- 2 days ago
Category
🚗
MotorTranscript
00:28Hello
00:29and welcome to the Royal Horticultural Society's Chelsea Flower Show 2026, an event supported
00:36by Range Rover. Here at the showground, the heat has finally arrived, it's sweltering
00:42and with Chelsea marking the start of the summer season, today we're going to help you
00:47get your garden ready for the warmer weather ahead. Coming up, Carol Klein discovers the
00:54most fragrant night-scented plants to help you enjoy those long summer evenings. We reveal
01:00the winner of the RHS Chelsea Plant of the Year, the exciting new variety that impressed
01:06the judges more than any other. You'll certainly want to get that in your garden. And I will
01:12be meeting the fashion designer Dame Zandra Rhodes, who's taken us on a tour of her London
01:17Garden up in the sky. But first, there's nowhere better to celebrate the great British summertime
01:23than by the seaside, which has inspired this, the Eden Project Bring Me Sunshine Garden, designed
01:30by Harry Holden and Alex McKellis. This building, actually I hesitate to call it a building, it
01:36feels like a structure, doesn't it? It is. It's a large kind of muscle here. It's a spidery
01:40structure. Feels like an open space. Presumably, it is a teaching space. It is. It's to gather
01:48in the centre around London. Yeah, no, definitely. It's a, it's a, there's going to be a community
01:52garden space outside the Eden Project. And so this structure is definitely to bring young
01:57people together. Yeah. There's going to be a lot of teaching of horticulture, because in
02:02that area, they need to upskill their own community. So I think that idea of bringing everybody
02:07together is going to be really great. Well, of course, yeah, by the seaside, you can't
02:10help but notice shells. There's shells on the paths, shells by the side of the water. And
02:14I believe shells in the paths and the walls. Well, there is. This is a developed new product,
02:20if you like, clam creek, shell creek, but it has used local shells bound with limestone and
02:26another binder. And they've used it in the paving areas and on the walls, which actually has
02:32got a lot of innovation around it. And it's got a low carbon footprint. And then, of course,
02:35the planting. And that's what people come to see. I often feel that there's a huge amount
02:40of effort going into the sort of the new material and what have you. A lot of people don't notice
02:44that, that they're coming in and they're looking at the planting and you have a meadow in the
02:48front and you have the planting around this space. It's quite a big space. And actually,
02:51this is the first time I've been on this garden. And it looks much better from the inside
02:58looking out. And when I say better, there's just more to see. Now, that's probably a design
03:03flaw in terms of the show, but not at all in terms of its relocation, which I believe is
03:09going as part of that project in Morecambe. Yeah, this is all going. So I think that there'll
03:12be a rearrangement. Obviously, they come via Chelsea. But I think, again, as you say, with
03:17the planting, there's inspiration for those people living by the coast and Tora and Crombe,
03:22you know, tough plants that need to really deal with the salt. It's summer season now,
03:27we all say, but it ain't summer season in Morecambe in January and February. These plants have to be
03:33good. They have to be on point. But I have to say, the reflection from that water is looking very
03:38good
03:38on your face. I'm getting a little dappled light. You look lovely too, darling. Well, from the seaside,
03:45now to some bright and bold summer colours. All week, Jamie has been looking at the planting
03:51trends to emerge from the show this year. And tonight, he's discovering that the theme of many
03:58designers seems to be the brighter the better.
04:08Sometimes, when it comes to using colour in a garden, too much just is never enough.
04:14And this garden is the perfect example of it. From this orange backdrop coming down to these green
04:20upcycled filing cabinets. And then this most sumptuous, colourful, joyful planting. From these
04:28geoms and nasturtiums and geraniums. Digitalis, Achilles. More is more sometimes. This planting
04:37is full. It's sumptuous. It's uncompromising. From these pink Armerias to these red nasturtiums,
04:45coming up to yellow Achilles, Cosmos, Hesperus. It sort of throws away the wool book in the best way possible.
05:06We couldn't talk about colourful planting without coming to the most colourful corner of the whole
05:13showcraft. This is Arit Anderson's Parkinson's garden. And I think it's probably my favourite
05:19planting at the Hall of Chelsea. And the way Arit's done it is so clever. She's used large blocks of
05:26colour. Rather than just using one or two individual plants. Take these roses in the middle,
05:32for example. She's used a clump of maybe 12 or so roses to create this dramatic effect. The same with
05:39the Arits here, which are adding this flamboyant, beautiful, two-tone flower into this border.
05:46Even down to this euphorbia, it's the most colourful, energising planting at its very best.
05:56The other trick Arit's used in this garden to make it feel so uplifting is the use of repetition.
06:03So she's used plants like the Dianthus, like the Alliums, like the Poppies, bounced all the way through the
06:10planting. That gives us unity and harmony and essentially glues this huge border together.
06:18It's a really clever trick. And sometimes designers often use grasses to do that or foliage plants to
06:25to hold the border together. But Arit's been bold and uncompromising and is using colourful plants to
06:34hold the bigger blocks of plants together. This border epitomises Chelsea this year for me. And my main
06:42take home from this year's show is that we all need much more colour in our lives and also in
06:49our gardens.
06:57As the evenings get longer and warmer, we get the chance to spend even more time in our gardens.
07:04And as Carol's been discovering, there are plenty of varieties of plants to enjoy,
07:09even as the sun begins to go down.
07:17As the sun sets and the moon ascends into the night-time sky, our gardens take on a whole new
07:26persona. And our senses too change. Our vision takes in pale colours, especially white, glowing in the
07:36moonlight. And then our sense of smell. It becomes much more acute. And of all night-scented climbers,
07:44this has to be the ultimate, the zenith. This is jasmine and polyanthem. Just close your eyes and one
07:54sniff of this and you're in a street in Tangier on a lovely dark evening.
