- 2 days ago
Gardeners World 2025 episode 16
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00...after Gardener's World Embrace the Bloom.
00:05However many times I come to this show, I will never get bored of that view.
00:10I think it's absolutely stunning.
00:12It's very special, isn't it?
00:14But also, this show is massive.
00:17And I get home each time and I realise that I've missed something.
00:21So I think we need a plan.
00:23OK.
00:24I mean, I'm up for a plan, but isn't it quite nice sometimes not to have one?
00:27And then you just see what you encounter.
00:31There's so much more spontaneous.
00:33You know, the vibe of the festival can be soaked up.
00:37OK, I'm going to step in here just to keep the peace, right?
00:40So we're going to do a little bit of soaking up of the atmosphere.
00:44Yeah.
00:45And lots of marching around, making sure we see everything.
00:47You know what I love about it?
00:48Because there's masses.
00:50I love the fact that you just always did the masses.
00:53At least we'll miss less if we do it that way, I think.
00:55This is true.
00:56Welcome to Gardener's World from Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival.
01:04Just how big is this festival?
01:06Over 30 acres.
01:07Really?
01:08Yeah.
01:08There are 13 show gardens this year and more than 100 exhibitors, you know, nursery men
01:14and women who just know everything about plants.
01:17It's going to be fantastic.
01:18And roses.
01:19I knew you were going to forget the roses.
01:21See, not only are you diplomatic, you're also...
01:25Yes, a fanatic.
01:26Yeah.
01:26So, here's a little taste as to what makes this flower show so special and what we're about
01:36to enjoy in the next hour.
01:42Hampton Court Palace, a royal setting for the summer celebration of gardening, featuring this
01:49season's hottest plants, colours and design, held in the majestic Deer Park.
01:54It really feels like a festival, the sun's shining, there's happy faces everywhere, there's ice cream
02:00being eaten.
02:04Across the site, gardens are set to impress, giving everything from stylish outdoor vibes
02:09to natural hails.
02:10We love the excitement of the show and we're hoping that this little one will grow up to
02:16love it too.
02:17Bye.
02:17I love this show so much.
02:19I've been coming for 20 years.
02:21There's something here for everybody.
02:25We'll be meeting one of the designers who's added a wild twist to their garden in the hope
02:32of encouraging some very charming guests.
02:35Hedgehogs are classified as vulnerable to extinction, so they really need our help.
02:41So, as gardeners, I think there's a lot we can do.
02:44For many, the main stage at this event is the floral marquine, brimming with seasonal blooms,
02:51rare specimens and heady scent.
02:55We'll be catching up with a first-time exhibitor and British flower farmer who's showing off her
03:00seasonal cut flowers for the very first time.
03:04They just want to please you.
03:06I feel very similar to dahlias as I feel about my spaniel.
03:11And with a backdrop this glamorous, you can expect a few show-stopping surprises and familiar faces along the way.
03:19I think Hampton is the one that you could most closely compare to the sort of, the glastomery
03:25of garden festivals.
03:26We'll meet a couple bringing flavour, colour and a bit of fiery heat to this year's festival.
03:35What I like about chillies is that people become really fanatical about them.
03:39Once you get hooked, you just want to keep growing more of it, which works well for us.
03:44It's a show with feel-good energy.
03:49Right, I'm too excited.
04:11I can't wait any longer.
04:12I'm going to see roses.
04:14And I'll see you later.
04:14Enjoy.
04:16What should we do?
04:18Do you fancy some show gardens?
04:19Yeah, come on.
04:20All right.
04:20Come on.
04:20This is a pretty lovely show garden to be standing in, isn't it?
04:30If I had to use one word to describe this, I would say elegant.
04:34I think that's a very good word, actually.
04:36I'd take romantic as well.
04:38This water, on a day like this, you just want to get in it.
04:42And the sound of it's obviously quite a dramatic element of this garden as well.
04:45Yeah.
04:45It is, if you close your eyes.
04:47Yeah.
04:47Sound, but then every now and then, you get a waft of that track of this garden.
04:52Yeah, in this hot weather, it's really oozing its fragrance, isn't it?
04:55So, ticking all the senses, you know?
04:57Yeah, massively.
04:59I mean, the planting is very exquisite, but it's like, you know, really minimal palette, limited.
05:05So, you've got kind of whites, purples, and blues.
05:08And I like the way the shapes are quite striking in the actual plants.
05:11You've got these spires of the veronicas and the salvia, and then lots of umbels playing against it.
05:17For me as well, I really love the materials.
05:20I just think they set the tone.
05:22And sometimes when you use light surfaces on a day like this, the light bounces.
05:26Yeah, I agree.
05:27But actually, it's soaking it up, and that adds to that, as you described, the romantic feel.
05:33Well, I have found a bohemian balcony to rest on.
05:46I love this garden.
05:48I could have this garden.
05:50I feel like I should now be singing to you.
05:52I'd rather you didn't.
05:55I won't, I promise you.
05:57I'm trying to count up the different materials.
05:59You know, everything's sort of reclaimed.
06:00And you feel like, first of all, there's maybe too many.
06:04But actually, in reality, it works.
06:07Why do you think that is?
06:08Ultimately, it's driven by that colour.
06:09You've got that dark cork that's picked up.
06:12But then also, the use of textures really sit well together.
06:15And I love that what this gives is a sort of warmth of history and humanity.
06:21Like, these shutters, these have had a life, you know?
06:23These are somebody's.
06:24This chair, everything in this garden feels like somebody has loved it.
06:29And then it's been built with that love kind of as part of its bones.
06:33Because you could say the same about planting, couldn't you?
06:36Yes, you definitely could.
06:37It's not got one cohesive style.
06:40Yeah.
06:40You know, someone's gone out and they've gone,
06:42oh, you know what, I really like GMs, I'll get that.
06:44Oh, that's a nice echinacea, that's a nice Chinese licorice, that's unusual.
06:47Let's have that.
06:48And then they've shoved it all together and somehow it feels like just a person has done this.
06:53Bath on the balcony, I mean, I hadn't thought of it before.
06:57I suppose it depends what your neighbours are like.
07:00But I'm up for it.
07:02I think at that point we'll move on, shall we?
07:04Maybe we should.
07:14What do you think?
