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Gardeners' World (1968) Season 59 Episode 9
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00:00Here we are, Joe. Our first RHS flower show of the year.
00:05Yeah, it's fantastic.
00:06And I get this sort of sense of hope and anticipation and excitement.
00:11I mean, it's all of those things.
00:12Yeah, it all starts here, doesn't it?
00:14It does.
00:14Really, the whole show season starts here.
00:16What an incredible setting. We've got the Malvern Hills behind us.
00:20So it's Gardener's World coming from the RHS Malvern Spring Festival.
00:24And it's the show's 40th anniversary, so it's kind of a really special year.
00:29Yeah, there's about 100,000 people come through the gates.
00:32And they're looking for something a bit special, aren't they?
00:35Not plants you just buy in the garden centre and it's all here.
00:38Yeah, no, that's absolutely true.
00:39I mean, the floral market is absolutely packed with really unusual plants.
00:42And, of course, the growers know everything there is to know about those plants.
00:46So you get everything, don't you?
00:48Yeah, I love talking to the growers. I love talking to the visitors here.
00:52I love talking to the garden designers. I just love talking to everybody.
00:55Yeah, you're Mr. Loverman, aren't you? Definitely.
00:57Well, here's just a little taste of what we've got coming up.
01:04This glorious part of the world, where the three counties of Worcestershire, Herefordshire and Gloucestershire meet,
01:10offers some of the richest soil and one of the best growing landscapes in the UK.
01:15And in late spring, it never looks better.
01:19In the shadow of the Malvern Hills is the showground, a magnet for green-fingered visitors.
01:27It boasts a floral marquee bursting with blooms.
01:32I'll never tire of the spring colour on show. This is the start of my gardening year.
01:38This is my first show garden. I've never done anything like this before.
01:42I really cannot wait to see the plants delivered safely. That's my main concern of the moment.
01:50There's a festival of houseplants, which no other flower show offers.
01:56Houseplants can be hugely addictive. There's so many here, it's difficult not to get excited.
02:02When you do an RHS show garden, your house becomes full of plants.
02:07They're everywhere. Literally everywhere.
02:10I'll see you there, me lovers. Wish me luck.
02:14Some of the brightest minds in gardening of all ages apply their trade here.
02:21It's a show that honours the plants and the people of the past,
02:27whilst embracing the future gardeners and growers.
02:32Malvern is the three counties showground.
02:35So it's not just RHS to us, it's also the farming and the community.
02:39So it feels a bit like a spiritual home to us.
02:43And what other show has a view as good as this?
02:49There's nowhere on earth I'd rather be. This is the Nirvana for garden creatives.
02:54It's the enthusiasm of the crowds. It's almost like they've been locked up all winter
02:59and it'll put a smile on their face for the rest of the year.
03:10There's so much to see. Where are we going to start?
03:12I'd quite like to go to the Floral Marquis.
03:14Yeah, we're going to get there. Just calm down a little bit.
03:18The Floral Marquis is going to be there, but look, we're right next to the show gardens.
03:21OK, this is true. And the sun's shining.
03:23Yeah.
03:34I think this is one place called The One Garden, which I think is a brilliant name.
03:38And it celebrates the more than eight million people in the UK who live on their own.
03:44And garden on their own.
03:45And garden on their own too. It's a brilliant garden, this.
03:49I've got to say, from the front, you know, it really draws you in with the height of the boundaries,
03:54the black boundaries, setting off the plants.
03:56And then when you're in it, it's just got that courtyard feel.
03:59You know, this central rock, this sort of little zen thing going on.
04:03But also, I think the overall style, because of the brickwork,
04:07it's sort of slightly South American, but very British in a way at the same time.
04:12I mean, the bricks are extraordinary.
04:13It looks like the whole garden's been laced together, doesn't it? Extraordinary.
04:17And the colours in the bricks are fantastic.
04:19And just sort of echo through the planting, because I love that softness here.
04:23And this lovely geranium summer boar here.
04:26And these lovely soft pinks drifting through with the aquilegias.
04:30It's really beautiful.
04:30Yeah, and then it feels like it's spilling over these walls.
04:33Yes.
04:33The height changes the levels.
04:34Very abundant.
04:35Yeah, and the water behind us is gorgeous too.
04:39The sound is perfect, I would say.
04:41It can be a bit overwhelming in a small space sometimes.
04:43But you can really feel this being alive, this garden.
04:47It's a great job.
04:48I think it's fantastic.
04:56Blessings from the Sea tells the story of Korea's coastal scenery
05:00and the Chalippo Arboretum founded by Carl Ferris Miller in 1970.
05:06I like this rill a lot.
05:09The way it steps down and then actually the detailing on the inside.
05:13I like these edging tiles just sort of laid on their sides.
05:16So simple that one could do that.
05:19Now we might not all have a salt laden breeze to contend with,
05:23but what this garden does so well is show how low level planting can hunker down,
05:30protected from the wind.
05:31While shrubs like this flowering viburnum give you the height without fighting the elements.
05:51This is a beautiful garden.
05:53Ooh.
05:53Yes.
05:54I love them all, but they don't have to be rectangular.
05:56They can be any shape they want.
05:57Look at the show gardens.
05:59And this feels like it's been here forever.
06:01Yeah.
06:02It's got a real atmosphere, hasn't it?
06:03Yeah.
06:03But the whole thing here is about attracting and keeping and feeding
06:08and making beneficial spaces for birds.
06:11Yeah.
06:11That's the real key to it.
06:12And of course you've got to give them food sources through the planting pretty much.
06:16Yeah.
06:16And it's also that multi-layered thing, isn't it?
06:18So that you're feeding the birds directly, but you're also feeding insects, which in turn feed birds.
06:24Yeah.
06:24And I think this is absolutely fantastic.
06:26I love that with the dead hedge, because I think that's something we can all do, even in quite a
06:30small space.
06:31And there'll be loads of critters hiding in there and bringing in, you know, the birds.
06:35And a little bit of water, of course, and then the plant selection as well.