08:02This is a tender plant, but there's also a jasmine which is completely hardy. Jasmineum officinale.
08:11Lots of us grow it in our gardens. It'll climb and clamber up fences and walls,
08:16and it's full of these beautiful white flowers. Perhaps not quite as showy as this,
08:21but wait till all these flowers on this come out. I'd sit here and wait for the moon to come
08:27up.
08:34On my way to show you the most beautiful white garden, I came across this. Such a fine example of
08:42one of the
08:42very best night-scented shrubs. It's Pitisporum tibera and both its leaves and its flowers smell divine.
08:59Well, tucked away in a corner is this delightful little white garden. I particularly love this one.
09:07This is our native fox club, Digitalis purpurea alba. It should have an almost ghostly present in the dark.
09:16And in the background, you could have a tall white shrub. How about this one? This is a lovely lilac.
09:22And even though it's scented during the day, that scent would carry over into the evening.
09:28And this is my favourite. It's Hesperus matronalis, otherwise known as sweet rocket, because its flowers are wonderfully perfumed.
09:39But it doesn't start pumping out that perfume until dusk descends.
09:46Almost without exception, these night-scented plants have one common feature, and that is that long coral tube.
09:54And why? Because they've pollinated by moths.
10:01They're just the sort of plants that, after a hard day's work, you can come out, relax, enjoy the evening,
10:11and dream the night away.
10:18And one of the gardens highlighting the importance of planting the creatures of the night is this one,
10:26the Bat Conservation Trust, nocturnal garden designed by Melanie Hick.
10:31And, of course, the dominant feature here, other than this lovely bench, which I have to say I'm sitting on
10:36is very comfy,
10:37is this sculpture, an enormous great wooden bat sculpture, and you can get in under what I imagine are the
10:43folded wings of the bat.
10:44But the planting is, of course, designed to attract food for bats, rather than a habitat for the bats themselves.
10:52Of course you need water, and that attracts insects low down. You have a hawthorn with flowers and berries,
11:00elderflower. You have grasses with pollen, because different bats have different feeding habits.
11:08And therefore, above all else, you need diverse planting, lots of flowers to attract insects, caterpillars,
11:15moths, and the bats will choose their prey that will sustain them best.
11:22Now, Melanie, the first question has to be is, are you planting here for all British bats?
11:31That's correct, we are.
11:32So what does that involve?
11:33So there's 18 species of UK bats, and many of them are in more dire straits than others.
11:39But what we're showing here is that you can plant diverse planting to support all UK bat species.
11:45Right, so everything is catered for here. Are there any particular sort of oddities
11:50that certain species need or like to have?
11:52They certainly do have their peculiarities.
11:55Such as?
11:55Well, I think that the main thing is to consider providing a buffet that caters to most of them.
12:01You could have a very specialist ecological garden, but this is really an easy to grow garden,
12:07ideal for the Chelsea visitor to take home.
12:10In a word or two, what are the key things for the average gardener to do to encourage bats into
12:16the garden?
12:16The key thing to do is plant diversity, plant a range of flower shapes. We have a very simple
12:22rose in Francis E. Leicester, cosmos and foxgloves. So you can already imagine how those different
12:27shapes might fuel different species of moths.
12:30Now, I know the back wall of the bat garden, that's hard to say, has something special about it. What
12:36is it?
12:37So all of those timbers that you see there have been cut to the exact length to make the bat
12:41boxes
12:42that are also on display on the bat wall.
12:44Right.
12:44So I have ten bat boxes ready to go. These will all go to Klidak Community Gardens
12:49for the community to make them into their own bat boxes.
12:51Well, congratulations on the people's choice.
12:56As you say, you made a garden for people to love, and they do.
12:59I bet bats love it too.
13:01Thanks a lot.
13:05All this week, Adam's been going back to basics, exploring the design ideas at Chelsea this year
13:11that can inspire you to upgrade your garden. Today, he's looking at how garden architecture can transform your space.
13:32Structures in gardens can become fundamental parts of that space. They provide form, function,
13:40instant height, even framework for planting. But in reality, before you build anything,
13:47you need to work out exactly what you want from it.
13:59Do you want somewhere to play, work, cook, even sit and just be?
14:07Well, once you've worked that out, it's very much how do you want it to feel? Modern or traditional.
14:13And then it's all about where do you put it? Well, that's driven by you, ultimately how the sun moves
14:21through your space. What I love about this garden and what's so brave is the structure sits in the middle
14:28of the garden.
14:29It gives you somewhere to sit privately and enjoy. It still gives you connections to other parts of the garden.
14:36But this shape in the middle drives the design of the rest of the garden. If this just sat in
14:41the middle of the garden
14:42and wasn't wrapped with the garden and wasn't wrapped with planting, it would feel plonked. Here, the shapes radiate out.
14:48But then from the outside looking in, it's soft. It's planty. And that is what makes it feel good.
15:06Next, if you want a bit of magic in your garden, it's got to be the finer detail that you
15:12look at.
15:13What's great about this is it sits down in the landscape. You imagine this at ground level.
15:19You can view it from the house. It would sit really high in the garden and maybe overpower.
15:24By putting it down, you feel good when you come down the steps. You feel comfortable.
15:30And now, look at the materials. The finer detail, that sort of leaded finish gets picked up in the copings,
15:37the detail in the reels, the containers. And then you look again and you realise that shape
15:43above my head is worked into the taxes. It's all that finer detail that makes this very special.
