of pink.
05:10What more could you ask for?
05:11Now, campion's a wildflower.
05:13It is.
05:14But it's so great in a border because it really fills the space.
05:18That feels beautiful coming through there, doesn't it?
05:21It really does.
05:22And here's very interesting, isn't it?
05:24They've got the lovely circular pattern with whelk shells.
05:27And of course, I love this.
05:28I've got cock shells in my garden.
05:30But on a really sunny day, you know, it's very squinty and wrinkle-inducing.
05:36You know, not good for the aging.
05:38Lisa, we talk a lot about right plant, right place, don't we?
05:41We do.
05:42But also, we should talk about right material, right place.
05:45So this, in a south-facing space, yeah, you're right, you're like that.
05:49But, somewhere a little bit darker, north-facing, not quite so bright, it will really lift the light.
05:55So yeah, your choice of materials can really start to set the tone for your garden.
06:00There we go.
06:01It's a lovely fence as well.
06:02It's a lovely fence as well.
06:03Yeah.
06:10This is lovely.
06:11Beautiful old with a craft.
06:13It's very evocative of a walk I've just done through the Cotswolds.
06:17And lots of the churches had these beautiful structures.
06:20Yeah, yeah, yeah.
06:21And lots of the villages had these wonderful rills.
06:23And I love the way we've got this little geomitei.
06:26It actually sort of enhances the stone, and the stone enhances the planting.
06:30And I can smell a lilac.
06:33And that's a very small lilac, isn't it?
06:35Yes.
06:36Ideal for a small garden.
06:37I think that's palabin.
06:38Palabin, yeah.
06:39And it's got lovely little flowers, and it's, you know, a compact shrub.
06:42I think the last thing with this is the way that they've used water.
06:46You know, if you are going to use water through your garden, here we've got the sound.
06:50You know, up the end there, they're dropping water.
06:53Then it comes across the fort.
06:55That changes the way it feels, and then there's a moment of calm.
06:58So you can think about creating slightly different atmospheres, you know, throughout your space
07:05just by using these elements in different ways.
07:07And I love the way the side slopes.
07:09So if you did just want to walk in and paddle your feet, you can.
07:12I knew you were going to say that.
07:26As Malvern marks the start of our show season, it brings with it a great splash of spring colour,
07:33like a giant wake-up call for all us plant lovers.
07:49Fuchsias.
07:50My husband loves fuchsias, and look at this lovely display.
07:53I'm loving your display.
07:55It's really brilliant.
07:56I'm looking for a big red flowery fuchsia.
08:00Yeah.
08:01That is hardy.
08:02So I love the purple patch one.
08:05Purple patch isn't fully hardy, but you can get away with it if you plant it deep and mulch it over.
08:10So are there any others that are suitable, more hardy?
08:13Yes, absolutely.
08:14So up at the top there we've got garden ewes and delicate purple.
08:17Looks nice.
08:18They'll take minus 17 in the ground, no problem at all.
08:20Oh, that's...
08:21Well-drained soil and they'll be perfect.
08:22Less of a risk then.
08:23Yeah, absolutely.
08:24Definitely.
08:25Thank you so much for your help.
08:26See you later.
08:27Oh, edible plants.
08:35I love edible plants.
08:37What a wonderful, interesting display.
08:39But the thing that's picking out to me is their double pink hawthorn.
08:44And you can eat the leaves and you can eat the berries.
08:47Lovely.
08:57I'm just going to stop here because I've seen the perfect pink that I've been looking for for ages.
09:02This is beautiful.
09:04It's tiarella raspberry and it's a shade-loving plant.
09:07It's a hardy perennial and it's flowering about now.
09:10And when the flowers are finished, if you deadhead it, it may have a second flower later in the year.
09:16But over here, there is big, bold and beautiful.
09:20Look at this.
09:22This is Sanetti Magenta and it's absolutely stunning.
09:27It's half-hardy really in this country.
09:29If you pop it in a greenhouse, you'll probably be able to overwinter it.
09:33But treat it as an annual and it'll spread and it'll grow through your border as long as you keep deadheading it through the summer.
09:40And it's absolutely beautiful.
09:41And it's sort of toned down slightly here by this lovely lickness, which is a perennial.
09:46The two together look an absolute picture.
09:52This is really, really pretty. I think it's a penstemmon, but I'm not sure because it's flowering so early.
10:05So I'm just going to check.
10:07Excuse me, can I ask you a couple of questions?
10:10Yes, you can.
10:11What a lovely display.
10:13This looks to me like a penstemmon.
10:15It is.
10:16But it's flowering now.
10:17Yes.
10:18Mine don't flower for ages.
10:19It's one of the species types, so they tend to start flowering in May.
10:22They don't go on as far into the autumn as the hybrids.
10:26Generally grow to about three foot tall.
10:28So really, really lovely.
10:30And the flowers open gently from the bottom up on the stem.
10:33And they're also evergreen.
10:34I love Jacob's apple.
10:35I've seen them in other people's gardens, but I've never grown them myself.
10:39So could you give me a little bit of advice?
10:41Absolutely.
10:42Full sun, really.
10:43Particularly for this variety, which will get really bronze, sort of purpley foliage if
10:48it is in full sun.
10:49They flower for absolutely ages.
10:51Oh, that's what I want.
10:52And will the leaves die back completely in winter?
10:54Yes.
10:55That will completely disappear.
10:56So if you're doing gardening, just mark where it is so you don't lose it.
10:59Lovely.
11:00Thank you very much for your help.
11:01That's all right.
11:02No problem.
