Monty Don Explores Creative Gardens In Tiny Spaces | Gardener’s World

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Join us for a spring special as we explore the beauty of new growth and vibrant blossoms. This episode takes you to the prestigious RHS Malvern Spring Festival, showcasing breathtaking garden designs including a gold-medal-winning art lover’s garden and an urban oasis. We also meet the third finalist in our “Every Space Counts” competition, who transformed a challenging north London garden into a wildlife-friendly haven. Learn about the resurgence of houseplants, their air-purifying benefits, and essential care tips for popular varieties like Mother-in-Law’s Tongue and Ficus. Get practical advice on planting herbaceous perennials for stunning young borders and discover the sun-loving Echinacea. Plus, see an overdue spring overhaul of carnivorous plants, with expert guidance on repotting and dividing them. We also hear from passionate succulent growers aiming for Chelsea, and learn how to plant climbing beans and harvest asparagus. Don’t miss our weekend gardening tips, covering beetroot, hardening off plants, and gladioli, alongside a vibrant display of tulips.

00:00 Adding Color To Your Garden
05:30 Houseplants
11:28 Monty Don’s Carnivorous Plants
16:16 Carol Klein Attends A Flower Festival
25:38 Exploring Creative Gardens In Tiny Spaces
36:24 Award Winning Garden Designs
38:24 Succulents
46:22 Monty Don’s Vegetable Garden
51:07 A Vibrant Garden In A Tiny Space
54:06 Monty Don’s Weekend Gardening Tasks

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From: Gardener’s World | Season 8 Episode 4
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#MontyDon #GardeningTips #Houseplants

Hold still nice. Just there’s a good boy. Hello. Welcome to Gardener’s World. Just giving top Nigel a little trim. Although the really important thing at this time of year is not Topri Nigel, however great that might be, but to celebrate what is happening all around. After a long and cold winter and well into spring, all that’s been rolled back and in its place has come that magical combination of the power of new growth, the prettiness of the blossom and the tulips and that special fragile light that you get at this time of year. And this is why we garden. This is what carries us through those cold days. So, the most important job at this time of year is to stop and drink deep. Coming up on today’s show, Joe, Carol, and Adam share the very best exhibits at the RHS Morvin Spring Festival. We meet the third finalist in our Every Space Counts competition as we search for the nation’s most innovative and creative small gardens. It’s only 3 years old, but when you look at how it was at the beginning and how it is now, it’s such a transformation. And I should be giving my carnivorous plants a long overdue spring overhaul and working in the vegetable garden. I think that this will not only look good in here, but will grow very happily. This is a thistle called cersium rivulari. It’s one of my favorites and it tends to grow well anywhere in the garden. It likes our rich, rather damp soil. I’m bringing in three herbaceous perennials that will grow to a really decent size and all share the same color, which is this gamut of pinks through to purple. And the idea in these borders is to add some heft, a bit of mid and late season color and volume because they’re young and they just need a little bit more substance. As for planting it, as long as you’ve got nice rich soil that doesn’t dry out, this is going to be happy. This is small. It’ll grow up to about 3 4t tall and throw quite a number of flowers right through to midsummer. But I’ve got two different plants, both trying to achieve the same sort of effect with the same sort of coloring, but they behave in very different ways. Now, at the moment, this little plant seems much less imposing than the cerseium. It’s an ailby a still chinis purple, but this will grow about a meter and a half tall with a great plume of pinky purple flower. A stillby is a plant that really likes damp shade. The dapple shade from the apple trees is perfect. So, I put that little thing in there now, knowing that in a few months time that is going to stand tall with this lovely plume of flower. Now, this is an exception to this group of damp loving plants. It’s echi. Ein come in colors from pale pink right through to mauve and all stations in between including wonderful oranges. But this is one called Magmus is quite an old variety that’s tried and tested. It is happiest in full sun with good drainage. So, I will sprinkle some grit in the bottom like that. And then just work it in a bit. And this will grow about a meter and a half tall and start flowering in July and go on into late summer. They’re not plants that last terribly long and they can be a little bit temperamental if you try and move them. So, choose your planting place well and stick to it. Leave it there. Echinaci are loved by butterflies and bees. They’re a really good plant to attract insects into the garden as in fact are the cersium. Both of these plants will do a lot to enrich the option for both the bees that I’ve got here and also all the insects that come into the garden. Right, I promise not to move you. Now, we’ve got used to seeing Francis up to her knees in dirt and the a lotment in Bristol making that come into being, and we shall be visiting her there often before the end of the series. But this week, she’s gone to the big city in search of the latest fashion. [Music] They were really popular in the 60s and 70s. In the 80s and ’90s, their light faded, but now they’re more popular than ever. [Music] No, it’s not flares, man, or pampers grass. It’s house plants. House plants are now more trendy than ever and people like Ian Drummond are filling their houses with these exotic beauties. So Ian, tell me about the house plant revolution. Well, it’s massive. It’s gone in a really big way over the last couple of years and I think it’s way overdue. I love them as a kid in the 70s and that’s when