06:39So we've got things like the teasels, which finches love because they've got the seeds.
06:43And also, you know, they hold water as well, so birds can drink from them.
06:46And there's Achillia over there.
06:48Now, starlings make their nests from Achillia leaves because it's got anti-parasitic qualities.
06:54So they'll go for that specifically.
06:57So, you know, you really need to sort of hone it down and have a good variety of plants.
07:07Well, look, I'm going to go and look at the rest of the show.
07:09You stay here because I can see you falling in love with this garden.
07:12Very beautiful.
07:13I'm a bird.
07:14I'm a swift.
07:15I'm in my natural habitat.
07:16So you are a swift.
07:21It's a great garden.
07:22There's so many layers of interest.
07:25It really gets you thinking.
07:45I've been waiting all year for this.
07:48Back in the Floral Marquis, all of these stunning plants.
07:52And the best thing is as well that you've got the growers here and they know these plants inside out.
07:57So you're going to get really good horticultural advice.
08:07Well, here's something very close to my heart because I actually got into gardening because of alpines.
08:13My father really loved them and we had a rockery.
08:17It was the 1970s after all.
08:19And so to see these little saxophagas here, look at this.
08:22The foliage is just so kind of tight to the base.
08:26And then you've got these lovely airy flowers just opening in the white up here.
08:30And something else that's very special, this little miniature edelweiss here, which really speaks of the Alps.
08:37And it's easy to assume that because some of these flowers look so delicate that they're difficult to grow.
08:42But actually, they are bred to be really resilient.
08:46They're fully hardy.
08:47What they do need is really sharp drainage.
08:50Just make a little arrangement with a few bits of rock and some gravel around and they'll be perfectly happy
08:56in that.
09:00It's a bit of a squeeze.
09:05I've got something of a thing about scented leaf pelargoniums at the moment.
09:10So I'm looking for a couple more to add to my collection.
09:13And look at this one.
09:14This is fantastic.
09:15It's called Pink Capricorn.
09:17It's really beautiful, sort of strong magenta.
09:20I like that one very, very much.
09:22And I'm finding them actually very easy to grow.
09:25So I do protect them over the winter.
09:27They don't stay outside.
09:28They're not hardy.
09:29But also taking cuttings from them as an insurance is a good idea just to sort of keep having young,
09:36healthy plants.
09:37And they root actually very easily.
09:40But they're absolutely beautiful, this range of colours.
09:43The only thing is choosing which one to take home.
09:53I'm so drawn to this display and I think part of the attraction is the geoms, which are all over
09:58the show.
09:59And for good reason.
10:00They're fantastic plants.
10:01They're beautiful at this time of year.
10:03And then if you deadhead them, you get a second flush of these flowers.
10:11I love this pink petticoat because of that sort of really frilly tutu skirt.
10:15That's right.
10:16So I think it's very well named.
10:18And I like this one as well.
10:19Yeah, so that is Tempo Rose.
10:22A little bit taller.
10:23And it actually does better if it's in the semi-shade because the colour is more vibrant and richer.
10:30You can grow it in the sun, but I tend to advise customers to grow it in semi-shade really.
10:35That's a really good tip.
10:37That's exactly why we like to come and speak to you.
10:43Which ones do you like?
10:45Which ones are you buying?
10:46Mr Bojangles.
10:47Mr Bojangles.
10:47I'm looking for Mr Bojangles as well.
10:58Perfect.
10:59That bag is bulging with geoms.
11:02Thanks so much.
11:16Now Malvern is in the county of Worcestershire.
11:19And Worcestershire is renowned for its fruit and vegetable growing.
11:23And a lot of that is down to the clay based fertile soil.
11:28Now you might think, oh clay soil, that's a problem.
11:31But actually it isn't.
11:33There's a few basics you've got to get right.
11:35And on this feature garden, they show you what to grow, how to grow it, and how to improve the
11:40soil.
11:41I've got clay soil.
11:42Trust me.
11:43It's not a problem.
11:52So how do you know if you've got clay soil?
11:54Well the first thing to do is get a handful of it.
11:57Hold it tight.
11:58If it holds into a ball, it's clay soil.
12:00And actually clay soil, as long as you get plenty of organic matter into it, it'll turn it into the
12:06fertile soil we all want in our gardens.
12:08And more than 55% of topsoil in England and Wales is clay based.
12:14And here they show different ways of dealing with it.
12:18So here we've got dogwood stems.
12:20Now dogwoods grow really well on clay soil.
12:23And they've just used a chop and drop method, which is chopping it up and then leaving it on the
12:28beds.
12:29And that protects the soil.
12:30It stops it creating that sort of crust over the top and then it breaks down and improves the soil
12:36at the same time.
12:37So basically it's acting as a mulch.
12:43Now clay soils are fundamentally rich in nutrients.
12:47But they can be quite hard to work.
12:50And so that's why we mulch.
12:52We add organic matter.
12:53And we let the worms take that down and improve the aeration of the soil, moisture retention of the soil,
12:59fertility of the soil.
13:01So mulch about two inches thick.
13:03And you can use pretty much any organic matter.
13:06And here we've got some chopped straw.
13:08There's bark chips.
13:09We've got garden compost.
13:11Whatever you can get locally and in volume.
13:14There are many plants that grow really well in clay soil.
13:17But if you want to plant things that like a bit more drainage, like nepetas and salvias and alliums,
13:23then just build a raised bed.
13:24Put compost in it.
13:25Then those plants will grow in it.
13:27But they'll also get their roots right down into the clay soil where the nutrients are.
13:33Now here they're showing how to use clay in our gardens.
13:36But of course there's lots of other ways we can use clay.
13:52For the first time this year, they've introduced a new category called floral tablescaping.
13:59What is that? I hear you ask.
14:01Well, it's a judged floristry category in which a garden shed is completely decorated with blooms.
14:09And they include a bench for seating and of course the table itself.
14:13Absolutely covered in flowers.
14:16And who doesn't love a garden shed?