11:04One of the great things about coming to shows like this is you see not only loads of different
11:28plants, but demonstrations of different ways of gardening.
11:32And we all have got a slightly different approach.
11:35See this behind me?
11:36This is a little feature garden.
11:38And it's what I call, I suppose, an ornamental meadow.
11:42If you want to create something like this, I think the first thing is work out where you
11:46want to put it.
11:47Do you want to put it in the sun?
11:48Do you want to put it in the shade?
11:49Is your soil sandy?
11:51Is it clay?
11:52Then that gives you a guide as to the type of plants.
11:55Here, semi-shade going into sun.
11:58And the way that this has been built is first of all the grasses.
12:01So the verticals have gone in.
12:02So you've got things like the melica and then there's some lusula in here, but then
12:06also things like the linem.
12:08And then work those around.
12:09And then probably a couple of stronger clumps.
12:11So something like the circeum.
12:13And then here we've got iris sibirica.
12:16But they're going to be there all the time.
12:18They're reliable.
12:19And then if you look at the rest of the planting, it's either short-lived perennial
12:24or even a couple of annuals.
12:26So you've got the poppies in here.
12:27You've got the foxgloves in here.
12:29There's Baltic parsley.
12:30You know, there's the cow parsley.
12:32Well, those things will all seed around.
12:34So they'll flower now.
12:35They'll give you a really good show.
12:37They'll bring those pollinators in.
12:39Then they'll set their seed.
12:41Leave it over the winter.
12:43And then you'll see all the seeds starting to come out of the ground.
12:46And then that's the time you can come in and fine tune.
12:49And it's like you've got a little block of art that you can go and play with.
12:52You can pull bits and pieces out, you know.
12:54And you create yourself a slightly different looking picture next year.
12:59I can guarantee once you've done this once, you won't have to go out and buy any more plants to fill the gaps.
13:06Because it will do it for you.
13:08So if you're not totally convinced that wild is your thing, maybe the ornamental meadow is just one step closer.
13:17Give it a go.
13:19I get a real buzz from being in the Floral Marquis.
13:31Apart from the stunning floral displays, it's an opportunity to get advice from expert growers from across the country.
13:38And there's one particular expert I want to learn from this year for my own garden.
13:44I'm creating my first ever pond. I'm a complete novice.
13:58It's metal. It's about a metre in diameter.
14:01And I'm looking for some plants.
14:03If you've got a metal container, you could do with something like a bulrush.
14:07And what bulrushes do is they take metal out of water.
14:10I love bulrushes.
14:12And you want an oxygenator.
14:14And this is a hydrocottle.
14:16And it'll cope with water up to here.
14:18And then if you get a newt, he'll lay an egg on the underside of the leaf and then wrap it up to protect it from predators.
14:24And then to add a bit of flour.
14:26This is going to produce large white flowers.
14:29This is Anemopsis californica.
14:31Do I put them all at one height?
14:33How are the insects going to get out?
14:35What you can do is stage your pots.
14:37And you could have your Anemopsis just short of the surface.
14:41Then something can climb out onto your Anemopsis and out of the pond.
14:44I'm going to take all three.
14:47Every year, the RHS shines a spotlight on a standout specialist grower.
14:57And just a few days ago, we visited this year's master grower, who holds the national collection of a spring showstopper.
15:06To me, Camassia means spring.
15:12At this time of year, when they're in the ascendancy,
15:17all the bees are buzzing, the birds are singing in the sky.
15:21There's just nothing more magical for me.
15:24I am completely mesmerised by them and have been for nearly 30 years.
15:30I'm Stella Rexley and together with my husband, Malcolm,
15:37we're national collection holders of Camassia here in glorious South Devon.
15:44Nearly 30 years ago, three or four miles up the lane from where we've ended up living here in Devon,
15:50I first saw Camassia and Edge of Woodland garden setting.
15:53Never seen them before, never heard of them.
15:56I just had goosebumps, and I still do now when I look around and see all these.
16:00That never leaves me.
16:06I would urge everyone to try Camassia.
16:08They suit a plethora of planting schemes,
16:11whether that's drifting through grass or in herbaceous borders,
16:17alongside ponds and streams.
16:19When they shoot, they shoot.
16:21There's nothing holding them back.
16:23Slugs and snails don't touch them at any stage of the growth cycle.
16:28I mean, there aren't many plants you can say that about.
16:31They're a hardy bulbous perennial.
16:33They are really tough as old boots.
16:36Unlike most bulbs that you wouldn't sit in heavy clay soil,
16:39those sort of things, Camassia are happiest there.
16:42And they give you this sort of magical drift.
16:46Even in a tiny space, you can get this hue of blue or creamy whites.
16:56We've got Camassia, Quamash, Orion.
16:58And they're the shortest of all Camassia.
17:01Maximum height, just over a foot tall.
17:04And as they mature, the foliage becomes like a soft grass-like foliage.
17:10So they're perfect for edge of borders, edge of sort of woodlandy areas.
17:16But the colour of that is absolutely delicious.
17:19Could almost put some clotted cream on that and eat it.
17:22It's beautiful.
17:23And then Leklinii.
17:25This is one of the shorter ones of the Leklinii species group.
17:29This is Camassia Leklinii blue heaven.
17:32And a proper pale sky blue.
17:35Delightful.
17:40It's just two and a half years since we moved home and nursery to South Devon.
17:46Around 350 miles from North Yorkshire.
17:49So it was three articulated lorries for the nursery.
17:53And one lorry for the house.
17:56Crikey, it nearly broke us.
18:00For me, the nursery, I wanted to create it as part of the landscape here.