they were last really really popular, but they’re back now. And why do you think it’s happened now? I think a lot of it is many of us live in apartments in cities, don’t have outside space. So having plants to look at, I think they just make you feel good. Ian gives his plants a new dimension by choosing beautiful pots and thinking carefully about where to place them around his home. There’s plants that suit every room in the house. There was superstition and old wives tells that you couldn’t have plants in the bedroom whilst you’re sleeping, which is not true. There are some plants that are actually great for you. Things like the sens areas, mother-in-law’s tongue are perfect. They release oxygen during the night. So are perfect to have whilst you’re sleeping cuz where they evolved, I guess it been so hot that they would close their tomato paws in the daytime and open them at night time and do all of that stuff, which I guess, you know, cacti and succulents would do the exact same thing. So any of those could do the same job in the bedroom. Would all work really well actually. Yeah. And all look great in the bedroom. I mean, that’s quite a classic though, isn’t it? in terms of a house plant, but there are some much more kind of modern twists on the on the classics, aren’t there? Yeah, I’ve got things like Cincaria Bicardo and Cylindrico, which kind of quite architectural. It’s part of the interior design. Plants can really embrace the rest of the design of the house or the room. Plants that you can grow inside that you’d never be able to grow outside. So, you have a whole new kind of pallet of plants to work with. Completely. Yeah. Even if you’ve got a garden, it’s like you still should have house plants. They’re great. You can learn so much more about more more varieties of plants than you would normally work with. House plants haven’t changed that much. In fact, they’ve been with us for decades. What is changing is the way we’re using them. It might sound an obvious question, Ian, but what actually is a house plant? House plants are really a tender ornaments, which can be anything from succulents to tropical plants. Plants that you really would struggle to have outside in this climate in the UK. I mean, in the bathroom here, I’ve got um sort of a display of Vander kids hanging on the shower, which I is the perfect position for them. It’s is it’s good light and they love really love humidity. They need to be sprayed. So, just bring them into the shower, miss the roots. It’s a easy way of doing it. Shower your orchids. They get all their nutrients from the air around them anyway. They don’t need any soil or anything like that. The roots fantastic. They look incredible. And presumably in the bathroom as well, you more often than not will have kind of obscured glass, which makes the light levels quite low, which is obviously potentially another good thing for tropical plants. Yeah, absolutely. Here is the the light coming through is quite muted. So, it’s perfect for things like the amphiums and for the orchids actually cuz they don’t want direct sunlight. So, you’re basically recreating a kind of tropical forest floor, but in your bathroom. Yeah, you are. In effect, absolutely. These plants are so versatile. There’s one for almost any room in the home. Ficus Lorata is a big architectural and dramatic fig. It loves to be bathed in light, so should be kept in a bright window and never allowed to completely dry out. As with all house plants, the best way of keeping the leaves glossy is using a damp cloth. Aloss. Don’t be fooled by their desert-like appearance. In the home, they prefer to be out of direct sunlight. Just make sure they have really good drainage. Terrariums are actually really traditional way of displaying house plants, aren’t they? But have recently become a really popular trend, would you say? Absolutely. Incredibly popular, a big part of the whole revival actually of house plants. So now the whole open terrarium like we’re doing is is really been the big the big trend. And so anything really that’s glass you could pretty much plant up. And this compost that we’re using is just a really sandy free draining compost. Yeah. So with what we’re using here with catchway, you literally you don’t need to put any drainage in the base. Just put them straight into the soil. What would you say the most common problems that people come across are? People tend to over love. So most people overwater their house plants. And in terms of pests and diseases, because I always find with my succulents, they get meie bug. Yeah. What do you do about them when you get them? The best way to get rid of it is by by cleaning it off. Literally just wiping it off. A good way water using something like a cotton bud is a really good way you can really get into it to get the last bits out. With this, I would check it every couple of weeks. Just move the gravel over. Put your finger into the soil. If you feel any moisture, leave it. If it’s feeling quite dry, just a small amount of water. Okay, great. Where will we put it? I think it should go on the shelfie. That sounds intriguing. Yeah. Okay. To the selfie. There we go. Instead of taking a selfie, take a photo of your favorite things, a collection of your favorite things, put it on social media, and um share it with the world. Ah, I quite like that. Yeah, mine’s just filled with house plants. Well, I can see why. I might make one myself. [Music] There’s no question that house plants have become hugely more popular than they were 10, 20 or 30 years ago. And my children’s generation have taken to them enthusiastically and of course it is their entry into gardening. And here in the greenhouse, I’ve got what you might call some halfway house plants. These are carnivorous plants. They serve a function. They catch insects. They’re looking a bit dog eaten. And it’s time they had a tidy up. I’ve had them for four years now and I’ve never touched them. It’s long overdue. One of the reasons that this is quite awkward to carry is that it is sitting in a basin of