07:17This is nice.
07:18This is right up your street.
07:20But I love the wall, it's called a jally wall, that idea of you being wrapped.
07:26It creates this amazing atmosphere in here.
07:29It's like a modern iteration of a walled garden.
07:32This is my kind of planting scheme, I love it.
07:34You know, it's full temperate rainforest, but with, you know, digitalis.
07:38And I love the devil's bit scabious, it's one of my favourite plants.
07:42But then all the ferns.
07:43I mean, ultimately this garden's talking about that loss of temperate rainforest.
07:47But seeing it represented in this way, A, yeah, it raises awareness, but it's so modern.
07:52I love the contemporary representation of it with this really blocky, geometric, hard landscaping.
07:58You know, interestingly, we talk about habitats.
08:00The one thing that I love that keeps catching my eye is the little kettle ear patches.
08:05Just a reminder that not all our ground needs to be covered in planting.
08:09With that, the walls are filled with insect habitat because of the holes that keep the temperature down.
08:15That's their design, but they double up as insect habitat.
08:18So there is provision here, not just for plants.
08:19Can we just sort of stay?
08:22I see why that's tempting, but no.
08:25Let's go and see some more gardens.
08:27I knew you couldn't say that.
08:37Ah, now this is a real treat for me because July at Hampton Court means roses.
08:45And it's so beautiful being surrounded by all this fragrance and colour.
08:50But there's a new rose this year that I've come to take a closer look at.
08:54This is Linda Lee.
08:57Really beautiful shrub rose, fairly compact, so it's good in a pot, but also would look good towards the front part of the border.
09:06And I love that dark green, really healthy looking foliage.
09:10And the flowers are so beautiful in buds, small buds, pale peach, and then they open, they get a little bit more pink in the colour as well.
09:19And then as they fully open, you've got this nice shaped flower that the stamens are on show, so really good for pollinators to access in the centre.
09:28It's gorgeous to look at, and I'm told it smells as good as it looks.
09:36It's light, fruity, and perfect.
09:40Always such a joy to see a new rose.
09:46Now, over in the Floral Marquis, a British flower grower is making their debut here at Hampton Court.
09:52And we went and visited them a few days ago to see how they were getting on with their preparations for the show.
09:58Dahlia's are my absolute love.
10:06There's just something about them.
10:10It's the way they're so architecturally perfect.
10:13They put on a massive show-stopping display, and they're fabulous cut flowers.
10:18I mean, what can you not love about something that opens and is so pretty as this?
10:23I'm Rachel Golding-Barratt, and I'm the owner of the Tetbury Flower Company, and we are a flower farm and nursery in the South Cotswolds.
10:37We're a relatively new flower farm.
10:40This is only our third commercial season.
10:45We're a specialist in tulips and dahlias.
10:47We are just over an acre, and we grow all sorts of complementary flowers so that we can supply British seasonal flowers from March through to the first frost in October.
10:59Ever since I was a child, I've always been growing, so whether it's a metre-squared patch or whether it's a border in a garden.
11:09I got into cut flowers because people started asking me with the dahlias, can I have some stems for a local church?
11:16Can I have some stems for a party?
11:19And I'd happily cut them.
11:20To be able to go out and cut a bouquet of flowers for your kitchen table, that sense of beauty and satisfaction is what we're trying to help people with.
11:31Going to Hampton Court is a big challenge for us.
11:36I'm not going to lie, there have been times when I've been thinking, oh, are we going to pull this off?
11:41But for me, the most important thing is the plants and the flowers look in good condition.
11:48These are our show dahlias that we've produced for Hampton Court.
11:52You can see that some of them are just coming into bud now.
11:56This one here, this is a vanner.
11:57This should be about this big, so this is just at the start of its flowering journey.
12:04Overall, we estimated that we would need about 120 plants.
12:09And I think we've probably grown about 500 to get those 120.
12:16This is all about being a new exhibitor.
12:19And I'm sure with more experience, we wouldn't be doing it on this scale.
12:24Here on the farm, we grow 55 different types of dahlias.
12:29What I think is so incredible about them is that they do work as a cut flower and in the garden.
12:35This dahlia is Arabian night.
12:39This is a small flowered decorative, very, very dark petal colour.
12:45And the reason we're taking this one to Hampton Court is because it flowers first.
12:49And it's not unusual to see this in flower in June.
12:52It's also got a very long stem length, which is great for a cut flower.
12:55They love the heat, so they're doing particularly well this year because it's been so hot.
13:02What it does mean is that a few more dahlias will be open than I previously thought a month ago.
13:09This is our Cotswold salmon.
13:10This is the one that we've bred.
13:11Look, there's a little butterfly on there.
13:14The reason why this one's so special to me is because this throws up a lot of stems.
13:20It lasts brilliantly in the vase.
13:22It creates great tubers at the end of the season.
13:25And it's perfect in a border.
13:27So we do grow this as a cut flower.
13:29We do cut it a lot.
13:30From one plant in the season, I'll be cutting 10 stems from this.
13:33I love the fact that they're such triers.
13:39Any plant that's not too precious flowers its socks off and really, really, really does its best for you.
13:48You can't ask better than that.
13:50It's a bit like a dog.
13:54They just want to please you.
13:57I feel very similar to dahlias as I feel about my spaniel.
14:03I think the thing about going to Hampton Court is it's the most beautiful show I think I've ever been to.
14:19This is our mock-up display.
14:22This is the second time that we've actually mocked up this stand.
14:26Inside here is a stable bucket and some chicken wire.
14:30And around the bucket it is supported by some packing.
14:35So this is a totally foam-free arrangement just using two simple mechanics.
14:42And you can see with the foliage and how it sort of branches and everything.
14:46That then gives you your stability.
14:47Everything that's going on that display has been grown here on the farm.
14:53Either the show plants that we potted up a couple of months ago or, if we're short, we're going to go and dig them up out of the field.
15:00The fact that we're going to Hampton Court so soon after we've set up is just testament to how much demand there is for British flowers.
15:08I love growing the flowers.
15:11I love having people here on the farm.
15:14I love seeing people's face when they come to pick up their buckets of flowers.
15:19And I think going to Hampton Court, it's a validation that all the hard work is worth it.
15:46Rachel.