18:05It doesn't really look like a nursery, but it's there.
18:12So in my national collection, I'm now up to 84 different cultivars.
18:18This is Camassia Leklinii aurora.
18:23Bred and released in the last three to four years.
18:26But the colour is super unusual.
18:29Sort of a pale amethyst colour.
18:32Dashed with lilac.
18:35It's like...
18:37It changes in the light.
18:39It's magical.
18:40Sometimes I get so excited, I can't wait for the flower buds to open.
18:45So I pop them.
18:46I pop them to release them.
18:48Like a child on Christmas Eve.
18:50I'm sure I shouldn't do that, but I can't help myself.
18:53From North Yorkshire to South Devon, there have been changes with climate.
19:05So all the flowering plants that I grow are coming two or three weeks earlier at the peak.
19:11Malvern has become the Camassia show.
19:20So there's various methods of propagating Camassia.
19:23This method is hand pollination.
19:27I'm looking for strong plants.
19:31I'm also looking at colour combos.
19:33And so Camassia Leklinii lady eve price is probably the most intense purple.
19:40And then Camassia pale pink is what it says on the tin.
19:44It is a pale pink.
19:45I'm likely I might get sort of a plum colour.
19:48And then it's remembering which one I've taken.
19:52There's nothing there because I've taken it.
19:55And then back to this one.
19:57I don't know.
19:58Out of a hundred plants, I might get two or three that look different.
20:03And then I plant them and grow them on.
20:06But they might not be stable.
20:08So they might not always fulfil the initial promise.
20:13So Malvern Spring has always held a very special place in my heart.
20:22Because it was the first ever RHS show I did in a floral marquee.
20:26Now to be awarded the amazing accolade of being RHS master grower.
20:33With my beautiful babies, the Camassia that I'm just so invested in and so obsessed with.
20:39It's just a circle joined up for me.
20:42It's a coming together.
20:46Since we moved in, I've wanted to create a Camassia meadow here.
20:51What I've always loved about this area of South Devon is the banks on the lanes.
20:58And I want to recreate some of that aesthetic in the display at Malvern.
21:04The whole design will be lifted and wholeheartedly replanted here.
21:11So it will be a living memory of that accolade as master grower.
21:15Stella, what a magnificent meadow display. Are you pleased?
21:19Absolutely delighted. Thrilled. Thank you.
21:20You should be. It's fabulous. And as I'm looking around, I can see Camassias that are already flowering. Camassias that have just started to flower. And Camassias that are yet to do their thing.
21:38Camassia flowering period is sort of eight to ten weeks. But not one cultivar will flower for that length of time. So if you've got several different cultivars, you can certainly eek out eight to ten weeks with Camassia flowering.
21:52Camassia flowering. How can I increase my stock?
22:08Really easily, Sue. They clump up vegetatively underground, but if you want to speed that process up, when you've got a decent size club, you can chop them, split the club, lift them and plant them in an area a little bit further away to extend your planting area.
22:26but get them back in the ground as quickly as possible
22:29because they really don't want to be away from the moisture for very long.
22:33And as they die back, what would you use as like a succession or distraction?
22:37A really great one is this philly pendula red umberellas
22:41and that becomes quite a large architectural statement.
22:45So as that's coming up and the camassia are dying back,
22:48you've got masking of the ugly stage, if you like.
22:52Congratulations on your master grower. How do you feel about that?
22:56I'm delighted, I'm proud, just joyous.
22:59I think it's very well deserved, well done.
23:01Thank you, Sue. Thank you.
23:14Look at this. It's incredible, isn't it?
23:17Yes, my veg is not that far on either, but it's that time of year.
23:22With that warmth in the soil now, we could start sowing direct.
23:26To things like your beans, your runners, your French, large and dwarf.
23:31On top of that, if you've been growing things in the conservatory,
23:34tomatoes, courgettes or the greenhouse,
23:36great times to harden them off because I'm hoping we're past the worst of the frosts.
23:44So there's plenty of seeds, salads, bits and pieces like that that you can get out there and sow.
23:50But even get down the garden centre or to a nursery or even come to a show like this.
23:56Get yourself some small plugs, get them in, watered, away.
24:01It won't take that long now and you'll be picking veg from your own garden.
24:06So here we've got salads, we've got chards, we've got things like pak choy.
24:12We all know how good gardening is for our physical and mental health.
24:18And on that note, there is a lady on this site who has created her first ever show garden
24:25with a little help from her son and she has been on a fair old journey.
24:36It's not just a garden that I'm creating, it's a deeply personal space
24:40that speaks of my highs and lows, the people and the plants
24:45that have helped me get to where I am today.
24:47Love you, dude.
24:56My name's Kate Mason and this will be, when it's finished, my first ever RHS show garden.
25:04The basic premise of this garden is to educate people
25:07how to look after tropical plants in a UK climate
25:10and it's a fusion between tropical plants and cottage garden plants.
25:14We've got 10 days, like 10 days left and I can't quite get over that.
25:21We've got some of the plants here but some of them are still at home,
25:24we've got to go and fetch another load today.
25:26I am in Kidderminster in the West Midlands and we're about 45 minutes away from Malvern.
25:45Most garden designers would use contract growers to get all of their plants sorted for a show garden.
25:51I, on the other hand, have different ideas.
25:56It's more logical for me because that's the thing that I love the most.
26:00The plants are the reason that I do this.
26:02My garden is terraced.
26:07There's 13 levels in total.
26:10You're on the tropical shade patio at the moment.
26:13Further down we have the plant nursery, greenhouses and Steptoe's yard.