water. Because these are plants that grow in acidic bogs. They like to be permanently water logged and have very very low nutrients and a very low pH. These poor things haven’t been repotted for so long. Look at that. That is almost climbing out of the pot. that needs taking out, breaking up, repotting, cutting back, and we can give it a new life. And the way to do that is simply to break it with your hands. So, get your hands in and just pull them apart. It’s quite easy. There we go. That’s one decent bunch. Gently tease that apart. one and even two. So, we’ve got ourselves in a matter of a minute or so half a dozen to a dozen brand new plants that will very quickly grow. Now, the first thing to do to each one is to cut back all the old growth. This is the foliage that mimics flowers in order to attract flies into them. So, the fly comes in, lands on the rim, and once it’s down in, it can’t get away. If I get my knife, and slice this open like that. Do you see? Look at that. That is where all the nutrients from the plants are coming from. So, the soil wants to be very, very low in nutrients. For years, it was assumed that they would only grow in Pete, and that’s because they naturally grow in Pete bogs. I’m going to try my own potting mix. I’ve got lots of bracken compost, leaf mold, koa, and perlite. And I think a combination of those should work. Just as you need very low nutrients in the potting compost, so you do in the water. Do not use tap water on carnivorous plants. Only use rain water. In summer, they need to be moist all the time. In winter, they can be a little bit drier, but never dry out. Now, in amongst these is a dstra, and this operates by having these sticky hairs. The fly flies in, is drawn in, gets caught, thrashes around, the leaves fold around it, and then it’s digested. And perhaps the most famous carnivorous plant of them all is the Venus fly trap. So, the fly comes in, lands in here, and as it lands in the middle, it closes around it. Bang. And it’s caught. And then again, slowly digested. Now, that is either disgusting or fascinating according to your cast of mind. But the truth remains. They are beautiful, interesting plants that you can grow on a very sunny windowill or a balcony or if you’ve got it, a porch, a conservatory, or a greenhouse. It’s going to take me a while to repot all of these, and I’ve got a number of other things I want to get on with today. But first, it’s time to go to Morvin where the RHS spring festival is taking place. I actually bought all these carnivorous plants from Morvin four years ago. It’s a great place to go and get inspiration and plants at this time of year. And this year, Carol, Adam, and Joe are there to celebrate and share the highlights. Molvin is one of the earliest flower shows of the year and certainly one of the most impressive with the fabulous and majestic Mulvin Hills as a backdrop. Now this year there are loads of gardens and I’m going to be seeking out the very best designs. [Music] If you’re looking for a plant for a special place, something new and exciting, and Mulvin’s floral marquee is the place to head for. It’s 28,000 square feet, brimming with blooming beauty. I’ll be talking to a Mulvin first timer and sharing with you some of my really special new spring plants. [Music] and I’ll be looking at a brand new category called green living spaces, which is all about making the most of every inch of your garden. So, I’ll be checking out big ideas for small spaces. [Music] Molden’s a place to see both new and established garden designers. And Peter Dal comes into the latter category because he’s already got three gold medals here and two best in shows. And for me, he’s a garden designer at the top of his game. It’s a garden design for art lovers. So, there’s four sculptures dotted around, but they draw you in. They reveal themselves as you turn the corner. Like this sculpture, I can’t quite see it because this box plant is slightly obscuring it. But then as you turn a corner, there it is. And it’s only a confident garden designer who can flood at least half the site with water because he knows it’s going to bring a wonderful calming, cooling presence to the garden. And then he’s really utilized the view of the Molvin Hills behind. It’s as if there’s a seamless transition. Some of the sculpture placing is very subtle whilst others are dramatic like this huge head here placed under these rocks and it can be seen right from the other side of the water. So it draws the eye through the entire length of the garden. Now there’s no surprise that this garden has got a gold medal and it’s just added another one to Peter’s collection. [Music] This garden’s called Urban Oasis and it’s designed by Mark Draper and it’s an interesting combination of ultra slick modern hard landscaping and then mass colorful planting. Now the deck and the boundaries are both black and people are scared of using black in the garden and I can see why. But actually it can be incredibly effective on the boundaries. It helps it disappear into the background. Just recede off into the distance nicely. But most importantly, it sets off the planting. And this planting is seriously colorful. That’s what it’s all about. It’s a bit like a perennial meadow on steroids we’ve got here. There are 3 and a half thousand plants packed into this garden. And one is the zingy euphoria. That is epithemmoides. And it really is wonderful. It ties in with the yellow throughout the hard landscaping here, but just sets off those plants beautifully. Now, the zigzag deck leads you through to the back, and you can imagine coming back from work, walking through your garden, taking it all in, and just relaxing at the end of the day. Personally, I would like to seen a little bit more height in the planting to break the eye up a little bit. But I think what Mark’s done here is a fabulous colorful addition to the show. [Music] Well, we’ve seen Peter Dale’s garden, but they’re a talented family cuz this is his brother Christians, and it’s called the Dew Pond. This garden’s all about