15:47Hello.
15:48Wow.
15:49What a display.
15:51I'd love some really good tips for cutting dahlias.
15:54So when should we be doing it and how?
15:57What you want to be doing is looking for 40 centimetres down on your cutting grade dahlias and cutting just above a leaf node.
16:04And then that will spur the plant to bush out.
16:07And before you know it, you've got multiple stems coming off one plant.
16:10So in terms of when you cut them, we tend to cut very early in the morning.
16:13There is a rule that you shouldn't cut flowers if you can feel the sun on the back of your head.
16:17We cut very early at about five o'clock in the morning, but I realise that's not realistic for everybody.
16:22So the best advice I can give people is to cut into water.
16:25It's just best not to cut in full sun because it doesn't give them the best vase life.
16:29Well, I notice a very nice medal there.
16:32Does that mean we're going to see you back again?
16:33Well, the RHS is actually moving this show to Badminton next year, which is right on our doorstep.
16:39So we're less than a mile from where the show site is.
16:42But yeah, I hope we'll be back.
16:44Excellent. Well, I'll look forward to seeing you.
16:45I think you've done a fantastic job.
16:47Congratulations.
16:48Thank you so much.
16:55Even after all these years of creating gardens, it still blows my mind.
17:02The moment you start adding flowers, how quick I find them.
17:07Look in here.
17:08There's hoverflies and there's bees stopping around.
17:11And on that note, there's a young designer who's putting a wild twist onto his pocket garden border.
17:19Hopefully to attract a very special guest.
17:23Although that guest is vulnerable to extinction.
17:32As much as we think we own them, gardens are essentially a shared space with us and wildlife.
17:38I love seeing all the birds, all the insects pollinating and feeding off these flowers here.
17:48It's such a hopeful, joyous feeling.
17:52It just feels right, you know.
17:54We should be encouraging as much nature as we can in all parts of our gardens.
18:01My name is Henry T. Pope and I'm a garden designer based in Bristol.
18:04I live with my girlfriend, just around the corner from here.
18:12When I do have a garden of my own, I'd love for it to be similar to the garden I'm creating for Hampton Court.
18:18With deep borders, lots of wildflowers, and a water source to help wildlife.
18:24I'm a big fan of all wildlife, but the hedgehog's got a special place in my heart.
18:30So what I've wanted to do with this design is make a garden which is mainly for hedgehogs.
18:37It's heartbreaking to know that hedgehog numbers are declining in the UK.
18:41So I'm really hoping that my garden will help encourage people to help support them.
18:46So you can see here we've got quite a deep planting border, with lots of perennials which are popping up through this kind of mass of planting.
18:55I've also got some log piles to attract insects.
18:58And I've got a wonderful hedgehog house made lovingly for me by one of my mum's neighbours, Chris,
19:03which is going to be a real feature of the show and I'm really excited to show off.
19:07Seeing hedgehogs in your garden is just such an amazing experience.
19:14I think a lot of people go through life living in the UK, in the cities, not realising how close they are.
19:24This is my friend Lucy's garden.
19:26She volunteers with the BS3 Hedgehog Project and they try and do as much as they can to support and educate about hedgehogs.
19:33Her garden here is a haven and she gets hedgehog visitors every evening.
19:39So hopefully, if we're patient and we hang about long enough, we might get to see some later.
19:47What makes this garden so good is its relaxed approach to gardening.
19:52Letting your grass grow long, as you can see around me, is great for wildlife.
19:57If you have got a lawn, consider leaving either some of it or all of it,
20:02or you could mow the edges, which still makes it feel neat and tidy,
20:06but it means that the longer grass is providing pretty habitat for hedgehogs to move freely around,
20:11but also allows some wild flowers and things to pop up.
20:16This is just your bog standard lawn grass and just being left to grow long creates this amazing visual impact.
20:23You've got these kind of swaying around, which are beautiful.
20:26So we've got plums, we've got pears, we've got cherries, we've got lots of different varieties of fruiting trees.
20:33Not only do they flower, but they provide fruit for birds and insects to eat on,
20:38which then will also provide more food for hedgehogs.
20:40Hedgehogs are omnivores and they can forage up to a mile each night.
20:49Hedging is particularly good because it means they can move freely between gardens.
20:54It also provides cover and shelter for them.
20:57If you don't have any hedges in your garden and you've just got fences,
21:00something which you can do is you can put a small hole, maybe in the corners of the fences.
21:05Obviously, it's really good to talk to your neighbours firstly about that.
21:08You only need 13 by 13 centimetres.
21:11This means that the hedgehogs will be able to move freely throughout all the gardens.
21:23It's coming out.
21:25The hedgehog's just there.
21:35Oh, it's getting even closer.
21:43Hedgehogs are classified as vulnerable to extinction, so they really need our help.
21:48So as gardeners, I think there's a lot we can do.
21:52It's really uplifting to be able to see that this garden is providing an ecosystem rich enough to support such life.
21:59The more gardens we can have like this that are encouraging wildlife, the more we can see them thrive in our cities.
22:12Seeing this hedgehog tonight has really inspired me.
22:15I'm really excited to get to Hampton Court and start planting.
22:29Well, Henry, you've done it.
22:30This is a garden that's beautiful, full of flowers.
22:33I can see that there's insects absolutely everywhere.
22:35How have you made this about the hedgehogs?
22:38What about this garden would appeal to them?
22:40Open pollinator friendly plants are always great to create this ecosystem for hedgehogs.
22:44But here I've made sure that we've got a fair few shrubs.
22:47So I've used Cornus alba cyberica.
22:49This is a deciduous shrub.
22:51It means it's going to drop its leaves each year, which is micro habitats for insects.
22:55Also potential nesting materials for hedgehogs.
22:57But it also provides cover.
22:59So if you've got some shrubs and stuff, having that kind of canopy for them to hide under is ideal.
23:04And then alongside the shrubs, I've got a few plants that have kind of like lateral growth.
23:08I've got some of the geraniums.
23:10I've got azure rush, which is a sister of Roseanne, essentially.
23:13And like the dyschampsias, which offer the vertical height,
23:15but also that kind of bushy growth that hedgehogs can like snuffle their way through.
23:19And what's the best way to maintain a garden when you're thinking about hedgehogs?