26:18Steptoe's yard is like the boneyard that's full of junk, really.
26:23I have always wanted to do something at Malvern and then now I'm there this year,
26:31I look at my past and my journey and I think, oh my God, Malvern is the pinnacle.
26:37It's the coolest of all of the shows, I think, which is why I chose it.
26:44Love you.
26:44I'm so lucky, he's such a good boy.
26:50Ten years ago, my life was completely different to how it is today.
26:55I had started my career in Taekwondo.
26:58I had been working and training for about six months and I won the World Championships,
27:04which, when I say it, seems surreal even now.
27:08It consumed my entire life, I didn't want to do anything else.
27:11And then my life turned upside down.
27:16I went to the doctors and found out that I was pregnant.
27:20My life was not the way that I thought it was going to be.
27:24And that's not to say that I don't love my son because I love my son more than life itself.
27:30And then I had my son and suffered massively with depression
27:35because my whole life stopped.
27:41I didn't leave the house for a long time.
27:44I didn't socialise.
27:47In hindsight, I can look back and go, it was sent to test me.
27:51It was sent to push me in a different direction.
27:54So I started counselling and during that process, my counsellor told me I needed to find something that made me happy.
28:03So I grew a little stripy petunia.
28:07I just loved it and every day I'd go out and I'd poke it and I'd be like, ooh, water in it.
28:11And it'd make me so happy to think that I'd achieved something even if it was tiny.
28:16I mean, in hindsight, that stripy petunia, not very cool.
28:21But it gave me a kind of in to gardening and that's where it began, really.
28:27I went to Pershore College.
28:30I studied horticulture for three years and it's just kind of spiralled since then.
28:36And now I'm doing my first full-sized show garden for the RHS.
28:42And I can't really believe the difference between how I felt when I was suffering with depression to how I feel now.
28:50The joy that gardening gives me, I want to share it with everybody.
28:59The design inspiration behind my garden is Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs,
29:03which is a theory that helps you to achieve self-actualisation or happiness.
29:09It's in a pyramid form and at the very base, you start off with your basic essentials.
29:14So air, water, food and warmth.
29:17This is Persicaria purple fantasy.
29:22It kind of looks how my brain felt when I first started my mental health journey.
29:28This plant is so totally hardy.
29:30You can leave it outside all winter.
29:32It will die back completely and happily regrow the following year with no care,
29:36other than a little bit of water and feed every now and then.
29:39As you move up the pyramid, you look at self-esteem and that section of the garden is represented by the raised beds
29:51because you have to have a little bit of self-belief in order to look after all of these temperamental plants.
29:58This is Tetrapanax papiorepha rex and this is a Chinese rice paper plant.
30:07I love it because its leaves look like great big T-rex footprints.
30:12You can just leave it in the ground over winter and it will be quite happy.
30:16You can overwinter them if you want to in the greenhouse and you'll get them in leaf like this much earlier in the season.
30:23But up behind me, you can see the Tetrapanax that haven't been overwintered.
30:28They're just little sticks at the moment, but within a week or two, they'll have started to leaf up.
30:35The very tip of the pyramid is self-actualisation or happiness.
30:40And you can look down the pyramid and look at your progress and go,
30:43gosh, when I first started, I couldn't leave the sofa.
30:47But now I'm out in my garden on a daily basis, planting things, growing things,
30:53believing that sowing that tiny seed will eventually work out.
31:02This is Begonia luxurans.
31:04This plant is right at the top of the pyramid and that is because it needs overwintering.
31:10In the winter, it has to be somewhere frost-free.
31:13But I use it as an annual plant in my garden, so I take it out over the summer
31:18and I put it into a shady corner and it gets massive.
31:21And it turns your kind of corner-y, shady bit into a proper jungle.
31:25Because, I mean, how jungly does that look?
31:27The best. Love it.
31:33The list of people who are helping me with this project is massive.
31:38They're my emotional support, they're my build team, they're my friends, they're my family.
31:44And I really do owe all of these people and all of these plants absolutely everything
31:49because my dreams are about to come true.
31:52The creation of this garden, but also that journey that you've been on,
32:06what does it feel like to actually...
32:08To be here?
32:10Yeah.
32:11Since I started designing, I've always wanted to do a show garden.
32:14So to be standing in it and talking to you right now, it's crazy.
32:19I don't know how I've come about to be here, but I'm loving every second.
32:23You've blended this idea of the tropics with cottage plants on them and the fusion.
32:30It feels comfortable, doesn't it?
32:31You should put what you love there.
32:32And it should be a mixture of all of the things that engage you, that make you so excited.
32:37I love all of the heart-shaped leaves and the begonias with the little swirls
32:41and everything that makes me happy is in this garden.
32:44There is not a plant in here that I don't love.
32:47There seems to be in this garden a colour.
32:50Definitely. I am obsessed with purple.
32:52It stands out so beautifully against green.
32:55It's like a little kind of shiny star or a little glimmer of purple.
32:59It just makes me super happy.
33:00But it makes you happy for a reason.
33:02Yes, it does. Because it reminds me of my nan.
33:04Yeah.
33:05And she was the first person who engaged me in the garden and it's a homage to her.
33:10So this garden, there's a little fella that's played a big part in this.
33:14Is those little watering cans, has something to do with him?
33:17They are.
33:18So I put ten little watering cans in there for him to find.
33:21So my challenge to you, Adam.
33:23I'm gone.
33:24Ten.
33:24I'm gone.
33:24Go find them.
33:25I'm gone.
33:26There's one there.
33:27Yeah.