sustainability and recycling materials. And the idea is that the water will hit the the roof of this little structure and it will be fed down into the pond, keep it topped up. But in effect, this works as what we call a rain garden these days. So the planting around the outside can cope with really boggy soil and periods of dry, too. So we’ve got things like the ragged robin, which is just gorgeous, dotted through that wild bank over there, and the lovely Angelica over there, too. And from in here, you do feel like you’re right on the edge of a woodland. And I’m looking on that bank of planting, which leads my eye up really nicely to the Molvin Hills beyond. I think Kristen’s done a fabulous job. [Music] This year there are more than 70 exhibits packed into the floral marquee. The place is full of spring stars and I want to show you some of my favorites. [Music] This stand is absolutely packed with color from these gorgeous aiatic primulas. There’s pulveria lantern with these mely stems. Sometimes you can get as many as 8 to 10 of these. So they’ll go on flowering for ages and ages. You get months of color from them. But over here is the real star. This dainty little primula maximoi comes from the mountains of northern and central China. I have never seen it before. And I think it’s just such a delicate, gorgeous little plant. You really need to get right down to admire these individual flowers hanging on slender stems. I think it’s an absolute delight. It likes damp, but it likes decent drainage, too. And I’m just dying to grow it. It’s exquisite. [Music] This stand is bursting with color, but it’s very soft, very pastelike, absolutely frothy and gorgeous. First of all, there’s a polyimonium. very easy and straightforward to grow. Great in a bed or border or even in a shady spot. And next to it and a a perfect partnership is a little spring flowering sweet pee lather furnace. And this one is elbow roas which simply means white and pink. And that’s exactly the color of its flowers. It’ll only flower for a few short weeks in the springtime. And then the third beautiful plant is this Murray sodorata commonly known as sweet sicily. It’s called that because you can add the stems to rhubarb or other fruit and it makes them less tart. It’s a real good way of using less sugar. Who wouldn’t want it in their garden for this froth of white flowers? Beautiful markings on the leaves, too. And as easy as wink to grow. It’s delightful. It’s lovely. And it’s delicious. [Music] Immediately, you’re drawn to this stand by something you can’t see because it’s a scent. It’s this beautiful honeysuckle. It’s called sensation and it’s a form of our own lenisera pericleaminum the native honeysuckle and it was found in a heraffordshire hedro. It’s supposed to be a superb garden plant keeps many of its leaves over winter and is loaded with highly perfumed flowers all summer long. I love the way that its color is reflected in this hooker. Absolutely delightful. But most of the color on this stand is really zingy with this big orange gem. It’s called Scarlet Tempest. And that orange is actually picked up by the leaves of the hyperacum and these big spludges of euphobia flowers. Each of them has a little red eye. The Mulvin Spring Festival is the freshest show of the year. And whatever your taste in color, you’re bound to be able to find something to inspire you here. I’m here with Jamie Butworth, who’s an RHS ambassador. He’s here with a new concept called green living spaces. And you’re going to tell me what it’s all about, mate. Exactly. So, this is a a brand new category to RHS Melbourne, and I am so excited about it. In fact, it’s new to any RHS show, whether it be Chelsea or Hampton or Taton. So, I’m I’m dead proud that it’s here at Malvin. The brief for the designers to design a garden of 5 m by 3 m space, got two balconies and two patios, and it’s for a young couple. And ideally, we’re looking at generation rent. So, actually 37% of the British population live in rented accommodation. So, this is to showcase that even if you’ve only got a tiny little balcony at home or a tiny little patio or even you’ve just got a window sill, you can still bring plants, greenery into your life. Absolutely fantastic. And and am I right in thinking these four spaces are designed by different people? Yeah, they are indeed. We’ve got four fantastic designers that are new to RHS shows, which is brilliant. So, this is their first show garden. Absolutely brilliant. Well, it’s all right with you, pal. I’m going to go and have a nosy about. Of course, feel free. This garden’s designed by Anne Keenan and and when you walk in, it’s a it’s a lovely little space, but what I think works well is the detail start to reveal itself. I look at the floor and the tiles there have got a relationship with the table. I also think the use of art’s great collection of of succulents. Even there’s beads in the deck. This is a water tank just cladded with cedar which which makes it sort of quite beautiful to look at. But if you look, there’s a link back again with the table. But look at this. It’s a dipstick so you know how much water’s in there. Fantastic. This one’s designed by Andy Bending. Straight away there’s a connection from the timber on the inside to the outside and the deck here, but that’s made of old scaffold boards. Cheap, cheerful, but effective. And would you necessarily think about putting an arch in a small space? Probably not. But what it does is it frames the apple tree at the end of the garden. But the new levels is clever as well because I feel now I’m moving down into a completely different space. And for me, what stands out in here is this edible wall. We got chives, we got strawberries, we got lettuce. In fact, we got a whole meal. I think designer Sebastian Conrad’s been really brave with this. You can use these big high planters that not only divide the space, but what I like is they engage me with the plants in a completely different way. I can enjoy the scent and the flowers really closely and then I’ve got this beam above me