14:19This shed is spectacular.
14:21It's so abundantly filled with plants.
14:24You've got obviously all the greenery here hanging down from the top.
14:28And lovely oranges and soft pinks with the geom, the ranunculus just at the back.
14:34And then it drifts through those Iceland poppies to these lovely pure whites in the front with the sweet peas
14:39just dangling over the edge of the table.
14:42And I love this touch.
14:43Just a little collection of strawberries on the front.
14:47Definitely good enough to eat.
14:55Here we've got a nod to Victorian excess and it's very sumptuous.
15:00You've got these beautiful silks on the table.
15:03You've got fine china and crystal just setting the scene.
15:07And then all the flowers just sort of popping through in lovely shades of purple and orange.
15:12And I'm particularly drawn to these little violas in the pots.
15:15I think they're absolutely charming.
15:18And they really give you that sense of vintage.
15:20It's very beautiful.
15:25Now a few days ago we caught up with passionate grower Mike Arthurs from Taunton.
15:31He has developed a huge collection of his favourite plants with the help of a few feathered friends.
15:45There he is.
15:47Awesome boy.
15:48So this is Elegance.
15:50It's a lovely good grower.
15:51It's a blue hosta.
15:52And if you look in where it hasn't fully opened yet you start to see the blue coming up.
15:57It's got wonderful texture.
15:58Great size.
16:00Look at that.
16:00It's pushing out of the pot already.
16:03It wants to grow.
16:05It's a bit of a beast.
16:08My name's Mike and we grow hostas.
16:11Quite a number of them.
16:12We go to plant fairs and to the shows.
16:17What we like doing is we like educating people, entertaining them.
16:22It's lovely to bring a smile to people's faces.
16:30Look at that for a cupping.
16:32So this one is called Mike, which is quite nice.
16:35I like one named after myself.
16:37At least I can remember it then.
16:40We've got half an acre here.
16:43Triangular shape.
16:44So we've got a field on one side.
16:45Twenty-seven acres of woods that side.
16:47We purchased the woods here in 2019.
16:51And Janet, my wife, she said, what can we grow here?
16:55And we'd only grown about eight varieties.
16:58And here we are with just over 400.
17:01And about 12,500 hostas here on this one site.
17:09You'll find that there's a hosta for everyone.
17:12There's 7,000 registered, 20,000 unregistered.
17:16There's such a range of colors you can get with them.
17:18And then on top of that, you've got the flowers.
17:20Purple ones, you get the lavender, the whites.
17:23But you usually get striations of color within the flowers themselves.
17:26So they're quite complex.
17:27And then you've got fragrant as well.
17:29There's different forms of them.
17:31So you get upright ones, prostrate ones,
17:33ones that are low, some that are tall.
17:41There we go.
17:43So this is Empress Wu.
17:45She's not fully out yet.
17:46She's got a few holes, so she won't make a display at the moment.
17:49But she grew up to about 1.2 meters in height
17:53and over 2 meters across.
17:55And the leaves, they can get up to about, well, anything up to about a meter,
18:00some of them.
18:01So it can be very, very big.
18:02It's wonderful.
18:03One of the biggest hostas you can get.
18:08There are five sizes of hostas.
18:10So you have miniatures, which these are miniatures.
18:14You have smalls, mediums, large and giants.
18:19So with the miniatures, you treat them like a rockery plant.
18:23You give them good drainage and you constrain their roots and they're quite happy.
18:27The other advantage about the miniatures is that you can actually do the bonsaiing of them.
18:32So this here, both of these are slim and trim.
18:35And this is quite commonly used as a bonsai accent plant.
18:39So this one on my right is a normal full-size one.
18:43So this is up to the six inches as we'd expect.
18:46And you'll see the leaf size.
18:47And this one, just by virtue of the shallowness of the bowl, the leaf size is so much smaller.
18:53Almost about a third.
18:54So that's bonsaiing in action.
18:57You don't actually cut anything.
18:58You just open it out and plant it into the pot.
19:01Here we have the super mini.
19:03So you can see the difference in the pot size and the leaf size.
19:09Way, way smaller again.
19:11And then here, in this bowl, is a hosta in a thimble.
19:19In an actual thimble.
19:29Good girls.
19:30Yeah, you check under there.
19:33This is Sparty.
19:35So she's a khaki Campbell.
19:37She's almost coming up to 10 years old.
19:40We got you so as to help clear the place of ticks and other things around the site.
19:46So it's a natural way of doing it.
19:49And then we got Starina down there.
19:52Because we needed a slightly bigger duck to deal with slugs and snails.
19:59In terms of prevention, one of the simple techniques that you do is that you put a bit of shade
20:05netting
20:05at the bottom of the pot instead of crocks.
20:08If you don't have shade nettings, you don't have to buy it.
20:10You can actually go down the supermarket and if you buy some onions in a bag,
20:15you can use that as the netting.
20:16But it's very effective.
20:18And the reason for that is it stops the slugs and the wood lice from going in,
20:22laying a nest, laying eggs in the pots, and then going upstairs for the buffet.
20:30Another one is a very simple technique to protect a plant from slugs and snails.
20:35If you have a saucer about this size and a pot this size,
20:39if you put water in the bowl and then you raise the pot up just slightly out of the water,
20:46then as long as there's a three inch or seven and a half centimetre gap all the way around,
20:51the slugs and snails can't swim.
20:53The slugs and snails can stretch up to three inches or seven and a half centimetres.
20:57So that's why it has to be at least that much of a gap.
21:07I was brought up on a farm.
21:09The first 25 years of my life was on a farm.
21:12And the thing about being a farmer is whatever you do,
21:15it's about husbandry and looking after stock or plants or whatever.
21:20So yes, you have a desire that they be generated to the best of their abilities.
21:27Malvern is the three counties showground.
21:29So it's not just RHS to us, it's also the farming and the community.
21:33So it feels a bit like a spiritual home to us.
21:42Hostas are really important in life.
21:46Because you've got all these textures,
21:49all these forms, all these colours.