23:23I mean, the first thing to do is not use any pesticides or herbicides,
23:26especially when it comes to like slug pellets or things like that.
23:28So obviously, as we know, hedgehogs gardeners best friends eating slugs.
23:32We don't want to have any kind of poison in there.
23:34There's also water, which is really helpful for any wildlife.
23:37This one's just an upturned dustbin lid with some stones in it.
23:40And so even just using that, all the insects using that a week, the hedgehogs can use that.
23:43There's nothing too deep that hedgehogs can fall in, not be able to get out.
23:46But yeah, that's a key part of any wildlife garden.
23:48But it's your first ever show garden.
23:50Yeah, it's been great. I've really enjoyed it and I'm honoured to have a silver gilt medal.
23:53Well done.
24:07Henry's garden is just one of these pocket planting borders,
24:10and they are full of ideas that we can take home and use in our own gardens.
24:14Like this one. It's beautiful. It's full of exquisite blues, whites and purple planting.
24:19But what I really love are these bamboo features.
24:23They add verticals to the overall design.
24:25They look lovely, but they have a function.
24:28These fill up with rainwater that will slowly seep away and water all the plants in the area.
24:34So it's a really good water storage solution, as well as looking very, very stylish.
24:44This garden is filled with a sort of burned, umbery, orange palette, which I really like.
24:53But it goes very well with the thing I love, which is reclaimed bricks.
24:57I have them all through my own garden.
24:59I also do pottery, but this is a whole other step.
25:03There's earthenware clay that's been formed into faces and ears on the ends of the bricks and then fired.
25:08I just think it's really cool.
25:10I love how some of them are looking at each other and some of them are asleep.
25:13And, you know, there's character with reclaimed things, but these have actual characters,
25:19which is rather lovely.
25:31We're used to seeing gravel gardens now.
25:33They're becoming more and more common, but this is a proper coastal garden.
25:37And I love a coastal garden.
25:39It reminds me of home.
25:41This has got some lovely shells actually in the gravel that really brings you to the seaside,
25:45and brings the seaside to you if you were to put something like this in your own garden.
25:49But it's got some lovely coastal flora.
25:50There's sea hollies.
25:51There's cornflowers, which I know from experience will grow very well right by the sea.
25:56So if you wanted to bring a little bit of holiday to your own home,
26:00you couldn't go wrong with something like this.
26:11You need to look at that.
26:14It's a late flower in Allium called Allium Red Mohican.
26:18And it starts as that beautiful, tight drumstick.
26:22And as it ages, it pops at the top and you get that mohicum.
26:27And yeah, it stops you in your tracks and you think,
26:29yeah, I want to take that home.
26:30But what I would say is slow down a minute.
26:32Don't just run to the counter and buy that.
26:34Look at the plants around it.
26:36You've got Rhyngium called Yuccafolium.
26:38And that's got a smaller head on it, but lovely colour tones.
26:41And then at the back there, you've got an Aggie statue, which is called Blackadder.
26:45And then the grasses coming up through that scene is perfection.
26:51So really, what's making that Allium star is three other plants.
26:57So if you're looking, look at the group, not just that individual.
27:02But although, yes, I go home with a boot full of plants when I come to this show,
27:10it's also a wonderful place for me just to catch up with friends and growers that I have known for years.
27:18Now, I'm off to see Rob and Rosie Hardy, who for me are celebrating something rather special.
27:27I cannot believe you have been coming to this show creating these beautiful displays for 35 years.
27:38Is that right?
27:38It is. And I can't believe it either. I have no idea where that time has gone.
27:44So whose idea was the first one when you had that conversation?
27:48I knew you were going to do that.
27:51At that time, what was the nursery set up?
27:54Not this. It was at the back of our garden.
27:58We had a little semi-detached with one of those really long, 180-yard-long gardens,
28:03and it was just covered in pots. That was it.
28:05We did our first two Hampton Courts from that back garden.
28:08So that was two years in. That was 1992.
28:111992, yeah.
28:12Second display, yeah.
28:14And that was the...
28:16That's the gold medal.
28:17So that was your first gold medal here.
28:19Yeah.
28:20What has changed for you as far as sort of plants, how you view this show, you know, what we plant in our gardens?
28:26You know, I've always said you've got to plant for the situation that you've got in your garden,
28:30and I've always been that, you know, right plant, right place.
28:34Yeah.
28:34Do with what you've got, and you can make life easy, and you can create wonderful gardens.
28:40So, one plant that is on there that's going to be the star of the show this year.
28:45I would say it's going to be the Anacidonte El Rayo, and it flowers all year round.
28:49Just keeps going, keeps going.
28:50I've had it in flower with snow on top of it.
28:52So you can keep it smaller by being mean, or you can have it bigger, but you have to prune.
28:58And people hate that because they have to cut it when it's got flower on it.
29:02Yeah.
29:02Let's not leave him out.
29:04Oh, well, he has something else he enjoys and likes.
29:06What do you like in this year?
29:07The one I like is Oanothra, which used to be called Gora.
29:10Yeah.
29:10It likes well-drained soil, sunny position, and this one is one that Rosie bred,
29:15so it goes up to about four feet tall.
29:17Rosie, Rob, more than anything, I'm looking forward to the next 35 months.
29:24I don't know.
29:25I'll be pushing up daisies.
29:27You won't.
29:27You won't.
29:28You'll still be here doing it.
29:29You will.
29:31It would be nice, I must admit.
29:32I do love being at the shows, and meeting all the people coming through,
29:36are looking for plants to put into their gardens.
29:38Brilliant.
29:49When you step inside this garden, your eye is immediately drawn upwards.
29:54And it's a very good reminder that for many of us, our fences and walls take up a huge portion
30:00of the view, up to a third in some cases.
30:03So it's a great idea to use those spaces as part of our planting schemes, and that's what this garden does.
30:10Now, there is an effect called urban heat islands, and that's the idea that in our urban spaces,
30:17towns and cities, the temperature is a lot higher.
30:20That's partly because there's less wind to cool things down, but also when the sun bakes stone
30:25and concrete, it really warms up, and that heat is retained, especially at night time.
30:30So at night time, it can be up to seven degrees warmer in a city than it would be in a countryside.