16:04One of the last things is when we add structures to the garden, we can look upon them as being
16:10static
16:11and they really don't have to be. Look at this above my head. It's not uniform and it drives its
16:17way
16:17through the space. So it's the ultimate climbing frame for plants, but also it frames views. It
16:23creates arches. But interestingly, the colour up there is then repeated on the ground below. So it has this
16:30ability to tie the whole garden together. So if you think about it, built structures in our garden can help
16:40them be so much more.
16:56The pavilion is always great to come in and meet people with fascinating stories. But I'm about to meet
17:03two inspirational people who have got a really unusual business, the Cayley Brothers.
17:14Ah, always good to see you two. But I have to say, I always giggle when I say the Cayley
17:20Brothers to
17:20anybody because you are in fact sisters, which is great. But you know, just remind me, the Cayley Brother name,
17:28why did you choose that name for your business? The original Cayley Brothers were our dad,
17:33our granddad, sorry, and his brother. Back in the 1950s, they had their own grocers and they were
17:37really passionate about bringing fresh produce to the local villages. And it seemed to make sense to
17:43take on the Cayley Brothers and bring it into the 21st century.
17:46Why did you choose to go for mushrooms as your business?
17:51So mushrooms, there's something truly unique about mushrooms. And unfortunately, within supermarkets,
17:56you can't get anything beyond the button mushroom. So we've learned how to grow all of these amazing
18:00mushrooms that all have their own unique textures, flavours, characters, personalities. You have to love
18:06them because mushrooms won't grow if you don't love them. There's an incredible array of different
18:11varieties. And we've done a real focus on native UK species and the amazing coral tooth. So the
18:17cousin of the very popular lion's mane, an incredible texture and flavour, a crispness. So if you don't
18:23like the texture of maybe a button mushroom, then it's certainly one to try. Each mushroom has its own
18:29personality. And we love discovering, teaching ourselves how to grow it and then getting other
18:34people to grow them themselves. And then they can see the wonder. They double in size every 24 hours and
18:40no
18:40one species looks the same. And so, you know, you can never tire of growing these beautiful things.
18:46And then you get to eat them. Yes.
18:53Really, you've done so well. I can see the gold medal glinting at me. So what is the secret of
19:00your success?
19:01We found what we wanted to do and we just work tirelessly in something that we love doing. So it's
19:08really a vocation. We actually get on very well. We both have different strengths. We know each
19:14other's weaknesses. And she's my favourite person. Oh, we've got our best friends as well as sisters.
19:20And I think that we couldn't do it without each other. Working as women in horticulture,
19:25have you found any challenges and benefits of being able to do that? Starting up the business really lent
19:31itself to us having young families. So, you know, I work early mornings. That suits me. Lorraine works
19:37late at night. And we do it around the school day. So, you know, we're not working after school when
19:42we're doing most of the childcare. So it allows that flexibility. But with that, we also find that
19:48we're then working 24 hours a day sometimes. So, you know, it has benefits and challenges.
19:54It is. And I think we've been supported by a lot of women within horticulture as well. And that's really
20:00been refreshing. It's been nice to come into an industry having both worked in quite demanding
20:05and competitive industries. There's no kind of cards being held to the chest. It's people leading
20:11people along, opening doors for us, lifting us up and giving us the confidence to do what we do
20:18and be proud of what we do. I think those are the two key words, being confident and being proud.
20:24And
20:24you both should be. Thank you. Thank you.
20:34Our summers are set to become drier and warmer. There's no question about that. So when planting trees,
20:39we have to ensure that they'll be able to cope with these changing conditions. One nursery exhibiting
20:45here is at the forefront of demonstrating the versatile and resilient trees that we should be
20:51considering planting now for the future. I've always been into horticulture. It's been my dream
20:59job from day one, but I really refined my interest for trees while I was studying at Kew and linking
21:06that
21:06with my love of production of plants meant that I could only really work at a tree nursery. The trees
21:12are
21:12important for the landscape because of all the ecosystem services that they provide. Things like wind
21:17dissipation, flood mitigation, carbon sequestration, habitat creation, all of those sorts of things. But at
21:23the same time, they're important for the human element as well because of things like social health and
21:29mental wellbeing. A lot of studies have been brought in that horticulture can be healing and it can be good
21:35for the mind.
21:39Tree selection is really important. My three guidelines would be select the right species,
21:44in the right place and for the right reason. There's many aspects that you need to consider,
21:50such as ultimate size and space, but more importantly, how the tree is going to adapt to climate shifts.
21:57So there's a lot of research been done and there's some studies that are suggesting London's going to have
22:02the climate of Barcelona by 2050, possibly Azerbaijan by 2100. And a lot of our British native trees
22:09are simply not going to be resilient to those climates in that era. So that's when we need to
22:15start looking at perhaps some exotics that are going to fill the space where the natives are leaving,
22:20but also provide the same ecosystem and biodiversity benefits. Non-natives are referred to as exotics,
22:27I think there's somewhere between 3,600 and 4,000 varieties in cultivation compared to our native
22:34tree species range, which is somewhere between 30 and 35 species. So to have that diversity in the
22:42treescape will enable them to be resilient.
22:48I joined the Royal Botanic Gardens Cure in 2013, fresh out of school, and it was a steep learning curve.
22:55And today we're working together looking at scientific research and how that can be put
23:00to best use in the commercial trade.
23:03It traps that moisture on the fine hair, which cools the leaf down.
23:08My name's Kevin Martin. I'm head of the tree collections at Royal Botanic Gardens Cure. So I'm really
23:13trying to understand what the landscape is going to look like in a hundred years time.