which feels roomike. So, the atmosphere really changes and you can imagine sitting here, you know, on a Sunday afternoon having a drink and enjoying watching the sun go down. This one’s designed by a lane porch and it is a cracker. It’s layers of detail. You sit there and it’s just stuff full of interest, but it’s an eclectic mix of sort of upcycled objects. I’ve got old light fittings. I’ve got colanders. That’s a seat. It’s an old tin bath I reckon my nan used to bath me in. But it’s planted in a way that’s really easy to maintain. There’s an awful lot of succulents. But then there’s edibles. There’s even a bug hotel. I think what’s great about it is that if you move, you could put this all in a back of a van and take it with you. So, I think this garden’s proved even with the smallest of space, you can do something wonderful. [Music] And there you go. It just proves you can create a fabulous little garden even in the tiniest of spaces. Now 2018 is the 100th anniversary of the RAF and one exserviceman turned garden designer Martin Wilson wanted to mark this occasion by creating here at Molvin a very special garden. [Music] Four generations of my family have served in the RAF. Um, starting with my grandfather, my father and my brother and my sister-in-law who are both serving now. I joined in October 1988. I was just over 17 years old, so quite young and fresh. I think gardening was always in my blood. I remember when I was very young, you back in the sort of 70s and the good life sort of period and my dad trying to grow vegetables in the garden and actually succeeding quite well and my grandfather being um really into his roses. Went to university at the age of 32. I then um undertook a professional course in garden design and I’ve been practicing now for just over 5 years. It’s the 100th anniversary of the formation of the Air Force. It’s a massive occasion and I’m really proud to be creating this garden former friends and colleagues and all those servicemen and women and their families who support them as a lasting memory. How do you explore 100 years of the Royal Air Force? that history of aviation engineering, ingenuity and and dedication. We’re here at the former RF Littleington in the Cotswwells. I served at RF Bryzen Autumn which is about 20 minutes up the road from here and I used to drive past here every week um and saw the changes the Air Force base went through as it shut down. saw the grass is at a decent height in in full flower with like almost like a flower meadow. So that started my journey towards this garden. [Music] Every airfield has a boundary as does every garden. This hedge row has actually selfseeded. We’ll have a hedro around the garden to enclose it and give a a feeling of intimacy and privacy. Looking at species here, we can see how earlier in the year this would have had flower on here and be a lot taller. Typically, plants are about 4 weeks behind where we would expect them to be at this time of year. But by the time the garden is created, then we’ll have that height and the movement and swaying of grasses like you would see on the middle of an airfield. Coming through here is cow parsley starting to come into leaf. And we hope to have that foliage and that texture on the garden as well. [Music] This board is memories of service which is the title of the show garden. And this these are pictures of my family. And if we notice the insignia on my father’s um arm, it’s three propellers. And then when we look at the garden itself and the four propellers on the garden, again, that’s where the inspiration starts to come from. The Spitfire is perhaps the most evocative aircraft of the Royal Air Force. It’s this that stirs the emotions for a lot of people. And we look at the colors on the aircraft here. The yellow around the round all and the reds and the whites and the blues will be picked up through the planting on the garden. So in my own garden have a number of plants that I have used on show gardens in the past around about this time of year. Those plants are informing the color palette and vice versa. Here we have anthroscus uh sylvestrous raven’s wing. We look at the colors of the RAF tie and you’ll see these dark clarret tones here and I want to try and pick that up through foliage and through flower on the garden. This is pasporon to thumb and we’ll have this clipped into ball shapes to resemble radar and the domes of radars. I have quite a straight lines in my own garden. I think it might be from my formal military background and I prefer to design in straight lines. I particularly like hornbeam because it gives us year round interest and structure and it’s an exposed site at Molvin. So this will envelope the garden and create that sense of enclosure. On the garden will have silver birch. This is bachula chakamontai. I chose this tree because it reminds me of living in Germany in the borders of Holland and Germany and the woodlands there. Also this white bark is a symbol of peace and early airframes were actually made of birch ply the very early period aircraft. So it’s again it’s a nod back to that heritage. I really do hope I can build something that everybody will enjoy and will serve that lasting memory. [Music] So Martin, here we are on the finished garden. Are you pleased with it? I’m extremely pleased and extremely proud to encapsulate 100 years of history into this space is not not easy. Um, but I I hopeullfully think we’ve we’ve achieved that. I mean, the planting of the kamassi and the jugger under there. The colors are great, aren’t they? Yeah. I I wanted to capture the essence of the Royal Air Force. Have you had any feedback from veterans who have seen the garden? We’ve had wonderful reaction even brought to tears as some of them. So I can imagine there are emotions involved in this garden and of course it’s a permanent garden too. That’s it. It’s a lasting um celebration and tribute to the RAF and I love the propeller layout as well. I think it works so well, doesn’t it? I wanted it to be an enclosed space so it felt intimate. Yeah. And the