30:38But if you add plants, that effect is really reduced.
30:41Now, this green wall is planted in containers, and it has to cope with a lot of shade when it's vertical.
30:47So things like mulambeckia, ferns, haconicloas, and ivy are all very able to do that.
30:54But what I love about this is there's some really interesting additional species.
30:58So things like fatsias, aces, and lovely sephoras that will all grow out to be quite big shrubs
31:06or even small trees and reach out just like they're growing on an actual cliff place.
31:10So in years to come, this will look really beautiful.
31:15Irrigation, that's going through all the pots, and fertilizer every now and again
31:19will keep these looking really healthy.
31:22But if you'd like something a little bit simpler that doesn't require so much irrigation and feeding,
31:26you can stick with classic climbers.
31:29Now, these are all chacallus bermum, so they're evergreen, they have lovely flowers, and they're really scented.
31:35So as well as keeping things cool and beautiful, the garden will smell fantastic as well.
31:54So this little space is an edible forest garden.
31:57So all the trees go in, then you come down a layer, you've got currants, things like the honey berry,
32:03and then you've got the herbs go through, the edible flowers, and the whole thing's been created
32:08by the London National Park City Rangers.
32:11Yes, I know, it sounds like a football club.
32:15In all honesty, I don't know a lot about it, but I do know a lady that does.
32:22Hello Casey.
32:25Hello, how are you doing?
32:26You're enjoying the sunshine?
32:27I really am.
32:28What is a London National Park Ranger?
32:32It's a group of people that have come together, and what it is, it's people that want to green their area.
32:38Yeah.
32:38They want to do more for the environment in their little part of London.
32:43And totally volunteer driven?
32:44Very much volunteer driven.
32:46And how many of you is there?
32:48Just over 300 of us now.
32:50So Katie, just give us, you know, a few different types of projects.
32:55For me, we've got Folkestone Road allotment, where we have people who are deaf and hard of hearing
33:00that are completely included.
33:03And then we've got an urban forest garden just for children with special needs.
33:08Wow.
33:08And they have actually made some of the little butterflies that you can see.
33:13So when you joined, how have you seen it evolve?
33:16We've got a more diverse community being involved.
33:20Plants, they're colourful, but they don't see our colour.
33:23So they treat us all equally.
33:24We treat them well, they treat us better.
33:26So, and that's what London's all about, a melting pot.
33:29Everyone getting together, living harmoniously.
33:32People can come if they're a bit isolated.
33:35They can come and sit on the chair, wait for someone to come and sit next to them.
33:38And that's where the conversation starts.
33:40When this gets broken down, does this go to other places in London?
33:43OK, what's happening, all the rangers have had the opportunity to put in a bid for part of the garden.
33:48We're going to make sure that everything has a home.
33:51Not only a home to go to, but they've got to demonstrate that they can keep it and maintain it.
33:56So you don't go back in three months time and there's nothing there.
33:59I'm smiling at you because I know now that you're completely and utterly hooked.
34:02I am hooked, I'm hooked.
34:04OK, but you're hooked as well.
34:05You've been hooked longer than me.
34:18Here in the Floral Marquis the air is absolutely thick with the most incredible fragrances.
34:24There's roses, lilies, jasmines, sweet peas.
34:27It's really intoxicating.
34:29But I have been pulled here to this slightly different form of smell.
34:34This is the unmistakable, fresh, amazing mint.
34:39One of my favourite herbs.
34:41The ones I particularly am drawn to are the natural forms of mint.
34:45So there's this beautiful Atlas Mountain that's from Morocco.
34:49And then this one, which I absolutely wouldn't recognise as a mint unless I knew it was.
34:53It's called Habeck.
34:54And this is from the Middle East.
34:56But the one that's really excited me is one I never even knew existed.
35:00A British native mint.
35:01This is corn mint.
35:03It doesn't quite have the same strong aroma as the others.
35:06But it's absolutely beautiful in form and will grow really well in your garden.
35:10Of course, mint.
35:11It's one of the best known members of the Lamiesi family.
35:15And this year, the feature border gardens celebrate all the diversity that plants have to offer.
35:25I could definitely imagine myself sipping something in this eminently drinkable garden.
35:31Because many of the plants here are from the Lamiesi family, chosen specifically for their fragrance and flavour.
35:45Aromatic foliage is a hallmark of the Lamiesi family.
35:53And this is Perovskia blue spire.
35:55Wonderful silvery foliage.
35:58But if you just slightly crush it in your fingers, the scent is so powerful.
36:02Now, those essential oils produced by the leaves are important because they deter some of the less beneficial insects,
36:09the aphids, mosquitoes and things like that, a little warning saying, keep away from me.
36:17The Lamiesi family is remarkably diverse, encompassing not only aromatic herbs,
36:23but also striking wild flowers, shrubs and even trees.
36:29Many of its members are standout performers in garden borders,
36:33offering bold form and long-lasting interest with strong appeal to pollinators.
36:41Flowers in the Lamiesi family tend to be long and tubular.
36:45And that means they're best suited to pollinators that have a long tongue,
36:49so they can reach right to the back to get to the nectar.
36:52And this one's really caught my eye.
36:55It's called lion's tail, and it's a native of South Africa.
36:58These wonderful, strong, orange flowers.
37:01And this is actually pollinated by hummingbirds.
37:04But that hasn't stopped the bees from buzzing around.
37:07They're very interested.
37:08It's not hardy, so it's something that you would have to grow somewhere frost-free.
37:12Maybe put it in a pot, and you could have it in the garden,
37:14and then move it into a greenhouse over the winter.
37:17But the monada is hardy in British gardens,
37:20and it's got that sort of similar, rather exotic look.
37:23And the other thing that's caught my eye are the salvias.
37:26This one here is tangerine, and pineapple.
37:30Sounds rather delicious.
37:41Plants in the Lamiesi family have long been grown for their medicinal properties.
37:47This garden is very much inspired by those medicinal qualities.
37:52But it's also a really good lesson, I think, in terms of design.
37:55Because I love the way that they've built some height here.
37:58So they're using things like the agastarchae.
38:01And then it comes down a layer.
38:02We've got the salvia caridona.
38:04So you're blending those soft mauves with the dark purples.
38:07And then we're going through into the nepetas.