23:17So with the research that I do specialising in urban trees, it's critically important that we get the
23:22commercial nurseries on board because I can do research and I can find some of the most fantastic
23:27trees that are going to be more resilient to our future climate.
23:33When we think about selecting trees, we have to really stop and think deeply now. We can't just
23:39select trees on horticultural merit, what the tree looks like, so its bark, the colour of its leaves.
23:44What we need to start thinking deeply about is the function. We're looking at cooling. We're looking
23:50at shade. We're looking at rain interception. They're the questions we need to ask ourselves now,
23:55not just what that tree looks like. Chelsea's going to be so important because when we think about trees
24:02and when we think about selecting trees, we need a cultural change. And that's the biggest thing. And
24:07where else are you going to be able to start that conversation about cultural change than at Chelsea?
24:14So Kevin, these are possible selected trees for our Chelsea stand here. Start with this Circus
24:21Canadensis forest pansy with a beautiful purple leaf. It's got some flowers on. Great. They're really
24:27standout tree. Very well suited, especially for those urban dry environments. And that's what we
24:34needed to try to explain. Just because they're resilient trees doesn't necessarily mean they're boring.
24:43So next we have Taxodium distichum, which is famous for thriving in swampy wet conditions. If we're
24:49having an area that's prone for flooding, for instance, these are the trees we need to start
24:54looking at. And they're just really good ornamental trees, but they have a purpose now.
25:02One of the last trees to talk about is Sorbus olympensis olympic flame, which has lots of benefits in terms
25:10of climate resilience and benefits towards other species. It's got that spring flower. It's really
25:15important for our pollinators. And then we've got that food source for the birds when the berries come
25:19out. And again, look at that for a stunning architectural tree, but yet it's still providing
25:24other services. And that's what makes trees like this so stunning to have in our gardens.
25:31The trees we plant today, they're going to see a different world in a hundred years time. The
25:37climate is going to be very different. The growing conditions are going to be very different. So that's
25:41really the scale that we're working in. And it's critically important we get that message out there
25:45now, because by planting trees, we can then help with climate mitigation. And trees are going to be
25:52one of the main backbones of this mitigation as we go forward for the next few decades.
25:58So Kevin, it's been really hard overall selecting trees for Chelsea, which not only look special and
26:04you know, pleasing for people to see, but also have some of these traits we've been talking about. So
26:10overall, I hope we've done a good job, but the proof will be in the pudding when it comes to
26:15judging.
26:16It will do. Yeah, it'll be all down to the judges.
26:25Well, Elliot, here you are, first time inside the Great Pavilion. How was it actually getting
26:31on the site and making this stand? So logistically, it was really hard. Obviously, we're moving large
26:38trees and having everything planned out in an order that we were going to execute everything
26:42was extremely important. But I think thankfully, we got through it and made a really good job of it.
26:47And clearly, you've done a really good job of it because you've got a silver gilt medal,
26:51which is wonderful. How do you feel about that?
26:53Yeah, that was an incredible achievement. But really, it's not me. It's the whole company. We've
26:58got such a brilliant team. And there's just been a wave of excitement that's gone through the company
27:03in the build up and actually to the medal stage as well. It's been tremendous.
27:08I believe the king paid you a visit. What did that feel like?
27:13That was an absolute highlight. So we gifted him quite a rare treat. And to be able to give that
27:20to
27:20him, it was just an absolute privilege. Now, I was really interested to see
27:25the diversity of trees that you hold on enormously. And the fact that we're all going to have to adapt
27:32to our surroundings changing with climates changing. So are there things that you feel
27:40are going to be seen much less in our gardens? So the climate shifting, there's obvious evidence of
27:47this with climatic modelling. And I think we're just going to have to be careful that we don't
27:53continually choose trees and plants based on merely their aesthetics alone. We need to be thinking
27:58about whether they're going to be able to cope with the future climates. Because when you plant a tree,
28:03you're not just planting for you. It's a legacy that you'll be planting a tree that will be in a
28:08situation for many generations. Because I was very interested, in fact, that we've got a relatively
28:14small palette of native trees in the UK. So there are far, far more to choose from if we start
28:22looking
28:23at things that are non-native. Absolutely. I mean, there's 30 to 35 native species, depending on who you
28:29ask. And a lot of these are under pressure, pressure from pests, pressure from climate,
28:36pressure from many other factors. Climate extremes, actually, is a major one. And I think
28:41the research that we've been doing, a lot of the scientific institutions have been doing,
28:46are suggesting that actually a more diverse treescape is going to be one that's more resilient.
28:50So do you think our gardens and our landscape is going to start looking very different?
28:55I think for a period of time, it will remain the same. But then you'll see
29:00certain species gradually declining. And we need to be very open-minded about what we replace those
29:05with for future. We can't replace like for like, because there's an obvious reason why something
29:10might have failed. We don't want to make the same mistakes time and time again. So having that open
29:14mindset and basically planting something that is going to be fit for future climates is going to be
29:20incredibly important. Well, it's actually quite an exciting time ahead. All of these wonderful trees
29:25to choose from. I look forward to that. Thank you very much. Thank you, Rachel. Thank you.
29:33Still to come tonight on the RHS Chelsea Flower Show of 2026, an event supported by Range Rover.
29:40We reveal which new variety has been named RHS Chelsea Plant of the Year. And fashion designer
29:48Alexandra Rose takes us on a tour of her cherished and eclectic balcony garden.