21:52Yeah, they're damn important.
21:54I couldn't do without those.
22:04mike i think you must have the happiest hostas in the land i mean they look really beautiful
22:10and they're gorgeous here as well i'm interested to know i like to let my hostas flower i enjoy
22:16the flowers but most people cut them off what do you think well we'd love to let them flower
22:22because we we think that they're incredibly beneficial to the insects they're all over
22:27them and the other thing is that there is such a thing as a fragrant hosta so why wouldn't you
22:32grow some for the flowers when you can get a wonderful scent from them and then you have
22:36the opportunity once you collect the seeds to possibly make a new variety of hosta that's very
22:41exciting isn't it it is i think so how unusual is it to have fragrance in a hosta flower so
22:47there's
22:48something in the region about 7000 plus registered varieties and 20 000 unregistered but only about
22:53130 fragrance ones so quite rare comparison so when you're hybridizing your hostas is fragrance something
23:03that you aim for we want to get a big bread stemmed with some blue tops but fragrance as well
23:10so we
23:11definitely want to keep that in mind of what we're developing and we've actually got a couple that have
23:16already developed some fragrance which came as a bit of a surprise to us pleasant surprise mind you
23:21well that sounds really exciting something to look forward to i can't wait to see them here in a few
23:26years
23:31we're lucky to have some of the world's leading experts and brightest horticultural minds at these
23:36shows and with all that knowledge around you've got to tap into it
23:46wow this is beautiful look at that
23:50that really is a picture
23:53hello mate how are we yeah how are you looking all dapper yeah i thought i'd bring it out it
23:59doesn't come out that often
24:00you're master grower this year yeah we are yeah fantastic so what does that mean
24:05well it just means a lot of hard work and a lot of stress basically there's recognition of your
24:10of course yeah contribution two big collections of the succulents and the national collection of
24:15auriculars and it's just nice to bring them all together yeah and let everybody see them wow what a
24:19display honestly we're quite impressed with it and easy to look after oh a doddle yeah all it is is
24:26in
24:26the winter you mustn't keep them outside they've got to be frost free plenty of light definitely when
24:31outside in the summer good drainage is the most yeah most important and propagating them i know
24:36you're dying to get your knife out yeah make sure when you cut the aeonium give it a good few
24:40inches
24:41take off a few of the bottom leaves and there you go that is your plant for you that's for
24:47me yeah
24:47that's really sweet yeah thank you the missus is gonna do with it you're gonna take out and put it
24:52on
24:52your kitchen windowsill for a couple of weeks or a week yeah yeah because you let them callus over yeah
24:55let
24:56them dry stop any sap coming off yeah put it in a nice gritty compost in a couple of weeks
25:01it'll be rude you're putting yourself out of business i know i know i know i remember your
25:06lovely dad he started the whole bowler hat thing he did he did always dressed so smartly and now i'm
25:11copying him yeah but there's now a third generation now oh really it is bring jody over here a minute
25:17come on yeah here she is with the bowler hat she's got her bowler hat fantastic so do you like
25:26all this
25:26gardening business um i don't know you're master grower this year are we yeah well it's been lovely
25:35to meet you all thank you very much thank you very much you're the master grower you're the master grower
25:41basket it you're the master grower you're the master grower you're the master grower it's like being on the football
25:48terraces
25:49your the master grower now there's one gardener here who has designed her first ever show garden
26:06inspired by what some would say is a forgotten art we caught up with laura pennevere a couple of weeks
26:13to go as she prepared herself for this exciting moment.
26:26Flower pressing, it's a very mindful craft.
26:32It allows me to slow down, notice things about the flowers, the colours.
26:40You have to really be present and engaged in what you're doing.
26:48My name is Laura, I'm a garden designer and a gardener based in West Sussex.
26:53This is my first show garden, I've never done anything like this before.
26:59My garden at the RHS Malvern Spring Festival is dedicated to the art of flower pressing
27:06because it's a craft that I really love.
27:11The garden invites visitors to slow down, take notice of the flowers
27:16and I thought is a very good metaphor for us appreciating the beauty of nature,
27:22appreciating that it passes, it's not forever and we have to preserve it.
27:31You have to pick flowers on a dry day, so if it's a morning, wait for the dew to dry.
27:38And you look for ones that have quite thin petals, they will press really well,
27:43like daisies or like this GM.
27:46Anything that's not too juicy, as that creates moisture.
27:50So these would be absolutely perfect.
27:55I had a lovely childhood, I grew up in Bulgaria.
27:59My grandparents had a huge garden, they used to grow their own vegetables, fruit,
28:06had animals, my granddad used to speak to his plants and to his animals.
28:11That was something that really taught me to love nature.
28:15That was our playground, so it was a really, really wonderful place.
28:20My mother is also a keen gardener.
28:23She loves flowers, she loves flowering perennials
28:26and I took the love for aesthetics and design from her.
28:33We want to create a sort of sandwich, so first we put our cardboard,
28:38then we put a layer of our blotted paper.
28:42Here I've got this beautiful geom called Totally Tangerine.
28:48The colour is beautiful, it's just such a lovely flower.
28:55And then next to it I'm putting flowers from Brunnera macrophilia.
29:01They're just so incredibly delicate.
29:03These will be going into my show garden, which is extra special.
29:10I took on a traditional career path.
29:14I studied law but then went into the digital space.
29:17But I always had this yearning to be outside, to be amongst plants.
29:22For my 30th birthday I gave myself, as a present, a Coruscant garden design.
29:28And I've never looked back.
29:31This will preserve the flowers for a very, very long time.
29:34And you can even press things like your cut flowers that you receive, your bouquets,
29:38and sort of like eternalise them, giving them a second life.
29:48So this is my garden. It's nice and sunny.
29:51I've designed this garden to be interesting all throughout the year.
29:56And I've taken a lot of these plants and incorporated them in my design for the show garden.
30:02So for example, the geom, Totally Tangerine, the Rigoron, and this beautiful green Hakone Cloa.