38:10So it really works in terms of garden design.
38:13But also is a nod to the history of the medicinal properties in these plants.
38:18Lamiesi is one of the most adaptable and rewarding plant families you can work with.
38:26Many species are drought tolerant and flourish in poor soils,
38:30making them ideal for sustainable and low maintenance gardens.
38:35Whether you're designing a garden for wellbeing, for biodiversity,
38:40perhaps for culinary purposes or just to have a beautiful space.
38:44The whole Lamiesi family offers so many brilliant options.
38:48It's not just about the garden looking good.
38:51It's about it being good for all of us.
38:54One of the things I love most about Hampton Court is the sheer abundance of all the produce here.
39:11There are allotment gardens like this.
39:13There are grow your own displays.
39:15And there are so many practical tips from all the passionate growers here.
39:20A few weeks ago we caught up with a couple whose love of chillies
39:23took them from a chilly north-facing greenhouse in Aberdeen
39:28to now growing nearly a hundred different kinds in sunny Devon.
39:38Running a chilli farm sounds so completely random
39:41to most people when we tell them that's what we do.
39:45Dirt on the leaf.
39:46I have to pinch myself every day I come in.
39:50When I walk around and I have all of this to look after,
39:54I can grow things and experiment, do things that I wasn't able to do in my previous career.
40:01I'm glad that we made the move from one extreme end of the UK to the other.
40:07Having never imagined that I would run a chilli farm, here I am.
40:09I'm Jenny. And I'm Amrit.
40:13And we're a husband and wife team who grow a whole world of chillies down here in South Devon,
40:17from the mild and fruity to the mind-blowingly hot.
40:24What I like about chillies is that people become really fanatical about them.
40:28Once you get hooked, you just want to keep growing more of it, which works well for us.
40:33Three years ago, we took over the site. We've expanded it now so that we've got
40:40eight crop tunnels and two nursery tunnels. Overall, there's about 140 different varieties.
40:49Three years ago, we were living in the far northwest of Scotland in Aberdeenshire.
40:55I was working in finance. Amrit was in the energy industry.
41:02Our little lean-to greenhouse, that was north-facing, so it was a challenge.
41:07But we still managed to grow lots of padrons. I think we didn't buy any padrons, certainly from the supermarket.
41:16This is one that we introduced in our first year of growing at the farm.
41:20Anyone who likes a little chilli that packs a lot of heat for a recipe,
41:24but doesn't have much growing space to do it with, this is definitely a good pick.
41:29The cha-cha. It's such a compact little plant. This is about as big as it'll get.
41:34As you can see, it's so prolific with the fruits. They ripen to orange, so when they start turning
41:39colour, it looks kind of like licks of flames coming up from the plant. And you can just keep
41:43picking these fruits off, pop them in the freezer and be using them all year.
41:47My mum sent us a link to the chilli farm, which was for sale. She said to me,
41:56don't tell Amrit. So the first thing I did was show Amrit.
42:00And it just started snowballing and here we are.
42:03My passion for growing came from growing up in the Caribbean, in Trinidad. My parents,
42:12my grandparents, they're all farmers. But growing chillies and vegetables as a hobby in Aberdeen
42:18is very different from growing it at scale. Initially it was like, oh, look at all these
42:23chilli plants I can play with. It's not exactly like that when you're doing it as a business.
42:27Obviously we took on the planting plan, so we just ran with it. And then it was the second year on,
42:35then we started really tweaking how we want to do things.
42:37Now that all friends and family know that Amrit has the chilli farm,
42:42every time he turns up, someone's got something to give him. From so-and-so, my neighbour,
42:47my friend has this plant, here's some seeds. And it's always wrapped up in it.
42:51He just comes home with tiny bits of tissue with seeds in.
42:53Yeah. And then half the time I don't remember what it looks like. So we have to grow it on,
42:57and take pictures and try and understand what the character of the chilli is.
43:02One variety is called a Trinidad Pimento.
43:05So as soon as the word got out that we were growing this chilli a couple of years ago,
43:09I think every trini in the UK was on the email or on the phones to Amrit trying to get hold of it.
43:13We could not get it off the plants quick enough, could we?
43:15Yeah, we couldn't. They can't believe the sheer quantity of chilli plants we grow here.
43:20They're completely amazed by it, because some of the plants we grow are better than the ones they grow back home.
43:28Growing chillies in the UK, you have a very short season. You have to start sowing your seeds,
43:33January, February, March, to be able to harvest some of the super hot varieties,
43:38September onto October, November, when it gets really cold.
43:41It needs that long, protracted summer to get something out of it.
43:51This one is called a Hungarian hot wax. It's a very mild chilli.
43:56These plants are fantastic for growing in the UK, because you can use the fruits before they're fully ripe.
44:02The longer you leave them on the plant, the sweeter they'll get.
44:05They'll grow a little bit hotter, but less than half the heat of a jalapeno.
44:09The reason why I love these is because I like the chillies that are quite fleshy,
44:16because I like to stuff them with cream cheese and fried. My idea of heaven.
44:26This is purple tiger, and this is one of the varieties that we'll be bringing to Hampton Court with us this year.
44:31It's quite unusual in that it's got a variegated leaf, and the chilli fruits themselves do sometimes have a slight stripe to them.
44:38This one also has purple flowers, which is unusual again in that most chilli flowers are white.
44:44Even though we call this an ornamental chilli, the fruits are absolutely still edible.
44:48They ripen to red and they'll be perfectly tasty when they get to that colour.
44:55So this year we're going to be at Hampton Court.
44:57It feels pretty surreal, to be honest. We've always visited the RHS events, haven't we?
45:04Always kind of blown away by the displays.
45:06Yeah. When I brush shoulders with somebody growing delphiniums or clematis or whatever,
45:11and they've been doing it, and they're master growers or they've got a national collection,
45:14you're there next to them, you think, wow.
45:17We absolutely think our chillies deserve to be there, in all their rainbow glory.
45:23As soon as they've got fruit on, they just look brilliant, don't they?
45:25Yeah.
45:26They're still a bit unusual in an RHS event, but in a good way.
45:45Amrit, that is a fascinating story.
45:49And you obviously described me perfectly in that film. Actually, I promise each year that I'm going
45:55to buy three chillies at the most. And like we are now, I ended up surrounded with them.