29:53We've heard how climate change is influencing the trees we choose. But it's also providing
29:59opportunities to grow a wider variety of plants in our gardens. Earlier, I explored how Chelsea is
30:06displaying some of them. Climate change is inevitably affecting every corner of our lives. But arguably,
30:20in our gardens, we're seeing that happen season by season. And Chelsea inevitably is reflecting that.
30:28And this garden is exemplifying that through its choice of plants, many of which we're familiar with,
30:36perhaps only when we go on holiday. And here they are growing in a garden in the middle of London.
30:42Now,
30:42that is extraordinary.
30:46What's changing is both our choice of plants that will not just survive, but thrive, but also the way they're
30:53behaving.
30:54And lots of us are growing figs in our garden. And I have been the last 40 years. But it's
31:01the fruiting
31:02that has changed. Back in the 1980s, if you saw a fig in a London garden with ripe fruit on
31:08it,
31:08that was exceptional. Now, in my own garden, we get hundreds of figs in August, and sometimes July.
31:17And then the way that plants flower is changing. This is Melianthus major. It's beautiful. And I grew it
31:24in London, and it would last for about three years, and the frost would get it, and it would flower
31:28maybe
31:28once every four years. Now they're flowering regularly and reliably every year, and they can stay outside,
31:35and they won't be killed by cold. However, some plants are still pretty extraordinary.
31:45Now, this is extraordinary. The last time I saw one of these growing outside was in Kirstenbosch Botanic Gardens
31:54in Cape Town. It's a cycad. These are the plants that were growing when the dinosaurs roamed.
32:01They evolved to stop being eaten by dinosaurs. They're really prickly and awkward. And these can cope
32:08with cold as long as it's dry and as long as there's very good drainage. So if you are thinking
32:14of
32:14planting them and giving it a go, then just remember, good drainage is going to be a key,
32:20not just to them thriving, but also sometimes surviving.
32:30Now, if the cycads were strange and wonderful things to be growing in British gardens,
32:37I think this garden takes it even further. And all the plants here are Australian,
32:44and it includes plants that, to be honest, I am completely unfamiliar with and certainly have never
32:50seen growing in British gardens. Take this incredible plant. It's called the grass tree.
32:55As exotic as anything you might grow in a garden, I actually have seen them growing in the outback.
33:01They will take temperatures down to freezing and a little bit below because it gets cold
33:06in the outback. Entirely dependent, though, on really good drainage. It cannot sit in water at all.
33:13And then you have plants like the kangaroo pork. Extraordinary looking thing. And that not only needs
33:19good drainage, it needs really poor soil. The way to kill that is with kindness. No nutrition,
33:24no goodness in the soil, and it should survive. Poor soil and really good drainage is a recurring theme
33:33in these Australian plants. Take the banks here. These have evolved to cope with extreme conditions.
33:40And the tea tree,
33:41the hedge is already growing and thriving in Cornwall. Now, okay, Cornwall is the warmest,
33:47mildest part of Britain, but that will spread. And you cannot but conclude that our gardens are going
33:55to have to change and adapt. And that means changing the plants that we grow, and also critically, how we
34:02grow them.
34:08It's been another busy week here at Chelsea for the RHS. And joining me now to reflect on how it's
34:15gone
34:16is Director General Claire Matteson. Claire, what a week. What a week. What a week. I mean,
34:22it's such a big operation here. How has it been for you? Honestly, it's probably been one of our best
34:28ever. Incredible gardens, wonderful great pavilion, plants galore, sun shining today, sold out show
34:38before we even opened our doors, and people seem to be loving it. That's so brilliant to know. And I
34:43guess with all of the gardens and all of the exhibits, they're all for such good causes as well. Such
34:48good causes. And this, of course, is our biggest fundraiser of the year. So every penny that we
34:52raise here goes on to support work throughout the rest of the 51 weeks of the year. You know,
34:58and that's around education, getting children into gardening, community gardens, science work,
35:04you know, apprentices and training into horticulture, work that we do with the hospitals up and down the
35:08country as well. So a big thank you to everyone who bought a ticket and has come. Well, of course,
35:13and a big thank you to the returned gnomes. You let them back in. My biggest and most difficult
35:20decision is director general lifting the ban on gnomes. And who wouldn't perhaps want a gnome
35:26painted by Joanna Lumley, Sir Brian May, but I've got actually a little exciting announcement.
35:33David Beckham has painted two gnomes. Wow. Hot off the press, personally painted by him for the queue,
35:42and up for auction as well. Number seven, his preferred number. So all up for auction and
35:47call up for auction. What's that money directly? So every penny from the auction goes to our campaign
35:52for school gardening, and that gets more and more children into gardening up and down the country.
35:57The gardens and the legacy of the show lives on, doesn't it, really? You're quite passionate about
36:01that. Oh, it's, I mean, it's so important that we don't just put all of this into landfill,
36:06throw it, throw it away. So every garden will live on. And we've got some lovely examples. The
36:12garden, that's going to a food bank in Northern Ireland. Eden Garden, the new big regeneration of
36:18Morecambe through the Eden Project, that's going to Morecambe. Our own Curious Garden,
36:22that's going to a further education college in Farnborough, where actually it will be used as
36:27part of the teaching in the college. So every single garden, this is kind of first stop,
36:32and then they've got their forever home. Via Chelsea. And talking of the Eden Project,
36:35I mean, they won the RHS Environmental Award, didn't they? They did. And that's become more
36:40and more important. And what you see here is all the innovation, and then that innovation hopefully
36:45will spread throughout the year. And actually, I don't know if you've seen the asthma and lung
36:49garden up there. Fascinating. There's a big platform which looks just like concrete,
36:53but it's actually made of something biochar and clay. Apparently it's zero carbon,
36:59and even is zero negative carbon. And of course, concrete is the biggest emitter and problem of
37:06carbon for the industry. So, you know, innovations like that, let's hope this kind of spreads across
37:11the country. Which I'm sure it will. I mean, you know, the gardens have great messages, but so does
37:16the pavilion. I mean, the growers in there, the work they do. I think it shows how incredible this
37:22country is at horticulture. All of those specialist plant, specialist nurseries, plant heritage,
37:28which also then looks after this kind of heritage of our cultivated landscape in this country.