30:10They are some of my favourite plants and I wanted to make the garden as authentic and me as possible.
30:22I don't have enough space for all the flowers I'm pressing for my Morvan garden.
30:27So a local nursery where I used to work offered me some space to store them, which has been great.
30:33So we've got 1500 plants here.
30:36We've got a mixture of ornamental grasses and ferns and a whole lot of flowering perennial.
30:43As you can see, lots of buds, not that much colour, which makes me nervous.
30:50We've got a lot of poppies, which don't have stalks yet, so that makes me very nervous.
30:55We've got aquilegia, which has a lot of buds.
30:59Salvia, epimedium, eriguron, again, lots of buds.
31:04We also have some oxydaisies here that, again, have a lot of buds.
31:12My hopes for the garden are that it inspires people to take on the craft of flower pressing, but also
31:22inspires them to grow more flowers because they're so good for our pollinators.
31:27And to just appreciate and enjoy nature.
31:32We're giving the plants a good water, and we have dissolved into the water high potassium feed to ensure that
31:41the flowering perennials do flower for when we need them to.
31:46Usually you would do this biweekly, but for us it's important to give them the best chance that they can
31:56have.
31:56I really cannot wait to see the plants delivered safely. That's my main concern of the moment.
32:07I'm very, very excited. It's been such a roller coaster, but I've put so much effort and love into this.
32:15It feels quite surreal that all of my friends and family are going to come to a garden that I've
32:21dreamt of and I've actually created.
32:25It feels really exciting and I just really hope that I do them proud and they like it.
32:51Well, this is exciting, Laura. You've done it.
32:54Very exciting.
32:55You've done it and it's brilliant.
32:56Yes, here we are and it's real. It's finally happened. My vision's come to life.
33:01Yeah. Is it how you wanted it to look?
33:03It's everything I hoped for and more. It's been a roller coaster, but I would definitely do it again. It's
33:09very addictive.
33:10So your plants here, I mean, it really is vibrant. You've got oranges and blues.
33:13Absolutely. And I have the textures, the height, everything I hoped for.
33:18I think the anthriscus has blown my mind and the aquilegia, everything is doing what it's supposed to be doing.
33:26So we've got this structure, this canopy above us, which, again, takes the theme of flower pressing.
33:30That's exactly right, yes. And we are using plywood which is used to make flower presses.
33:36And it's a nice little shady spot as well. And also the visitors can actually walk through your snaking path,
33:41right?
33:41Yes, absolutely.
33:42So they can experience it for themselves.
33:43Yes, they can come in. We're going to have some instructions for them to cut some flowers and press them.
33:50Hang on a minute. You're letting the visitors loose. You're letting them loose in your...
33:53Well, I will...
33:54They need overseeing, trust me. Don't just give them a pair of scissors and say go for it.
33:58I will be here to assist and, yes, answer any questions and help out.
34:04Well, it's lovely. I mean, the whole flower pressing theme, it sort of throws me back to my childhood.
34:08Because I remember pressing flowers with my mum and now I've got a granddaughter.
34:12And I think it's something that she would absolutely love to do and you've shown how to do it.
34:17This garden is for everyone, children, elderly, whoever wants to get involved.
34:23I'm not that elderly.
34:24No, no, not yet.
34:26You're the perfect age, golden age.
34:30Oh, beautifully put. Well done, Laura. It's a great garden. People are going to absolutely love it.
34:35Thank you so much. I appreciate it.
34:45I've just discovered this new section.
34:48It's being featured at the RHS Malvern Spring Festival for the very first time and it's called Blooming Borders.
34:56It's very beautiful and going to be such a hit with the crowds.
35:06We've got a backbone here of native hedging because this whole garden design is about catering to the needs of
35:14wildlife.
35:15Hawthorn being really dominant, but there's field maple and other things.
35:20And then just to show how you can combine native plants with ornamentals.
35:24It just filters softly through. We've got the cow parsley intermingling with the thalictrum in that lovely soft mauve.
35:31And then the pinks come in. There's a lovely scabius there called Cudo Pink.
35:36So it's taking that approach where everything combines to be beneficial for wildlife and looks beautiful too.
35:52This border is all about bringing that equilibrium into every part of your life.
35:58So you've got these three conifers just making sort of pillars of strength all the way through this end of
36:04the garden.
36:04But then with that all of the planting just sort of melds beautifully together with lots of movement from the
36:11grasses and from the bronze fennel.
36:14And then anchored between that in fantastic colours.
36:18The GMs are really striking and of course the irises.
36:20So there's the beautiful Jane Phillips which is a classic iris in a soft blue.
36:26And then Benton Susan, a real eye catcher, right in the middle.
36:37This is a representation of a human eye.
36:40So right at the centre you've got that bowl of still water, that's the iris.
36:44And then all around it these wonderful kaleidoscopic colours.
36:49So we've got the soft mauves of the foxgloves and the alliums coming through to a blue of the Camassia.
36:55And then this big sea of orange GMs.
36:58And right at the front you've got Ophiopogon.
37:01Those are the lower eyelashes.
37:03And these ones here, these bamboos, represent the upper eyelashes.
37:08I think it's extremely clever.
37:10And yes, very beautiful.
37:26Ah, the festival of houseplants.
37:29Well, it's a festival within a festival.
37:31And it's been a great addition to the show over the last three years.
37:34It's absolutely buzzing in here.
37:37And if you've got a garden, well, houseplants are a great addition.
37:40And if you haven't got a garden, they're essential, aren't they?
37:43A great way of channelling your horticultural energy.
38:00Rachel, I'm loving your new office.
38:02I've got to say, you're looking so studious as well.
38:05Do you know what? I'm in my happy place.
38:07Plants, books, perfect.
38:09This is my idea of a good garden.
38:11It's like an explorer's office, isn't it?
38:13You travel around the world and you pick plants up and artefacts and you bring them home and you surround
38:19yourself with it.
38:20I love that.
38:20And just look at the monstera there.