33:29Okay, there's one there.
33:31Oh, another one there.
33:34Sue, not sure where you are.
33:36I'll catch up with you in a while.
33:38I've got to find the rest of these.
33:45Adam, while you're hunting for watering cans, I've found a perfect place to rest.
33:50Look at this, a bed in the garden.
33:53My idea of heaven.
33:55I have a summer house in my garden for sleeping in with a glass roof to watch the stars.
34:00But this has really glamorised the whole situation.
34:04The beautiful soft colours of the greens and the calming whites really lend themselves to having a nap.
34:12But it's not just about sleeping in the garden.
34:14It's such a wonderful design.
34:16They've got this reclaimed stone, which has created a lovely wide path.
34:21And it goes along the floor, but it also then goes up to form a seat and then continues right up the wall, which is quite unusual.
34:28The other thing I really, really love are these containers.
34:32They make great raised beds.
34:34They've got them stacked on top of each other.
34:37So if you want a garden at whichever height, you can choose.
34:39But over there is this beautiful Tibetan cherry with this wonderful bark and that picks up the colour of the containers.
34:47There's a couple of interesting plants that have caught my eye.
34:51Over there is a lovely white bleeding heart, but it's much smaller than the normal ones.
34:56And they often fade quite quickly.
34:58But this one will flower from May to October.
35:01And behind me, I've got a lovely little yellow flower plant, which is called an upright ginger.
35:07And then behind that, nestled behind the water, is a wild ginger, which is creeping along the ground.
35:14And it's got lovely heart-shaped leaves.
35:16And it's rather delicious.
35:17All in all, this garden is very calming.
35:20It's sleep-inducing, in fact.
35:21And it's really worked rather well on me.
35:23So I'm going to take the opportunity to have a 40 winks.
35:33Hello, Ted.
35:37Hello, Adam.
35:58Hello.
35:59I don't know why I would never see you again.
36:01I know a lady that likes a kip.
36:03I do love a kip, but I didn't want to miss the houseplants.
36:06It's amazing.
36:07Tell you what, I've had a bit of a wonder.
36:09Right.
36:09It's really cool.
36:11I didn't get here last year, and this is the second year, isn't it?
36:13It is the second year.
36:15And this year, it's being judged, so the pressure's really on.
36:18But also, you feel like with houseplants, you know, in the gardening world, it feels like the new rock and roll.
36:24Yeah, it does.
36:25And I'm running to catch up, to be honest.
36:26It's true.
36:27Come on, let's go and have a look.
36:28Yep.
36:28Get educated.
36:29That's what I'm going to do.
36:29I knew.
36:39See, why are you smiling?
36:40Well, because it's pink, Adam.
36:42It's pink.
36:43It's full of art.
36:44It's cracking, isn't it?
36:46It's absolutely wonderful.
36:48I can't get over the begonias, the different, you know, textures and colours within the species, and they're absolutely beautiful.
36:57You just want to sort of lean forward and feel what they're like.
37:00The leaves are incredible.
37:01It's simply tactile.
37:02Do you know how interesting is that?
37:03They take me back to being 16 years old, Parks Department, and learning to take leaf cuttings.
37:08And something like the Streptocarpus, and to be fair, the begonias, a great group of plants, if you wanted to start off with one or two, and then start to propagate and develop your own.
37:19So, you know, quite a cost-effective way of building a collection as well.
37:23Quite easy for a beginner.
37:25Yeah, definitely.
37:26And Streptocarpus, there's lots of flowers now, but what about for the whole year?
37:31Some of these you can buy will flower their hearts out probably for nearly 12 months if you feed them and keep them going.
37:39So great value, you know, if you want a little pink in your life every day.
37:43Every day.
37:44And of course, if you're an artist, you've got that lift of creativity that all this colour brings you.
37:51And what's lovely, you can create different atmospheres in different spaces.
37:56Shall we go and find some more atmospheres?
37:57Come on.
38:01Well, this is quite a contrast, Adam.
38:13It is. How do you feel?
38:15I feel so calm. I've just stepped in. I'm shocked how different I feel in here.
38:21And the water in the background.
38:22It's a lovely noise, isn't it? I'm just amazed. They've got everything right.
38:26The lighting, the silver birch lights, you know, these trunks that look like they've got bark texture on it.
38:33Those straight lines then pick up in the back, worn the straight lines.
38:36Look at that, right?
38:37So that's a snake fern.
38:39Yeah.
38:39Look at the foliage.
38:40Then look at the cushions.
38:42It's so thoughtful, isn't it?
38:43That you can live inside and feel as though you're in a garden.
38:46Well, you just enjoy that moment of calmness.
38:48I've got to go and have a chat with someone and then I'll come and find you.
38:51I'll see you later.
38:52See you in a little while.
38:53Welcome to the surgery.
39:13You literally, you look like you're sat in a music video.
39:17I'm rocking it out.
39:19I'm looking at this.
39:20This looks proper designery.
39:22Well, you know what?
39:23I thought I should try and see if it was in me.
39:25So practically, someone wants to do something like this.
39:28How would we maintain it?
39:30Maintaining's easy.
39:31I think a very large spray can, if you don't want to keep walking in and out, and put some music on.
39:38Walk in here, immerse yourself in this sanctuary of senses and smells and literally spray down all of the plants.
39:46And they're obviously just thinking about light levels.
39:48Yeah, so, well, if this was an outdoor room, let's say a kind of type of greenhouse, you wouldn't need to worry about light levels.
39:55You'd just need to spray it down.
39:56But like here, what we're using is an LED grow light panel.