37:35It is stunning in there this year. I spent a good hour or so walking around and also talking
37:41to these real specialists, who you can ask them any question and they know the up deep detail as,
37:46will this grow in my garden? Will this grow in my house? So it's a real treat. They are an
37:51amazing,
37:52amazing crew of people. So the rest of the year, how does the calendar look for the RHS? Well,
37:58we've got two new, brand new shows coming up as well. So we've got one at Sandringham,
38:03one at Badminton, both in July. Beautiful, beautiful locations, beautiful backdrops, you know,
38:10real, once again, celebrating heritage in this country. So lots more to go. Plus, of course,
38:16all of this ripple effect from Chelsea to gardeners across the country and children across the country.
38:22Well, I wish you well and best of luck with the new shows and just keep the energy up, Claire.
38:27We will. You've got to keep that energy going. Thank you. Thank you so much.
38:33My guest tonight is a renowned British fashion designer known for her pioneering use of bold,
38:40artistic prints and vibrant colour. Away from the world of fashion, Dame Sandra Rhodes finds sanctuary
38:47in her rooftop garden, high above the city of London. And we recently joined her at home.
38:58A garden is a way of opening your spirit up to the earth. You know, you can go in there,
39:05even if it's pouring with rain. My camellias look wonderful, seeing their leaves with all the rain on
39:11them. I'm Sandra Rhodes, a fashion and textile designer. And I've been doing that for at least 55 years.
39:19I'm within walking distance of the shard in fabulous Bermondsey.
39:29This is the northern part of my terrace where I have hostas, arum lilies and camellias. It's my
39:39camellia terrace. The hostas, which this year are doing very well, I've probably had these at least
39:4710 years and I divide them about every two years and give away plants. And the arum lilies, my,
39:55my mother got married with arum lilies and they've always been something that I love drawing.
40:04I have 11 camellia trees here in various stages.
40:09The oldest one was given to me by Carl Lagerfeld 50 years ago and is still blooming. It's lovely white
40:18camellias this spring. They're just a wonderful tree, not too bad to keep as long as you try and make
40:24sure if you can give them rainwater. They just flower every spring and just brighten up the whole terrace.
40:33This statue is a Mexican shack mall and it was from a party that was held at Aspinall's
40:43some 50 odd years ago. I mean, it's only really made of polystyrene and I can pick it up with
40:50one
40:50hand, but I'd miss it if it wasn't there.
40:58This is hydrangea walk, which is right down the front of my penthouse with the wall painted Frida
41:05Carlo blue, which then shows, once the height of summer comes, fabulous white hydrangeas.
41:13Some are petiolaris and they're gorgeous. And on this side, I have my mint in a separate
41:21container because it's a rhizome. I have sage, thyme and another one I've cleverly forgotten the name of.
41:31And then in the middle of my white hydrangeas are my three tomato plants,
41:36which will just grow and give me little tomatoes in the spring.
41:44This is a wonderful fiberglass shield that was actually part of the magic flute opera that I did
41:52in San Diego. And when Sarastro the King comes on, they were actually giant lion shields that came
41:59forward. So they didn't look like men in baby grows. So he sits there and feels lovely. And here is,
42:07this is Australian bottle brush and the first of my peonies down here.
42:19We're on the south side of my penthouse and this was originally a pot plant in 1972.
42:29Probably things grow in here because touch wood, we don't really get frost here. Only once every two years
42:39would we get snow, but every pot gets wrapped in bubble wrap. So I have plastic rocks here on my
42:47terrace
42:48and underneath them in the summer is all the bubble wrap that comes out in the winter to go around
42:54the pots.
42:56I talk to the plants. If one isn't doing well, I say, come on, pull your socks up.
43:01What's wrong with you? Are you happy there?
43:05Well, this is obviously the rose corner and I'm training it to go even higher.
43:12This is a euphorbia that has grown outwards and not just through the ceiling. It belonged to my great
43:21friend Andrew Logan and I had to have the road stopped and have it craned up together with two or
43:27three of the camellias when I first moved in. But it's very happy and it lives there all the year
43:33round.
43:38When I go to the Chelsea Flower Show, I make a headline to the ones that I already grow to
43:44see
43:45how much better they do or if there's one that I could possibly just squeeze in like a different kind
43:51of Holster. I'm very happy to be in my space in London and I don't really need to go to
44:00a whole lot
44:00of places. But my rainbow penthouse is enough. But it is nice to look out at a wonderful terrace and
44:08appreciate all the plants doing their own thing.
44:14Well, Zandra is here with me now. I have to say it's lovely to see you. And I was thinking
44:20when we first
44:21met, which was in the early 1980s. I was going to say a long while ago. It was. And you
44:26were a huge star.
44:28And I was practically a student. And you're still a huge star. Oh, thank you. And your garden, I love
44:36it.