38:22You know, that wonderful effect on the leaves of variegation.
38:25And it's like some paint's been just splattered across it.
38:27But I like the scale that that gives.
38:29Yeah.
38:29And then we sort of go down to these small things, like the little terrarium.
38:33Just that sort of miniaturisation almost.
38:35That's a beautiful little mini landscape.
38:37Really, really gorgeous.
38:38I also like the use of space here just to green up the room in general.
38:41You know, the sort of tearing effect of all these pots and plants.
38:45And also they purify the air, don't they?
38:47So, you know.
38:48They're good for you.
38:49They're good for you.
38:49On many, many levels.
38:50The lushness of it.
38:52And I also like the air plants and the way that they just sort of drifting down the front of
38:57the bookshelves.
38:58It's sort of like a bit Miss Havisham.
38:59It's like it could do with the dusting.
39:01Yeah.
39:02We could do that, yeah?
39:03I do a lot of dusting at home.
39:04I'm not starting here at Malvern though.
39:14I'm really liking this.
39:16It's sort of very sleek and modern, very calming.
39:19Because there are so many plants growing in here.
39:21It's fantastic.
39:22It's a kitchen plus.
39:24And a lot of these are edibles.
39:25We've got micro veg under the grow lights over here in these alcoves.
39:29You know, they're very low energy.
39:31And also the herbs behind us, lots of plants respond and you can grow all year round.
39:36So, past the oregano time.
39:38But come on.
39:39Look at this centrepiece.
39:40This is what everyone's going to be talking about.
39:42This kumquat is amazing, isn't it?
39:44It's really something, I must say.
39:46And I like the way that they've kind of removed all of the lower growth that must have been there.
39:50Just to sort of lift the crown so you've got a proper parasol to eat under.
39:54Fantastic.
39:55This was grown from seed in the UK and it's about seven years old.
40:00So, there's hope for every garth now.
40:17Wow, this is a beautiful specimen tree.
40:19This is Betula nigra, the river birch.
40:22This lovely sort of open canopy and the pink peeling bark is just gorgeous.
40:28But often underneath a tree, you'll have no planting at all.
40:33And there's nothing worse than just seeing black soil.
40:36And at the show this year, I've seen some beautiful underplanting.
40:40We've got colour and texture.
40:42So, we've got this anthriscus raven's wing.
40:45This lovely frothy form of cow parsley with the lovely dark purple stems.
40:50And then we've got this lovely knapweed.
40:53This is called geordie.
40:55The flowers are just wonderful.
40:57Picks up on the stems of the cow parsley.
40:59And then at the front of the border here, we've got a really good grass.
41:03And I use it all the time.
41:04It's evergreen.
41:05It grows in sun or shade.
41:07This is Cecilia autumnalis.
41:10We've also got the vertil accents of the foxgloves.
41:13We've got geraniums in there.
41:15There's a lot going on.
41:16But it's a great selection of plants under this birch.
41:20But I'm going to go and find some more plants in the Floral Marquis
41:22that are great for this.
41:23Sort of ground cover stroke underplanting.
41:36I just love this burrum too.
41:38They're brilliant for underplanting.
41:40I like how graceful the arching stems are.
41:43And they thrive under taller plants
41:44and can cope with wetter soils too.
41:51For drier, shady conditions, look to woodland plants.
41:55And this exhibit is absolutely exquisite.
41:58Yeah, we've got ferns and Solomon's seal,
42:00but the stars of the show have got to be these epimediums.
42:04And they come in a range of colours, but they're so delicate and dainty.
42:08Well, they look it, but actually they're quite hardy.
42:11You can grow them in shade.
42:13They'll cope with really cold winters.
42:16But spring is when they do their thing.
42:18I'm a little bit obsessed with this one,
42:20which is called Wushanensi Caramel.
42:24And the sprays of these delicate little flowers are just incredible.
42:29And as the new foliage emerges, it's often got bronzy tints on it.
42:34And then again in the autumn, it goes a really good colour.
42:37And they can cope with really dry conditions once established.
42:41Water them for the first year or two, and then they should be fine.
42:45And they are just stunning.
42:47This is one of the best exhibits I've seen for a long time.
43:05Now this really takes me back.
43:07In fact, I remember my mum making a patchwork quilt using fabrics that were very much like this.
43:12The whole thing is designed by Lena Hibbert.
43:15And I think it's absolutely wonderful.
43:18And she recorded her progress as she prepped for the big event.
43:27So this is what my house is now looking like.
43:31When you do an RHS show garden, your house becomes full of plants.
43:36They're everywhere, literally everywhere.
43:45I don't own a garden yet.
43:48So having the houseplants are one way I can bring nature with me wherever I go and move.
43:55Houseplants are great for me.
43:58Nature in general inspires everything I do.
44:01And influences very heavily in the jobs I take as well.
44:04My first job at a garden centre.
44:06And I now work at another little houseplant shop.
44:10It's also so rewarding.
44:12And I could not imagine my life without houseplants now.
44:17So this is a Homolumina Maggi.
44:20I love a Homolumina Maggi.
44:22I always recommend it because it is just so hardy.
44:26They want a nice bright space.
44:28So like an east or west facing window.
44:31So this is a giant Allocasia Sabrina, which will be at the show.
44:36This is an absolute stunner of a plant.
44:40I love Allocasia Sabrina because of its texture on its stem.
44:47Looking after all of these houseplants for the show means I'm going to have to keep on top of watering.
44:51But I always use my bake a cake method to help me know when to water.
44:57So with a trusty stick and like baking a cake, you pop the stick in like so.
45:04And when it comes out clean, I know the plant is thirsty and really needs a drink.
45:11But if I was to pop the stick in and it came out dirty, I know the soil is still
45:15wet and I wouldn't need to water the plant.
45:21I'm a massive fern lover.
45:24I love ferns.
45:25They're probably one of my favourite species.
45:27I've got different Platyserums.
45:28This one, for example, is a Platyserum hilly.
45:30And these guys are mounted on oak planks.