sculpture it’s it’s a sort of fulcrum to the whole design. What actually is it? It’s an LP3 stage from an RAF Tornado jet engine. It works beautifully as a garden sculpture. Now, you got a gold medal. No surprises to me, but how does that make you feel? It’s wonderful, wonderful news to give so much back to the Royal Air Force and to veterans and servicemen. Yeah, I’m really proud. Well, so you should be. You’ve done a great job. Well done. Thank you very much. One of the very best things about Molvin is catching up with old friends and making new ones, too. This exquisite exhibit is the work of Paul Naveen and his partner Gary, and they’re here for the very first time. Not only that, but they won a shiny gold medal. Hello, Paul. Hello, Carol. Congratulations. Thank you. I think it’s just such a beautiful exhibit. It’s hard to believe it’s your very first time at Mulvin. Yes, it’s our first year. It’s the first time we decided to do it. Well, I’m glad you did because the whole stand not only looks lovely, but every single plant on here is just so interesting and so beautiful. What’s this? It’s a semiquillegia which is named in Australia. You usually see the normal one, Granny’s bonnet. I’m used to seeing that little dark clarity one, but this is so light and airy. It’s so pretty. It is. Yeah. And you you’ve got the Chatam Island Forget Me Not. Yes, that’s it. So, forget me not from Chattam Islands, which is away from New Zealand, and it’s endangered in the wild because of excessive cattle and feeding by the farmers. So, we decided we’d give it another chance of life to do it again. Supposed to be quite difficult to grow, but you’ve done it beautifully. It’s not as bad as people think. Really, it’s been through 2° just last week when we had really bad cold night. So, on the other hand, that exquisite little lily, this little lily is an alpine lily from the woodlands of mountains of Japan. This is very easy to grow. All it needs is a really good cold winter. When it snowed, they were all out covered in snow for a while, and that really helped them to come on. They felt at home. So, we’ve got some things to thank the weather for. Yes. Always bad. She might not be looking so gorgeous. Yeah. Anyway, it’s positively poetic. Thank you. Thank you, Carol. The Floral Marquee is jam-packed full of passionate people that want to share their love for plants. But if you’re limited for space and time, there’s two fellas that might have just what you’re looking for. I’m Daniel. I’m Mark. And we are real succulents. I’ve known Mark for 30 years. We used to hang out as little kids. We both grew up in the same town in um Penzance in Cornwall. Mark went one way, I went another. I got a job uh teaching on product design and contemporary crafts. I started at um a nursery. I also got my apprenticeship there. I got a got a lovely job on St. Michael’s Mount and I started my collection then. I started buying in from around the world and I just thought these are fascinating plants and when I found succulents and how architectural and sculptural these plants can be year round, I was just obsessed with Dan’s collection. And then we’ve ended up together. A succulent is a plant that stores its water in its leaves and in its stems, and it can survive extreme temperatures and live in types of environments that other plants can’t survive in. Look at that one, Mark. Oh, no way. We’ve got about 2,000 varieties in total at the nursery. In this particular glass house, we’ve got about 800 varieties. During the season you get different colors, different textures. The varieties come from all all across the world really. We got stuff from Mexico, South America, South Africa. This is Echiver Agavoid’s ebony and it’s particularly sought after plant. It’s from Mexico and it was originally found as a hybrid in nature. It’s got lovely dark edges to the outer leaves which is particularly quite nice and ornamental plant. My favorite succulent um is aonium tableform. Um it’s a great plant. It’s got um a fibrillatory spiral. It’s amazing to take it to shows. People can’t believe how it naturally grows. I love the aloe polyiler. Yeah, it’s my personal favorite. It spirals just like yours, but it’s it’s hardly down to minus 15. It’s just the oracle of all succulents. I love it. We’re trying to show succulents off in their um full splendor. They’re so easy to look after, but um if they’re in the wrong conditions, they can go downhill quite quickly. Yeah. So, it’s my job to try and produce that new specimen that’s hardy. It’s our biggest challenge, isn’t it? To produce the plants for the shows, we use traditional techniques, which is crosspollinating and just hybridizing our own cultivars. We choose our plants to begin with to for features, flowers, texture. Mainly we’re looking at the texture, rosette form because we want these plants to look good all year round, not just when they’re flowering. Try and take the pollen from one and we’ll put it onto the other and then we can propagate the seed to produce new new hybrids and cultivars that we at the nursery. Here we got um echavir Mexican giant and we’ve crossed that with echav ainis and it’s produced this beautiful crazy little plant. We’ve named it echavir moon shadow. It’s got the characteristics of the the finess on the underside of the leaf and on the outside you’ve got the the bloom of the of the Mexican giant which is pretty pretty special. To get the the colors the natural colors within the plant we try and grow these plants quite hard. So in hard we mean that we grow them like in higher light levels. We grow them with less food and less water. So that way it produces a much better tighter rosette and much more colorful plant. It’s neglect really and that’s what they get in nature. We’re really excited about showing our succulents with probably different than the general floral marquee exhibition. We’re not we’ve not just got 10 specimen plants. actually doing a kind of small installation. We’re hoping everyone’s going to really enjoy our garden at the Mulvin show. Uh we want to showcase how fantastic succulents are. When people come to our nursery, they just can’t believe how colorful and vibrant they can be. They’re just beautiful plants and they’re very easy to grow and we’re just trying to get the confidence in people so they can enjoy them themselves. [Music] Guys, you’re here. First time at Molvin. Yeah. Yeah. How did you get on? You got a silver guilt. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, incredibly pleased. You should be. That’s absolutely fantastic, isn’t it? I think the stand looks absolutely brilliant. I mean, it takes me back to being a kid. They were the first plants that I really grew, you know, so got me semi- sort of addictive. But but have you got a favorite plant? I really like aonium sunburst. It’s a it’s a good indoor plant. It’s kind of yellow and green. It’s a really nice good looking plant for me. It’s got to be aonium pomegranate and it’s in flower. But the show thing in a way, you know, it got under your skin this one a little bit. Yeah, definitely. We really enjoy it. And this the feedback from the the public’s amazing. Yeah, cuz these plants have had a real sort of lift again, haven’t they? You know, they have. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, which proves probably how old I am because it’s starting to come around again, isn’t it? You know, so that’s the dream. What’s the dream? We’re looking at going for Chelsea eventually. It’s going to take a few years, but I’m sure we’ll get that some. Yeah, we got we got kind of fresh ideas dreamed up for that. So, you know, just keep going and I wish you the best of luck. Oh, thank you. Thanks very much. [Music] Fabulous show this year, isn’t it? Definitely. This is out of this world, but more than always is. It is. But when the weather’s like this, there’s no better place to be. Now, I’ve just found out the perfumer’s garden designed by Roose Quinn and Alan Williams, not only got a gold, but it also won best in show as well. It’s so beautifully scented everything in there. And it’s got a great little copper water feature in the middle as well. I haven’t even seen it, let alone smelt it. And the garden we’re on now, Billy’s Cave, is full of goats. I’ve never seen goats. It’s a first for me at Molvin. Have you seen goats before? I love it. I love this garden. Seriously, it’s got a gold medal. It’s my retirement plan. So, we’ve got an olive grove, we’ve got goats, me. What was you on? Happy. And have you seen something you haven’t seen before, Carol? A knitted garden. And it’s so beautifully done. It really is so creative. And they’re realistic. You know, you’ve got daffodil with trumpets and big globe shaped tulips and even a clamist up a bit of trousers. I’m full of admiration because if I tried to knit, I can’t even manage a scar. So, what’s the first view then? Have you ever seen a mechanical egg that opens and exposes a beautiful garden? You’re making it to No, I’m not. Seriously. You’re not yoking, are you? Oh, that’s bad, isn’t it? One thing I’ve never seen before is Adam’s wallet. And it’s about time he bought us an ice cream. Don’t you think? Yeah. Well, look, the sun’s shiny. Come on, Adam. Adam, let’s pick I will I will buy you both an ice cream. There we go. [Music] Now it’s time to plant climbing beans. These are tender plants, so there’s no virtue in getting them into the ground too early. This is quite early enough and it’s something you can do at any stage over the next month. Now, this bed has artichokes growing around the outside and the space in the middle which I can put up a wigwam and grow a climbing bean. I’m using conventional hazel bean sticks. They’re so much more robust and able to take a bigger crop than bamboos. Climbing beans, that’s French beans, runner beans, they need rich soil with plenty of organic matter as much as anything else to hold the moisture. They really do not like dry conditions. One of the reasons they grow so well in this country is that a mild damp summer suits them down to the ground. Right, that’s a really good steady support. I’m going to sew a variety called Blau Hilda. And these have two really good virtues. The first is they are delicious. And that’s essential for any vegetable that you grow. And the second is that they are really decorative because the pods are a rich purple. I’m going to sew two beans at the base of every bean pole, but I’m not going to let both grow. I will weed out the weaker of the two, assuming they both germinate, and just let one because you won’t get any more beans with two there. You want one nice strong plant to each support. And I would expect to start harvesting these round about the end of July. Now talking about harvesting, I’ve got a harvest to make now that is absolutely of the season. Three years ago, I made this asparagus bed and to be quite honest, it’s been extremely disappointing. And actually, this was its last chance. If we didn’t get a decent crop of asparagus this year, I was going to convert it into a seedbed. Well, look, they’ve started to grow. So, this now is the first harvest. It’s been a long wait, but it’ll be worth it because the great thing about asparagus at this time of year is it is such a seasonal treat. Asparagus is one of those crops you really should only eat from midappril to July. And if you grow it yourself, it’s going to be sweeter than any asparagus you could ever buy. And when you cut it, just hold going under the ground and then gently saw away at it and take it like that. Last one. Well, that is a modest first harvest, but it’s exciting because there will be more to come. What? What? You can’t have this flower. It’s one of those seasonal treats that I think really makes gardening matter. But however you garden and wherever you garden, you do make choices. And the garden is going to be how you want and it can’t cover everything. And even if you’ve got a tiny garden, you can still make it really special. And that’s why we’ve been running a competition called Every Space Counts. What we’re looking for are small gardens that make the most of the space