44:37Oh, I mean, I, it's, it's a joy that I look at every morning when I'm at home. Yeah. And
44:44there's
44:44wonderful walls. And the walls, which, well, of course, the Fashion Textile Museum, which I founded,
44:50Yes. Is in fact bright orange and pink. And it was a Mexican architect, Rie Goreta, that designed it. So
44:57the walls are beautiful to look at. And a backdrop for the plants, I guess. And a backdrop to the
45:03plants,
45:04exactly. I mean, we've missed your camellias. And we're a bit early for the hydrangeas.
45:09Yes. The blue wall, when the white, they're all white hydrangeas. And when they come out,
45:15it's just a splendid blue and white dream. Have you always got, did you as a child,
45:20did you have a garden at home? Oh, yes, we had a garden. It wasn't really that well kept. But
45:26my father grew irises. We were paid to get rid of the snails. Right.
45:30You know, he'd give a penny a snail or something. And he grew dahlias as well. He always had little
45:37things on to catch the earwigs. I mean, do you think that's influenced your design? Because
45:42obviously, we all know you for the sort of incredible use of colour and vivacity. Where
45:47does that come from, do you think? I suppose a lot of it is looking at nature. I mean, I
45:51love
45:52drawing flowers. So it's always wonderful when flowers appear and you think, I'd better draw that
45:58while it's there. And do you like the hands-on stuff? Do you like actual gardening?
46:03Oh, I enjoy gardening. Yes, I'm okay at potting up. At the moment, my poor camellias
46:09aren't doing as well as they should. So we're going to take them out
46:13and cut their roots down a bit and re-pot them in fresh soil. That's a good idea.
46:18So is Chelsea something you've come to regularly? I mean, is this the first time? Tell me about it.
46:24No, no, no. I don't come enough, but I try and come here each year when it's on and then
46:30check out the ones that grow on my terrace first and see if I can get,
46:34you know, how do they get such splendid hostas with no holes for the slugs and things like that.
46:39There's a fantastic hosta this bay. You'll see hostas everywhere.
46:43So you come in and you're basically checking up on your own garden.
46:48Check up on what I've got and what would do well on my terrace. Yes.
46:52Yeah. What problems have you got at the moment?
46:54Um, like I, well, my hostas at the moment are looking okay. I watered them with some,
47:00I mean, I put eggshells at the bottom of them and I water them with garlic water and
47:05check them all out. So, but I've been looking here at the, maybe think of some wildflowers that
47:12would look good just in a pot because you know, you could make them all these lovely weeds just
47:17look fabulous. I think so. I absolutely. And what are you noticing in the gardens when you look
47:22around? What sort of creatively? Creatively. I love the fact that everything is all hodgepodge
47:28together. I mean, really it's a work of art what they've done, but see the, the fox gloves and the
47:34ferns. And then you're looking and thinking, and an iris here and there, they're just gorgeous.
47:38Yeah. So I'm going to look for like mad grasses that would look all right in a pot.
47:43I think, I absolutely think you could find that. We must get you mad grasses in a pot. I'm all
47:49for
47:49that. It sounds like a good idea. Um, and I suppose over the years you've seen gardens change. You've
47:57seen, I mean, obviously you've seen fashions change. How much influence do you think fashion
48:01and gardens have? How much interaction do you think they have? There's nothing more inspirational
48:08than seeing a wonder, these wonderful gardens with irises popping up here and there. So you could
48:13do quite mad frocks all with all mad greenery that could look quite extraordinary. Well, with great,
48:21I mean, you are not unknown to be extraordinary. I'm not obviously not mad, you know, heaven for
48:28offends. But, but you've always been exuberant. You've always liked the sort of, the exuberance of a
48:35garden bursting out. Oh, well, it's nothing, nothing that you feel better when something's exuberant and
48:41you see the roses coming out and you think, oh, I could grow some jasmine amongst that and try and
48:46get it. I mean, the inspiration in this particular year at this garden is the fact that everything's made
48:52to, makes you appreciate what a wild garden looks like. Yeah. Like, it would look lovely with fox
48:59gloves and cow parsley and they're all a shady garden, so they could fill in in between my pots.
49:05I think that's the way to go. I think this is a whole new development for your garden.
49:10I think so too. Well, listen, it's lovely to see you again and it's lovely to talk to you here
49:17at
49:17Chelsea, so thank you so much. Thank you for inviting me and even getting into the garden itself is
49:23fantastic. Thanks a lot. Thanks a lot. One of the most prestigious awards for growers is the title of
49:35RHS Chelsea Plant of the Year. Out of the hundreds of new plants launched every year, only a small
49:41selection are shortlisted. Now it's time to find out the top three as well as the winner.
49:52Winning Plants of the Year is such a huge accolade that breeders come from all over the world with
49:58their best specimens to compete. And judges are looking for plants that have novelty, performance
50:05and appeal to gardeners. I can't wait to see them.
50:14And coming in at number three is this. This is Hydrangea Velvet Night Red Lace and you can see why
50:22it's called that. Now this really is unusual for a Hydrangea and its bold colour scheme is very much
50:28on trend. It will go in modern gardens, which is perhaps why it's been so successful in its introduction
50:35and very popular. Now it acts like most Hydrangea so it needs plenty of moisture. That means watering
50:41it in dry periods and giving it a good mulch of organic matter just to retain moisture in the soil.
50:47But this one can cope with a little bit of shade, only partial, because the light will activate this
50:53lovely purple colour. But midday sun will scorch the plant so at the edge of the shade cast by a
51:00tree
51:00somewhere like that would be perfect for this. But it would really make a very bold statement in any garden
51:07I think.