45:34I have got some dwarf varieties here, which will be at the show.
45:39But before they can go, they need to be mounted like their bigger brothers.
45:43So that little guy is going to sit like that.
45:46It's a little bit fiddly, but it's also very therapeutic.
45:53Having the moth on helps retain the water for the fern.
46:01And there we go.
46:04It's so cute.
46:11I'm so excited about Morven.
46:14It has been a dream of mine since I was a kid to do an RHS show garden.
46:19And the fact I'm finally getting to do it is amazing.
46:26So that is it.
46:27Me here in Bristol showing you my plants.
46:30And the next time you will see me and these plants is at the RHS show garden.
46:35So I'll see you there, me lovers.
46:37Wish me luck.
46:56Well Alina, your passion and enthusiasm certainly comes through.
47:00So the whole 70s theme that's throwing me back to my childhood, I'll be honest with you.
47:05Yeah.
47:05Where did that come from?
47:06So I love looking through my family photo albums.
47:10My dad has a massive collection at home.
47:12And I love looking through them and seeing all of the old decor and them as kids in these really
47:17retro homes.
47:18And I just love the earth tones, 70s deco use.
47:22It feels really grounding and comforting.
47:24So yeah, I love it so much.
47:27Well, you certainly recreated it, that's for sure.
47:30We've got to say the moss that you used.
47:32Yes.
47:32It was from a sustainable source.
47:34Yes.
47:34You can't just go and forage moss and start sticking it in your house.
47:38No, absolutely not.
47:38No, no, totally not.
47:39It's really important to keep it safe and sustainable.
47:42If you're taking a moss from a forest, you're going to ruin an ecosystem.
47:45So really important to keep it sustainable.
47:48Yeah.
47:48For sure.
47:49Now that is not a house plant.
47:50That's a chrysanthemum.
47:51It is indeed.
47:53So what's the story behind it?
47:55So this chrysanthemum, because my great-granda was a very passionate chrysanthemum grower,
48:00it's been named after him.
48:02So this chrysanthemum is Leonard Knight.
48:05And he used to enter chrysanthemums into competitions back in the day.
48:08It was actually kind of lost for a few years and my nan couldn't find it for a little while.
48:15Right.
48:15And she finally this year got some cuttings back, which was fantastic.
48:19And yeah, I'm really hoping to get it to flower this year and make him proud.
48:23Lovely.
48:23What a lovely story.
48:24Will he be proud of you?
48:26Because you got a gold medal as well.
48:28Which is incredible.
48:30Your first tight attempt ever.
48:31Yeah.
48:32I mean, it sings gold medal, this girl.
48:34Thank you so much.
48:35Yeah.
48:36It must be in the blood.
48:37You know.
48:38He must be so proud.
48:39He won loads of gold medals for his chrysanthemums and it must just be in there and he's looking
48:43down right now.
48:44Are we going to see you around a bit more?
48:46I think we are.
48:46Oh, totally.
48:47I've got the bug now.
48:48Yeah.
48:49I need to do more.
48:51Excellent.
48:52Well done.
49:04I do love a foxglove, whether it's the simple beauty of our own native digitalis purpurea,
49:11which has not so many flowers on the stem, but it's sort of a lovely charm.
49:16And that's a biennial.
49:17It takes two years to complete its life cycle.
49:20Alternatively, there's something like Apricot Beauty, which has flowers all the way around
49:25the stem.
49:26They're really sort of packed in and it's a short lived perennial.
49:29So you're going to get probably three consecutive years of flowers from that plant.
49:34But what they both do is give you that wonderful vertical accent.
49:38So they're like a punctuation mark through the planting.
49:42And the other way that you can get that height, of course, is by using a climber, perhaps
49:46on a tripod or an obelisk.
49:48And there are so many fantastic climbers at the moment just coming into their very best
49:55time of year.
49:56We went to visit Marcel de Fossard, nurseryman, and his thing is clematis.
50:11Do I have a favourite clematis?
50:14On the Monday, it could be Crystal Fountain when it opens up.
50:19On the Tuesday, it could be Clematis Bourbon.
50:22That's what they're like.
50:22You have a favourite on every day of the year, pretty much.
50:27You suddenly look over your shoulder and there's another clematis waving at you and
50:29you say, what about me?
50:31Aren't I the favourite?
50:32Reminds me very much of my daughters, actually.
50:36My name's Marcel de Fossard.
50:38I run a clematis nursery, which has been going now for, crikey, 25, no, 35 years.
50:44We grow about 5,000 to 6,000 clematis and other climbers on our nursery.
50:51You can have them in flower every single month of the year.
50:54They come in all different shapes and sizes.
50:56One of the tiny little vornas, which are only about an inch long, so the saucer-shaped one,
51:01like this crystal fountain here, the flowers can be up to six to eight inches across.
51:07All I can say is that they're the second passion of my life.
51:10My wife is my first passion, of course.
51:12My clematis is my second passion.
51:16Here we have Clematis Ice Blue.
51:18Absolutely lovely.
51:19If you've got a bit of shade, this is the plant for you.
51:22Hardly down to minus 20, height up to six feet.
51:25Flowers for you May, June, and again in August, September time.
51:28What more can you ask for?
51:33I was walking around Chelsea Flower Show back in 1984, and I looked at these flowers,
51:38and I thought, wow, what are these?
51:40And the person behind the stand said, these are clematis.
51:43By the end of that year, my parents had put up with 90 clematis in their garden.
51:47And I was only speaking to someone the other day, and I was thinking,
51:50I can't believe that I'm still into this plant sort of 42 years later,
51:55from when I first sold my Chelsea Flower Show.
51:58Wow, look at this.
52:00This is Clematis Giselle.
52:01It flowers for you May, June, and again August, September time.
52:05But it's the flower power is what I love about this.
52:07Masses and masses and masses.
52:10But also this beautiful Victorian pink comes out quite dark and gradually fades off.
52:18Beautiful.
52:23So I'm going to put this clematis and I'm going to show you how to do it.