they have and which are magnificent. We’ve asked you to send in pictures of your garden. The only rule being is it can’t be any bigger than 6 m by six. Hundreds of you did so and we’ve whittleled those down to a short list of just five. We’ve shown you two. So now let’s see the third. My name is Sarah and I live in North London and we moved to this flat about seven years ago. But it wasn’t until about three years ago that we decided to make a go of the garden. When we first moved in, it was completely decked from front to back. It was very dark, quite depressing, not a plant in sight. So, we decided to rip everything up and see if we could make a garden out of it. We created the garden because we wanted somewhere nice and peaceful and relaxing. It was never going to be a big enough space for the kids to run around and play football in. So, we wanted somewhere where we could come out, learn how to grow things, somewhere pretty, somewhere enjoyable to be. And sometimes it’s just actually quite nice to come out here on my own and just have a little peace and quiet. The garden’s quite long and thin, so we wanted to make it look as wide as possible. So with the curving path, it kind of makes you walk from one side to the other, walking past all the plants until you get to the end. And then with the bamboo at either end of the garden, it sort of stops the eye from going directly to the end. So you’re not quite sure how big the garden is. Because we live on the first floor, everything that comes in and out of the garden has to go up the stairs, through the flat, down the stairs. So when we were ripping out all the decking and bringing in all the bricks and all the compost, bags and bags and bags of compost, um it all had to go through. So it got us fit. Another challenge for us was trying to find plants that suited the conditions of the garden. It’s a north facing garden, so the first half of the garden is in shade and the the top half of the garden gets quite a lot of sun. So, it was quite difficult finding plants that would suit those two conditions, but trying to get a continuity throughout the garden. I really like the shady end of the garden because it’s got all the ferns and it’s got the grasses and it reminds me of a a really nice shady woodland walk. Um, and down the sunny end of the garden, I’ve got I’ve got some color. I’ve got pinks and purples and I’ve just introduced some orange last year. So, I’m really enjoying these new tulips that are coming out. I think they look really lovely against the green. I also chose the plants because I wanted them to be wildlife friendly. So, I’ve gone for plants with open flowers to attract all the insects and pollinating bugs and things. Got lots of plants that I only planted last summer, so they’ve still got room to grow. So, I’m looking forward to seeing how how those get on. And I think the next step for me would be maybe to try my own cutings and growing plants from seed. I feel really proud of this garden because it’s only three years old and it’s definitely still a work in progress. There are still lots of gaps I need to fill and I’ll probably do a bit of moving around. But when you look at how it was at the beginning and how it is now, I think it’s it’s such a transformation and we really enjoy it and I’m just really delighted that things are actually growing. I’m just cutting back the lavender. This is a job that if you live in a warm area or you’ve got really good drainage, you can do at the end of summer when it’s finished flowering. But I like to leave the growth on over winter as protection. It forms just a little microclimate around it. And now that the worst of the weather is over, I hope I can safely cut this back. Give it a trim so it is in really good shape before flowering begins. Now, you may not grow lavender, but here are some jobs you can do this weekend. [Music] If like me, you sew beetroot into plugs or blocks, now is the time to plant them out. I planted mine in groups, so I’m leaving plenty of space for the roots to expand and they can be dug up as a batch. If you haven’t sewn any already, it’s not too late to sew the seed direct into the ground, leaving an inch or two between each seed and room between the rows to weed. If you’ve been raising plants or indeed even storing them under protection in a greenhouse or on a window sill, it is important to harden them off properly before planting them out. A cold frame is ideal, but anywhere that is protected from the wind and the full glare of the sun will do the job, but it is important to leave them there for at least a week before planting them into their final position. Summer bulbs make great late season cut flowers and now is the perfect time to plant gladioli. Because the stems are tall and they can be topheavy, make sure they’re planted good and deep. And if your ground is a tall heavy, add some extra drainage like grit. You can plant them quite close together in rows about 4 to 6 in apart, then cover them over well and they should start to appear in about a month’s time. The topsyturvy weather we had at the end of winter and into spring hasn’t been all bad. There’ve been some really happy results. And one of them are these pots. Now I planted these in layers of tulips, a lasagna of tulips. And the idea was that first of all would flower Abu Hassan, then there would be Princess Arin, and finally well into May would come Queen of Night. And the wall flowers would accompany all three as they sequentially flowed through with their colors. Well, none of that happened. It’s all come through in one rich burst of intense color. And that’s one of the things I love about tulips. The way that the gentleness of spring, its softness and the blossoms and these delicate flowers is suddenly burst apart by tulips arriving with a fanfare. From now on, it’s all rich colors and the road to summer is well and truly paved in front of us. But I’m afraid that’s it. both from here at Long Meadow and also from the Morvin Show. But I’ll see you back here next time. So until then, bye-bye. [Music]