39:59And that will give enough light to sustain these.
40:03The moss itself, it's a humid environment.
40:05It's got the mister over the top, so it keeps it nice and green and fresh.
40:09But every week or so, you'd sort of spray it down.
40:11But that is also part of being immersed in this.
40:14It's quite a tranquil experience whilst looking after everything.
40:18Beautifully put, my friend.
40:20Beautifully put.
40:21Genuinely, I've walked in here and my eyes are darting all over the place.
40:40This is right up my street.
40:42That whole recycle, reclaim, sustainability.
40:46Yeah, definitely.
40:47Shall we start with the obvious?
40:48Go on.
40:48This beautiful blackthorn water tower, which is great for the insects to come in and access a drink without drowning in the pond.
40:57And actually less vulnerable, aren't they?
40:59Yeah.
40:59So there's a stream that sits up there, comes all the way down, gets recycled, pumped back up.
41:04But actually on that roof up there, there's habitats.
41:07But it's the detail here.
41:09Beneath our feet up there, yes.
41:10But beneath our feet, we've got this gravel base, which solitary bees love.
41:14But I find with gravel, it can move.
41:16And over there, he's literally picked up old bits of tile out of the skit.
41:21And it's created a way of retaining the gravel from moving and a slightly more even surface to walk on.
41:27Which is a great thing you can do at home.
41:29But design-wise, it just takes the eye.
41:32It works well.
41:33And we've got the chokeberry over there and I think you've got one in your bag.
41:37Yeah, I've grown it for quite a few years and actually it makes a really good jelly.
41:41But on top of that, autumn colour is absolutely superb.
41:45But I think that is an under-used plant.
41:55Straight away, you walk in and you get the sense that this design has been really thought through.
42:02It has, isn't it?
42:03It's all about water education because there are five million holes in the UK that are reflected by flooding.
42:10And this is full of ideas on how to help us.
42:13Yeah, well you start straight from the surfaces.
42:15Apart from this, every other surface, look, is permeable.
42:19But then when he is collecting water, up here on the roof, that's then running straight down into the tanks.
42:26But then when they overflow, nothing's being wasted.
42:29So even if the pond overflowed, if you look at the planting, look at the astilbees, look at things like the wasabi.
42:35They'll all take those moist conditions.
42:37So it works really well.
42:39It's really dispersed the water through the garden, isn't it?
42:41And I think it's not just putting a few troughs to collect water.
42:44It's made it beautiful within the garden.
42:47And the other thing that's really important, and my dad taught me when I was very young.
42:50Go on.
42:51Plants like rainwater, they don't like tap water.
42:54So you can waft a hose about, but you'd be far better collecting this and then dunking your watering can in and watching what needed to do it.
43:07It's interesting, isn't it?
43:09Because we've just walked in lots of gardens that instantly feel like gardens, whereas this has got that public space feel about it.
43:17It is going into creating a little bit of a garden in a part of Newport.
43:22Right.
43:23Maybe, which is the least green space you'll see.
43:26And it's on a major road junction.
43:29So straight away, you explain that.
43:31I see this in a very different way.
43:33And that says that gardens, you know, they do sit in their settings, don't they?
43:36So the mural at the back there, that then will work well.
43:42The artist and the designer were here together.
43:44So she was planting, he was drawing.
43:46So he's picked up the gems and magnified their beauty.
43:49And then through the looking glass, he's got the flomus there.
43:52And that really sort of makes it cohesive.
43:56Yeah.
43:56So actually, this has become a lovely spot on a journey between A and B.
44:02Where people can sit just like you and me, Adam, and have a lovely journey.
44:05And admire the lilac lady original which I've got my eye on.
44:10After a long, hard winter, is there anything more glorious than beautiful spring flower?
44:25This puts a smile on your face, doesn't it?
44:26But adding to that, the other thing that I love about spring and coming to the show is catching up with all the growers.
44:35I've got some great friends in here.
44:37And this place is full of knowledge.
44:41But there's a new kid on the block, a 22-year-old young man.
44:46And it's his first show.
44:47He sent us in a film about him and a lady that is very important to him.
44:54And I'm telling you, you are going to love this.
45:02They're very good, yeah.
45:03The cosmos, yeah.
45:04There's not many come up, though.
45:06No.
45:07Maybe you've been overwatering them.
45:10I don't think so.
45:13Do you want me to film it and you do it?
45:19I'm here in my grandma's garden where it all started for me.
45:22I've always grown plants with my grandma ever since I could walk.
45:27We'll probably re-pot them now.
45:30Yeah, once they've had some feed.
45:31I think it gives them some feed.
45:32Yeah, they should come up, mate.
45:36We started sowing things like sweet peas and marigolds, didn't we?
45:41Yeah.
45:43And you're then starting with your own business with it.
45:45I didn't expect you to be doing that when I had you as a toddler and planting seeds, did I?
45:55In 2023, I started to lease some land where I've now built my small plant nursery, just a few miles away.
46:04Everything that I grow is peat-free.
46:11Even now, with a nursery of my own, Grandma's garden is still at the heart of everything I do.
46:17And it's where I come back to poach colour and inspiration.
46:20These are quite good.
46:24Have you had some of them?
46:25The franthias.
46:27I do have my eye on that brunner and I've got a few brunneries, but I could do with her.
46:32That's a really nice, tight one.
46:34Well, you can split it.
46:37Are you taking it all?
46:39Yeah.
46:40Oh, my goodness.
46:41I need all of it.
46:42Oh, my goodness.