46:03And I don't know what to do with them to get the best out of them.
46:08Sure. If you're growing a really, really hot chilli, you would make a chilli sauce out of it.
46:12That's the natural thing to do. If you want to make something that you can then use more
46:15on a daily basis and has a more versatile use. You'd probably grow something like this,
46:21Santa Fe Grande.
46:22Yeah, yeah, yep.
46:23And this is a fantastic chilli to pickle.
46:25Yeah.
46:26Because it has a nice thick wall to it.
46:28You can put it into a brine and it just takes naturally to that.
46:32It works really well. And then you can then put that into a sandwich.
46:34So how would you go a little bit further? How would you pickle it?
46:37So it depends what kind of flavour profile you want from the chilli.
46:40If you want something sweeter, you'd let the chilli ripen on the plant a bit more,
46:44let the sugars develop a bit more. If you wanted something which is a bit more,
46:47dare I say grassy, that green flavour you get from a green pepper,
46:51you'd pick it at any stage that you particularly wanted. And then you slice it up,
46:55you make up a brine. And the brine doesn't have to be very complicated. It can be water,
46:59sugar, a bit of aromatics. So some peppercorns, a bay leaf, a bit of clove.
47:04And how long would that last in a jar?
47:06Yeah. It could last many, many months. It never lasts that long.
47:10No, no, exactly. So when it comes to something like that saturday,
47:14Yeah. What's that final flavour really like?
47:17Well, I've got a jar right here that we can try.
47:19Go on.
47:21I promise I'm not going to blow your head off.
47:23You're not going to stitch me up?
47:24No, no, no.
47:27And I'll try one just to prove that I'm not poisoning you.
47:33That's really good.
47:35Nice crunch, but sweet.
47:38Yeah.
47:38And then that warmth starts to come.
47:40But it's never, it's not blowing your head off.
47:42No.
47:42And you taste the chilli.
47:44And then it stays around.
47:45Yeah. It's a perfect chilli for, you know,
47:47pickling and doing that sort of thing.
47:48That's awesome.
47:49Yeah.
47:50Thank you for that, because I'm now going home
47:53with some ideas what I'm going to do with my 14 different chins.
47:57Brilliant, mate. Thank you.
47:58Fantastic.
48:05Whenever you come to a flower show, you'll find nursery stands that grow a bit of everything.
48:10But there are always some that have chosen to focus on one particular group of plants.
48:16And here, the plant heritage stands give those specialist growers a place where they can showcase
48:21their chosen plant. And we can all find out why they love them so much. And there's one particular stand that's really caught my eye.
48:29These little rays of sunshine are Santolina, otherwise known as cotton lavender.
48:41Hi, Jess.
48:42This is looking very beautiful.
48:43Are you pleased with it?
48:44I'm so pleased, yeah.
48:46What is it about Santolina that you love? Because you're the national collection holder of them, aren't you?
48:50Yeah, I think it's because it's an easy growing plant.
48:54Yeah.
48:54Drought tolerant, so people can pop it in a pot, leave it in the courtyard and forget about it if
48:59they go on holiday, which is great.
49:01Because people generally think of lavender and other plants like that as that kind of a role,
49:06and Santolina may be a little bit overlooked.
49:08Yeah.
49:09Why do you think that is?
49:10A lot of people have made comments the last couple of days that they always thought it was that really
49:15intense yellow, but they come in different shades from really bright yellow to creams as well.
49:20I love yellow, but I think it's fallen out of favour a little bit in terms of fashion.
49:24I think people will hopefully rethink it.
49:26A lot of people are having trouble with their box edging at the moment, and this would be a
49:29great alternative to put in. Even if it's trimmed really tightly, if there's no flowers on it at
49:34all, it's evergreen, so it's great for the winter.
49:36And when and how do you cut them to keep that neat shape?
49:39Best to give it a really nice trim back early spring.
49:42So once the frost is lifted, give it a nice hard cut back so it gets that structure for the year.
49:48And then again, after flowering, just to keep the shape.
49:51How many have you got in your collection?
49:52We've got 17 here today.
49:54Do you have any particular favourite ones?
49:56Lemon Fizz always turns people's heads, I think.
49:58For smell-wise, Insulari, which is more of a rare one.
50:01But Smallness, that's a real tight, compact one, so a lot of people that don't have a lot of space,
50:07that's a great one to put in, right at the front of a warder.
50:10And I presume they like a sunny, quite dry position?
50:13Intense heat is best, obviously Mediterranean-based, and don't have wet feet through the winter.
50:17They'll have loved it here this week, then.
50:19Oh, yes.
50:19Very, very warm.
50:21Well, really well done.
50:22This is your first ever display, isn't it?
50:24It is, yeah.
50:24My first exhibit at Hampton.
50:26Well, hopefully we'll see you many, many more times.
50:44Hello.
50:45Hello.
50:46I guess there's a whole new meaning to the word hot for you now.
50:48Just a bit.
50:49I'm still carrying a little heat.
50:52Actually, they tasted really good.
50:54Good.
50:54Yeah.
50:55Well, come and cool down in this very relaxing, green space.
51:01I really like these steel rods.
51:04Well, they give a sort of sense that you're in a pergola, and yet you're not.
51:09It's like an essence of pergola in the verticals.
51:13And actually interesting in these London Plains, that colouring and that peeling picks up, doesn't it?
51:18It does.
51:19On the detail.
51:20And I really like that that creates sort of like an essence of roof here as well with these really heavily pruned trees.
51:26Yeah, it makes you feel comfortable.
51:28Yeah, it's a canopy, but it's not, it's like a, it's like a ghost of a pergola with a roof, you know?
51:33I like that.
51:35And you've got this sort of reflective surface where you more or less want to, you can see.
51:39Check if you've got seeds in your teeth.
51:44You're good.
51:44You can see that reflective bit going in there, which is lovely.
51:48So, yeah.
51:56Well, there we go.
51:57This is a wild space.
51:59What do you think?
52:00I love it, actually.
52:01It feels like end of the day, end of the garden, chill.
52:06I agree.
52:06And a celebration of compost, which in a show garden is a rare thing.
52:11I know.
52:12Seriously, if I could take one thing home, that compost bed, I think it's a great idea.