52:26The first thing you've got to do is get yourself a decent sized container,
52:3018 inches wide by 18 inches deep.
52:32The next thing is, get some crops.
52:35That's going to aid your drainage.
52:37You've got to get yourself a decent loam-based compost.
52:42That has a bit of oomph in it, so it's going to last a long time.
52:45Because what you've got to think about is this clematis is going to be in this container up to 10
52:51years.
52:51So you've got to get a good base.
52:53You want to be mixing this with a little bit of horticultural grit.
52:57This is a sharp grip, again, which is aiding drainage.
53:00You've got to remember they're part of the ranunculae family.
53:03So just like delphiniums, they like water, but they like to be able to get rid of it.
53:09So I'm also going to add in some of my own special mix compost,
53:13which we grow all our clematis in.
53:15And within this, we have a slow-release fertiliser, which will feed it for 12 to 14 months.
53:21You're going to be planting this deep.
53:23It's got to be three to four inches deeper than what it is in the pot.
53:26You've got a lovely root system there.
53:28You want to tease that out just slightly.
53:30So the reason you plant them deep, the big flowering hybrids, it's for one reason only.
53:34And that's against, I hate to say it, the dreaded clematis wilt.
53:37But as long as you follow my instructions, you shouldn't have a problem.
53:42And remember, clematis like their roots in the shade.
53:46So I'm going to cover this all up with a nice layer of halty-cortical grit, which is going to
53:53shade the roots.
53:55And also going to help hold in some of the moisture.
53:59Now I can enjoy these flowers and can go, wow, this is lovely.
54:04Or what you can do, and what you should do, is look at your plant and think, I need to
54:09prune this back.
54:10So a couple of nodes of each stem.
54:13I know you'll foregoing the flowers, but by doing this, you will end up with about 12 to 14 stems.
54:22Because every node, you'll get two shoots come out.
54:24And then what will happen, because remember, this is crystal fountain.
54:27It doesn't just flower for you once in April, May.
54:29It won't flower for you again in August, September time.
54:33Now it may seem a little bit brutal, but it is definitely worth it.
54:36Because this is what you're going to end up with in a year's time.
54:45Obviously we have pruned this back hard, because we want to get a strong, bushy plant.
54:49How do I know when to prune my clematis?
54:52If it flowers before June, no need to prune.
55:02Here we have clematis azara.
55:04She's just starting to pop, but it's a week to go before Malvern.
55:09So all the rest of those beautiful birds have to burst open.
55:12So what I'm going to do now, I'm going to check first of all that there's no weeds at the
55:16base of my pot.
55:17Any yellow leaves, I will take off.
55:20And any stems which have gone a bit lax, I will tie back in, but only gently so they don't
55:24look like they've been strangled.
55:38The reason why we put up the shade netting is to slow down the clematis.
55:43Because we don't want them to go over before the Malvern spring flower show obviously.
55:48Keeps them cooler and the flowers don't get bleached out.
55:54I was asked the other day what was my favourite show, and it is always Malvern spring flower show.
55:58It's the beginning of the calendar year for the big flower and clematis, and it's when we can do the
56:03biggest impact.
56:06But it's the enthusiasm of the crowds.
56:09It's almost like they've been locked up all winter and they can't wait to get out into the gardens,
56:13get those lovely clematis in there, get them growing, and it will put a smile on their face for the
56:17rest of the year.
56:19You'll see at least 20 different varieties of clematis on our stand,
56:22and hopefully, hopefully, they would have made it out into flower.
56:37Marcel. Hello.
56:39How are you doing? Nice to see you again.
56:40I'm doing all right, Jane. I'm doing fine.
56:42Your exhibit is absolutely gorgeous. Everything here is grown in containers, right?
56:47And you said that if you put it in a container, it will live up to 10 years.
56:51Up to 10 years. The best thing to feed them with is a high potassium liquid fertiliser.
56:56Once a week or once fortnight prior to flowering.
56:58Now, if you happen not to have any liquid food, have a banana.
57:04Have a banana.
57:05Have a banana.
57:06Have a banana, peel off the skin, chuck it at the base. Potassium again.
57:09And also, people think they're sort of, they're huge plants, clematis,
57:12but you can grow a lot of these in a small garden and they won't take over.
57:16Yeah, quite happily. People have this thing, everything's got to go up.
57:18You can go horizontally, clematis.
57:21You can even have them on balconies and you can let them drape over.
57:24So they look fantastic in any situation, pretty much.
57:27Yeah, so they're really versatile. They certainly are.
57:29Here, you've brought some absolute beauties.
57:31I'm having this one because this is just gorgeous.
57:33I mean, look at that. It's sort of velvety, wine-red, nubia. It's beautiful.
57:38It's absolutely lovely. It's going to grow to three to four feet for you.
57:41Flower in May, June, then it'll dip, then it'll come in again,
57:45and it'll finally have one last flourish in August, September time.
57:47It's beautiful. Marcel, the Malvern Clematis King. Lovely to see you again.
57:53Thanks, Steve. Cheers.
58:05Ah, here you are. Turn my back for five minutes.
58:08You've built another show garden, Rachel.
58:10I wish. It's so beautiful, isn't it?
58:12Lovely and calming, isn't it?
58:13Yeah, what a fantastic day we've had.
58:15Oh, glorious. Amazing.
58:17What a show.
58:18What a show.
58:1940th anniversary, you can see, is a special year, definitely.
58:23Well, sadly, that's all from us here at the RHS Malvern Spring Festival.
58:28But the show itself is open until Sunday, so I highly recommend that you come and take a look for
58:34yourself.
58:35Yeah, if you can make it, do. But from us, it's goodbye.
58:38Bye.
58:44Happy 100th birthday to David Attenborough. Watch his greatest adventure, making life on Earth, on iPlayer.
58:51We can also watch the realities of life inside Scotland's biggest prison, follow the inmates inside Barlini.
58:57Next ideas for your greenhouse to Beechgrove Garden.
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