46:43Without my Grandma introducing me to her garden and sowing seeds, I wouldn't be where I am today
46:52and I probably wouldn't know what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.
46:57So, I'm eternally grateful for Grandma.
47:02Listen, Dan, you can't keep taking all these plants from here because I need it all to be covered
47:08because otherwise it gets full of weeds.
47:11If I've got any left from Malvern, you can have some.
47:14I hope so because it's going to be better.
47:19Right, come on.
47:19We'll go and have a cup of tea.
47:22Come on.
47:27Morning, young man.
47:28Hello.
47:29You all right?
47:29Oh, you're done all right?
47:30Yeah, good luck.
47:30Come here.
47:31First show?
47:32First ever show, yeah.
47:33What's it feel like?
47:34It's been a journey to get here.
47:36Months and months of planning and growing and thinking,
47:39but it's all here now and it's come together really good
47:42and I'm really happy with the result.
47:44As you should be.
47:46I've just watched the film of you and Grandma in the garden.
47:50Yeah.
47:50She's like real inspiration, isn't she?
47:53Yeah, she's where it all started.
47:55We started growing sweet peas and marigolds in a garden in a greenhouse,
47:59growing them for teachers to cook for the end of term.
48:03And then, yeah, we started to grow plants and sell to neighbours
48:06and then it sort of tumble-rolled from there, really.
48:09And now I'm here.
48:10Does she know the medal?
48:12No, not yet.
48:12Have you sent her any pictures or anything?
48:14No, nothing yet.
48:15So can we get her on the phone or something?
48:17Yeah, we'll video call her.
48:18Yeah, come on then, let's do that.
48:20That'll be great.
48:21Absolutely great.
48:23Oh.
48:24There we go.
48:25Hello, Grandma.
48:27Hello.
48:27How are you?
48:29I'm all right.
48:30Bless you.
48:31And yourselves?
48:32He's done really well.
48:33Very happy.
48:34He's won a medal.
48:35Yes.
48:36What do you think?
48:37Oh, I don't know.
48:38Bronze.
48:41Ouch.
48:42He got a silver gilt.
48:43Silver gilt.
48:44That's brilliant.
48:46It's stunning.
48:47It's absolutely stunning.
48:48Well, he's very artistic.
48:50He's really good.
48:51He's had a good teacher.
48:52Well, I'll not say that, but...
48:55He's a bit of a tea leaf, isn't he?
48:56He tends to help himself to things.
49:00Oh, yeah.
49:01But so long as he brings them back.
49:03Well, I think what we could do is tag a few plants for you now that he has to bring back.
49:09He's got an astrantia that's behind us.
49:12Beautiful little sort of pale flowers.
49:14I think that'll look great in one of those gaps he's left near the front of the border.
49:18I'll be glad to have that, then.
49:20Yeah.
49:20And then what about maybe some digitalis, like some foxgloves or something,
49:24just to sort of pop through the borders?
49:26Oh, yeah.
49:27You can collect the seeds off the foxgloves, can't you?
49:29You can dig and divide the...
49:31You can.
49:31I can go back in and get them.
49:32Exactly, you can.
49:33The stand looks brilliant.
49:35Shall we show you a quick look at the display?
49:38Yes, please.
49:39I love what he's done with these old plastic pots, look.
49:42And he's got a lovely little path that goes all the way through.
49:46I didn't realise he had so many plants.
49:48Well, all the customers are starting to arrive, so we'd better go because they're waiting for Dan to sell him some plants.
49:56Oh, you don't sell all the love, Dan.
49:58I do.
49:59I can't have all the food.
50:01Bless you.
50:02Well, you look after yourself, sweetheart.
50:04Yeah, you take care.
50:05See you soon.
50:06See you soon.
50:06Good day.
50:08Cheers, darling.
50:08See you soon.
50:09Bye.
50:10Bye-bye.
50:10Bye.
50:11Well, you look like the captain of Coppola Creek.
50:25I am.
50:26I've just been into the Floral Marquis, which I think is my favourite place on the whole of this showground.
50:32I think after the winter, it's just seeing all those flowers.
50:35I get quite excited, but also catching up with the growers.
50:38I love the work that they put in.
50:40But also, this time of year, if you've got a keen eye, you can see maybe there's one or two new introductions that are being brought to market,
50:48because this is the time of year when it starts to happen.
50:51So you may have heard in the news today a new rose has been unveiled by RHS and Harkness Roses,
50:59and it's a plant family that's very close to Rachel's heart.
51:03And the reason why this one's so special is the cause that it supports.
51:08So you can imagine Rachel's excitement when she got an exclusive invitation to go and find out a little bit more about this very special rose.
51:18Gardening has always been a huge part of my life, but it's about so much more than nurturing plants and making a beautiful garden.
51:32Because gardening is also so good for you on many levels, your physical health, your mental health.
51:39And I really experienced that for myself firsthand a few years ago, when, like Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales, I was undergoing cancer treatment.
51:50And I was so grateful that I was already a gardener and was supported by all that nature has to offer.
51:57Like me, Her Royal Highness has always been passionate about engaging people with the outdoors, both in gardens and in the natural world.
52:10And to celebrate the healing power of gardening, the RHS has named a new rose after Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales.
52:19And it's been specially bred, hidden away here in Hertfordshire until today.
52:28I've come to meet Philip Harkness, who has led the team in creating this exciting new introduction.
52:36Oh, Philip.
52:38Hi, Rachel.
52:40Oh, this is very beautiful.
52:43Does it have a name?
52:44It does. It's called Cushions Rose.
52:46Oh, that's lovely.
52:48And it is a Floribunda, Shrub?