52:17And the fact as well is, you know, that's composting, it's a habitat.
52:21But I love the way that the seed heads have been saved, and they've been placed on top,
52:25and it creates like a feature, doesn't it?
52:27Yeah, I agree with you.
52:28And those logs themselves will become useful as fungus.
52:31And you'll have this mycelium-filled, lovely, humus-rich compost to add to those.
52:36Plus all the edges as well, with the logs as well.
52:38It all ties in quite nicely.
52:40Yeah, it's got, it has got that very sort of connected to the earth feel.
52:45Yeah, definitely.
52:48The symbiotic relationship between wildlife and gardening is captured beautifully in the RSPB
52:55and the RHS Swift garden, designed to raise awareness of the plight of this incredible bird.
53:05This really is a crack in space.
53:07It does everything.
53:08Plantings in layers, provides lots of different habitats,
53:12which means there's homes and food for so much in here.
53:17If I was going to say to do one thing in my garden, just to encourage more birds,
53:24it would be, don't cut the herbaceous perennials back, leave them for the winter.
53:30And I know not everybody's convinced.
53:32So, middle of the winter, it's Sunday morning, I go downstairs, I've got the dog, the cat and a cup of coffee.
53:38I'm looking out of the window, and all of a sudden there was this flurry.
53:42And for the next 20 minutes, I watched a flock of finches come in and literally pillage
53:51all the tiny little seed heads in the herbs in the front garden.
53:54So there you go, if I was going to say one thing, let's not be quite so tidy in our garden.
54:01One famous face supporting the Swifts is none other than comedian and musician, Bill Bailey.
54:07Hello there. Hello, Bill. How are you, boy?
54:12Adam, very nice to see you. And you, sir.
54:15So, man of many talents, as we know, tell us about Bill the Gardener.
54:19Well, the thing is about, for me, the garden is a bit of a sanctuary, you know, because I'm away a lot.
54:24You know, I come home and I just want something where I can go out and just relax.
54:28I love this sort of scenario, which is quite wild.
54:30I like to have a little bit of a wild area in the garden where you attract butterflies and bees.
54:35When did bird watching, being interested in birds, come to your life?
54:41Well, I think really it started when I was a kid.
54:44My mum and dad and my grandparents, me, the whole Bailey family of the entourage,
54:50we would go out to a bird sanctuary or a bird reserve.
54:55And that was a typical day out.
54:56Yeah.
54:57And I think my mum, more than anyone, she had this sort of desire for me to foster this love of nature.
55:05And I remember her saying to me, I just want you to love nature.
55:08That was a mantra that she repeated over and again.
55:10And it has. It's had this effect on me throughout my entire life.
55:15There's nothing more pleasurable than when you're touring, when you've got a day off,
55:19to just take a pair of bins and just head off into somewhere, some part of the countryside,
55:25wherever you are, and just take a moment.
55:27Yeah.
55:27But now you have got that voice and you want to use that ultimately to talk about the Swift.
55:33Yeah, exactly.
55:34And the Swift, well, it's an iconic bird of the British summer.
55:39And it seems extraordinary, doesn't it, that the numbers have declined so dramatically
55:44in the last 30 years, I think nearly something like 70% down since 1995,
55:49which is shocking, really.
55:50So I think anything that we can do to encourage the numbers back up is a good thing.
55:55The thing I love about Swifts as well is the slightly sort of generational thing in,
55:59you know, if they build a home, they pass it on.
56:02Yes.
56:03Just beautiful, isn't it?
56:04Yeah, that's right.
56:05Exactly.
56:05Like a Swift box or one of these Swift bricks here can provide a home for, you know,
56:11multiple generations of Swifts or other nesting birds.
56:13And that is just, just a simple thing like that can have this, this extra consequence.
56:18Well, mate, honestly, for you to talk about the Swift, I think it's massively helpful for
56:25not only the birds, but us as gardeners.
56:27So thank you, my friend.
56:28No, you're very welcome.
56:34Hampton Cops!
56:35Yay!
56:38How are we?
56:39Good.
56:39Very good.
56:41What is sort of going to stay with you from today?
56:43I mean, there's loads.
56:45The show gardens are full of ideas, but I really like coming here to actually to buy plants
56:51because it's the height of the flower season, isn't it?
56:53So going around all the stalls out there and choosing some additional flowers, which is kind
56:58of new for me because usually I'm about the veg.
57:00So it's quite nice to embrace this, this floral side.
57:03It's very hard to resist.
57:04I know.
57:05Because I have to say that I also succumbed.
57:07Right.
57:08Um, I've just been visiting a wonderful cut flower grower and I may have come away with a dahlia.
57:14What's a dahlia?
57:15Exactly.
57:16You know, you're between friends.
57:17You can never have enough dahlia's, can you?
57:20What about you?
57:21I think I've had a lovely conversation about chillies.
57:25How?
57:26Because I'm definitely the person that starts with two or three, then goes to another show,
57:31comes home with two more, five more, six more, walks to the greenhouse when all the
57:35chillies are becoming ripe and going, why did I buy so many chillies?
57:39Have you bought more?
57:40Yeah.
57:42Of course he has.
57:43He has.
57:45Well, unfortunately, that's it from us from the RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival,
57:51but the show is open until Sunday and I really recommend that you come along if you can.
57:57And I'm sad to say we won't be here next week because of Wimbledon, but the following week
58:04will be RHS flower show, Wentworth Woodhouse.
58:08It's a new, stunning location for our last flower show of the season.
58:13So hopefully we'll see you there.
58:14In the meantime, look after yourselves.
58:16Bye-bye.
58:17Bye-bye.
58:18Bye-bye.
58:30As Adam just mentioned, Gardener's World will be back at the same time Thursday the 17th of July.
58:35Discover how a creative genius rebuilt his world.
58:38Press red now as Heston Blumenthal explores my life with bipolar on iPlayer.
58:42And as they finally make their long-awaited comeback tonight,
58:45go inside the rise and fall of Oasis now on BBC Sounds.
58:48It's 12 noon in London, 7am in Philadelphia.
58:59And around the world...
59:00It's 12 noon in London, 7am in Philadelphia.
59:02Today's World will be back.
59:03And around the world...
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