51:12At number two we have another Hydrangea. This is Paniculata Groundbreaker Ruby and it is a really
51:21versatile plant from a modern garden to your quintessential quirky cottage garden. The unique
51:27thing about this is it's the first Paniculata Hydrangea that's truly a ground cover. It doesn't
51:32get any taller than 40 centimetres and about 70 centimetres in width. The other lovely thing
51:38about this plant is that now as the flowers have opened there this very muted white almost green colour
51:44but as the summer continues and then the autumn goes on they'll turn to pink and then ruby and this
51:49will stay ruby right through the winter. So you have colour right through the year. You can see why this
51:55is such a popular plant.
52:03And the winner is Hosta Red Minha.
52:11Chris Potts you have brought this award-winning plant to the Chelsea Flower Show. Tell me all about it.
52:17Yeah it's really special isn't it? Who would have ever thought we'd be stood here looking at a red
52:21hosta. Also a hosta that prefers a bit of sunshine. We're really proud of being part of this.
52:28And how did this come about? So a breeder in Denmark and it came out with this colour and then
52:34stabilised
52:35at this colour. And it has such a lovely colouration. It's a very deep red stems with red veining on
52:41the
52:41leaves but also this kind of painterly variegation as well. I think it's a really breathtaking plant and so if
52:48you put
52:49this plant into shade it's going to have that more mottled look and it's like a beach rooty green but
52:56if you
52:57put this into full sunshine it's really going to colour up and be really really red. There's appeal in
53:01spades but tell me about the performance of it. We always say that people put hostas in pots rather
53:06than the ground and also with this one specifically you can then move this to wherever you need it to
53:12be
53:12light level wise. So if it needs a bit more sunshine you can move it. That's so well deserved. Enormous
53:18congratulations. Thank you.
53:21Well here are all three finalists. I'm seeing them together. So just to recap we've got
53:27hosta red ninja there and then we have here hydrangea groundbreaker ruby. Okay. Which and then
53:38number three we have hydrangea and let's get this right velvet night red lace and just to recap I
53:46mean obviously the hosta has got its red stems a bit and like a chard or a beetroot. This hydrangea
53:52is almost a ground cover but turns red as it fades to red and this is as it is and
54:00you can see what I
54:01feel about well I mean do you how do you feel about this? I mean I have to be honest
54:05because I don't really
54:06grow a lot of hostas because of where I've got loads of slugs but I do think that people will
54:11quite like the colour you know when people are trying to look for colour in a little bit of shady
54:15area you will have that red stem um it's yeah I can't say I love it but who knows this
54:24I quite like
54:24this hydrangea um and it's I like hydrangeas anyway and and I think for small spaces and for ground cover
54:30I think that could be really interesting. Well again this is the thing about plants is it's a matter of
54:35taste I think it's a case this could be useful in that sort of lower mid lane definitely um yeah
54:41I mean this one is a bit dark for me I've got to be honest. The winner is hosta red
54:48ninja well there
54:49you go that is the RHS plant of the year well well done well done to them and well done
54:55to them right
54:55let's answer some questions okay okay shall I offer one to you yeah give me what annuals are best this
55:03summer for maximum colour I'm planting in pots and this is from Chris on Instagram okay for colour
55:10so you can look at zinnius cosmos uh really nice to get some nasturtiums we're talking about annuals
55:18here aren't we yeah exactly yeah so annuals uh yeah they're going to be fast growing I think what
55:23you're going to tithonias what you could do it's what you're going for is tender annuals and you
55:28won't go far wrong great okay so a question for you yeah I have a lemon plant okay it had
55:36lots of
55:36lemons and new shoots on it but now everything has died out how can I revive it well if everything's
55:43died back now the chances are it's been frosted it's been outside and got cold is what you would expect
55:48that to happen and that certainly happened to me um but if you cut back to live growth cut off
55:56nothing dead is ever going to regrow um it will reshoot okay but the key to lemons and this is
56:02a
56:02mistake everybody makes if they keep them indoors too warm too dry they like to be cool in winter and
56:10just humid you know and dry at the base and then in summer just water them once a week no
56:16more
56:16i have to say i was feeling pretty guilty when you said that because the first lemon i had
56:21he lived with me inside okay um so another question for you okay um many of the gardens at chelsea
56:29have
56:29water features big and small how did designers stop the water from going green and that's the view on
56:35whatsapp well i think in in a week at chelsea the chances are they won't because it is to do
56:40too much
56:40oxygen in the water too much fertility so if you have plants around the it will be compost on it
56:47it drain the rain washes it in and that's what really feeds the algae so if you can have stones
56:51all around and keep the fertility row then then the chances are that will go well thank you so much
56:58to all of you for sending in your questions this week right we're coming near the end uh but i
57:05need
57:05to ask you what what was the best moment of the week for you what was your highlight ah well
57:09it was
57:10really brilliant to get the people's choice i mean being at chelsea with the show garden has been
57:15amazing but the people's choice just gave such a voice to the garden it just meant that everybody
57:21had been watching and i really appreciate all of the votes that we had it was fantastic and it was
57:25wonderful garden thank you and your good self uh it was i think it was the barbara hepworth sculpture
57:31to be able to go and touch it and be close to it i'm a huge fan of barbara hepworth
57:36so that was
57:36an absolute joy i'm sure that's it for tonight and this week and we've had such a brilliant time
57:43well thank you all for watching rachel and i are on bbc2 at eight o'clock tomorrow and we will
57:50be joined
57:51by a special guest comedian and actor ben miller as well as looking back at some of the highlights
57:56of another packed week here at chelsea and sophie and adam will have some of their best moments from
58:03the show on sunday at a quarter past six on bbc one so good night
58:50why you'll be doing this
Comments