52:50It's a Floribunda, yep.
52:52It grows 1.1 metres tall, about 90 centimetres wide.
52:57But what's really special is the way it flowers.
53:00The iridescence of this petal, look at it, the colour there, it's just shining at you.
53:05Yes.
53:06And if we open that, you see it has an epidermis at the back, which has a range of pigments in.
53:15There's an epidermis on the top of the petal, and then you've got this white section in the middle.
53:20And the white section is the bit that makes it reflective.
53:24And it's just a thing of beauty.
53:27It is absolutely gorgeous.
53:28Can you tell me a bit about its parentage?
53:31Where has all this beauty come from?
53:32As a plant, it's got a fascinating breeding heritage.
53:36We go back to some German varieties, which are quite old.
53:39But things like Fragrant Cloud, which gave a lot of perfume.
53:43We've got that without the disease.
53:45It's got some heritage from New Zealand, which is Sexy Rexy, which is where all these buds come from.
53:51And it's got a lot of Harkness breeding, where we have focused so much on health and plant vigour.
53:57Can I smell it?
53:58It's not very open.
53:59You'll get some perfume.
54:00Oh, yes, you can, even though it's quite tight in buds still.
54:04It's extraordinary how it manages to get out.
54:07It's really exciting.
54:09I know you do a lot of breeding here.
54:11Can you show me how you go about that?
54:13I'd absolutely love to.
54:15Excellent.
54:21So, Rachel, this is the beginning of our seven-year process.
54:26So, we start by taking these petals off.
54:28And then we have to take the stamens and the anthers off.
54:34That just leaves the female part of the flower here.
54:37Okay.
54:37And so that will now sit there for the day to ripen.
54:41I'm ready to receive the pollen of our choice, which we will apply tomorrow.
54:45What happens next?
54:46So, that forms a seed pod.
54:48And the seed pods we harvest in October.
54:51We keep the seed over winter.
54:53We sow it in benches in January.
54:56We have about 25,000 seeds germinate.
54:5925,000 is a lot of seedlings.
55:02How on earth do you narrow those down?
55:04Well, you're looking for the good characteristics.
55:07The colour, the flower shape, the leaves, the foliage, the health.
55:11Most of them are a step backwards.
55:12So, we now are 25,000 down to 1,200 in one summer.
55:18What's the next thing?
55:20Well, they spent their first summer in the glasshouse benches.
55:23We then take them outside.
55:24Okay.
55:25Can we go?
55:25Yes, let's.
55:31So, we're surrounded by a sea of pots and little plants.
55:35And what stage is this?
55:37So, these are in the third year.
55:39And they've been outside here since November.
55:41So, this is the year threes.
55:43Yep.
55:44What happens after that?
55:45Okay.
55:45So, these are selected down to about 100.
55:48The ones which we like will propagate.
55:51We're doing all our propagation of our new varieties from cuttings now.
55:54In year five, the stars are quite apparent.
55:58We send them out to other locations.
56:00So, we see them in hotter climates, wetter climates, drier climates.
56:04So, from all of those seedlings, how many reach it to the year six stage that you're bulking up?
56:11Probably ten.
56:12But we will only introduce six of them because we always make some mistakes.
56:16That's extraordinary.
56:17I feel sort of even more now admiration for those plants that do make it through.
56:27So, this is our end of those seven years of breeding and trialling.
56:32And it's extraordinary.
56:32For me, it mirrors that journey that Her Royal Highness has gone through and I've gone through
56:38because it's got that strength and resilience and it's something very special.
56:43It's also, I think, benefiting in other ways.
56:46It is.
56:46Some of the proceeds of the sales will be going to the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity.
56:52And that is a fantastic cause.
56:55That is really wonderful.
56:57It's gorgeous, Philip.
56:59All in a day's work, but what a treat.
57:02All in seven years' work.
57:10That is a really lovely classic rose.
57:14And we'll be able to see it because it's going to be on display at Chelsea.
57:18It certainly will.
57:19So, none of us will have to wait very long because the BBC coverage starts Sunday the 18th of May.
57:27And yes, that rose will be there.
57:29Plus also, the show season now is well and truly up and going.
57:34Bring it on.
57:43Sit down.
57:44How lovely.
57:47Weight of the feet.
57:47A lovely, civilised way to finish, well, what I think, a lovely day.
57:52What about you?
57:52It's been a wonderful, wonderful day.
57:54It's a marvellous show.
57:56So, give me a colour that's jumped out at you over the show.
58:00Well, it might surprise you, but it's shades of blue.
58:04Yeah.
58:04And a plant?
58:05Come out here.
58:07And you?
58:07I knew you were going to say that.
58:09I think if I had to pick one highlight, it was meeting Dan, a new grower in there, 22 years old, first show, he's won a silver gill, and he's there engaging with the public.
58:20And for me, watching that new blood come through, absolutely magical.
58:24Lovely.
58:24Well, that's all we've got time for this evening.
58:28And if you want to visit RHS Malvern at Spring Festival, you've still got plenty of time because it's open until Sunday.
58:34And it's a lovely day out.
58:36Monty will be back next week at Longmeadow.
58:39In the meantime, look after yourselves.
58:41Bye for now.
58:42Goodbye.
58:47From begonias to busy lizies, creative combinations from the gardener's world, Flower Thesaurus, available now.
58:54And the search is on for Scotland's home of the year, country cottage or seaside sun trap, press red to watch on iPlayer.
59:00The twists and turns come to an end next, the series finale of Black Snow.
59:12I'm visiting five Nordic countries, Scandinavia.