0:00:05 > 0:00:08Hello. Welcome to Gardeners' World.
0:00:08 > 0:00:10We're at that lovely time of year
0:00:10 > 0:00:12when the garden is changing almost by the hour.
0:00:12 > 0:00:14But there is still a real sense,
0:00:14 > 0:00:17certainly here in the Jewel Garden anyway,
0:00:17 > 0:00:21of the orchestra warming up - it's not yet really playing its tune.
0:00:21 > 0:00:23It's changing all the time,
0:00:23 > 0:00:27but at the moment it's all just different levels of green
0:00:27 > 0:00:31with touches of intense colour, like the crown imperials,
0:00:31 > 0:00:35like the Euphorbia characias. Just a few tulips starting,
0:00:35 > 0:00:38but there could be twice as many tomorrow, and by next week,
0:00:38 > 0:00:42probably they'll all be out - the change is happening so fast.
0:00:44 > 0:00:47This week, Nick Bailey is on the trail of Shakespeare's poisons
0:00:47 > 0:00:49and love potions.
0:00:50 > 0:00:53Cupid's arrow fell on a little white flower,
0:00:53 > 0:00:57turning it purple with love's wound, hence its power as an elixir.
0:01:00 > 0:01:03We catch up with Frances Tophill to see how her
0:01:03 > 0:01:05veg trail is going at RHS Rosemoor.
0:01:09 > 0:01:13And last year in April, we went to Pashley Manor
0:01:13 > 0:01:16where their annual tulip festival was in full swing.
0:01:18 > 0:01:20Are the tulips going to come out on time?
0:01:20 > 0:01:23Are they going to be desperately early?
0:01:23 > 0:01:26Are they going to be late?
0:01:26 > 0:01:32You know, people think I'm 85, and actually I'm only 58, you know.
0:01:39 > 0:01:42And seeing as we're celebrating all things Shakespeare,
0:01:42 > 0:01:45it's fitting that I'm continuing my new veg beds
0:01:45 > 0:01:49because they are woven exactly in the style that
0:01:49 > 0:01:52vegetables were grown in and during Shakespeare's time,
0:01:52 > 0:01:56which coincidently was exactly the period that this house
0:01:56 > 0:01:59and garden were first made.
0:02:10 > 0:02:14But first, I'm going to sow some flowers in the new cutting garden.
0:02:15 > 0:02:17Now, what have you got?
0:02:17 > 0:02:19What have you got?
0:02:21 > 0:02:23Those are the seeds I was going to sow, Nellie!
0:02:25 > 0:02:26Right.
0:02:26 > 0:02:30I was going to sow Bupleurum in my cutting garden...
0:02:30 > 0:02:33and I'm not any more.
0:02:33 > 0:02:35Come on.
0:02:42 > 0:02:45Right, our second attempt.
0:02:45 > 0:02:48So, not Bupleurum, but bells of Ireland,
0:02:48 > 0:02:52which again are grown essentially for their foliage.
0:02:52 > 0:02:58I've covered the ground just hoping it will keep it a little bit drier.
0:02:58 > 0:03:01So, rake that off. That's not too wet.
0:03:05 > 0:03:07There we go.
0:03:07 > 0:03:12Using a board as a spacer, so I need to be that far away from it.
0:03:14 > 0:03:18Now, bells or Ireland I always treat as a hardy annual.
0:03:18 > 0:03:22Sow them direct after all frost has passed, but here,
0:03:22 > 0:03:24even though it's fairly cold and wet here,
0:03:24 > 0:03:26we've never had any problems with them.
0:03:26 > 0:03:31My biggest problem are dogs eating your seeds before you can sow them.
0:03:33 > 0:03:36Draw my drill.
0:03:36 > 0:03:40As ever, it is quite important to try and sow these thinly.
0:03:42 > 0:03:44Get the last one out.
0:03:44 > 0:03:48It's funny how the last seed will stick in the crease of the packet.
0:03:48 > 0:03:50There you go.
0:03:50 > 0:03:53And then just sprinkle them along.
0:03:53 > 0:03:58Now, this time of year, the soil tends to be damp and warm,
0:03:58 > 0:04:00so it should germinate fast.
0:04:00 > 0:04:05I wouldn't expect to see anything for a few weeks.
0:04:05 > 0:04:08So, what bells of Ireland will give me, Moluccella,
0:04:08 > 0:04:14is these greens which fade into a kind of almost yellow,
0:04:14 > 0:04:18which against either bright colours or very pale colours
0:04:18 > 0:04:19acts like a really good foil.
0:04:19 > 0:04:23You need that levelling influence in any kind of flower arrangement
0:04:23 > 0:04:26and therefore in your cutting garden.
0:04:26 > 0:04:32I'm going to add now some plants. This is ammi, Ammi visnaga,
0:04:32 > 0:04:35which is like a kind of posh cow parsley.
0:04:35 > 0:04:40It has a slightly rounded umbel of white flowers
0:04:40 > 0:04:43made up of hundreds of little florets.
0:04:43 > 0:04:47And then, as you can see, very loose, finely cut foliage.
0:04:47 > 0:04:51I'm just going to put a row along here.
0:04:51 > 0:04:54And I'll use my measuring device again
0:04:54 > 0:04:57and just plant them out.
0:04:57 > 0:05:00Ammi, whether it be Ammi majus or Ammi visnaga,
0:05:00 > 0:05:06grows much better if you sow it in September rather than spring.
0:05:06 > 0:05:11You can get seed and sow it as late as early April,
0:05:11 > 0:05:15but it never develops half as well.
0:05:15 > 0:05:19So, if you haven't sown it now, buy it as a plant and then buy some seed
0:05:19 > 0:05:22and grow them yourself for next year.
0:05:34 > 0:05:37Around the time of Shakespeare's death in 1616,
0:05:37 > 0:05:42tulips began to be amongst the most valuable things on this planet
0:05:42 > 0:05:46and people made and lost vast fortunes.
0:05:46 > 0:05:52And this beautiful flower became a symbol of greed and wealth
0:05:52 > 0:05:57and man's insatiable desire to possess
0:05:57 > 0:06:00that which it thinks is most valuable.
0:06:00 > 0:06:02Well, here in the Spring Garden,
0:06:02 > 0:06:06I try and use tulips in a completely different way.
0:06:06 > 0:06:10I want them to weave in and out of what else is going on,
0:06:10 > 0:06:12to blend, to highlight,
0:06:12 > 0:06:17so you got the lovely lily flowered West Point.
0:06:17 > 0:06:22It's yellow and these petals curve up and they twist and they open out.
0:06:22 > 0:06:26And the Spring Green, which is chunkier,
0:06:26 > 0:06:29but delicate because you get this green flash on a white background,
0:06:29 > 0:06:33so you get this spring lightness of touch.
0:06:33 > 0:06:36Now, of course, tulips are magnificent
0:06:36 > 0:06:41and now we can just enjoy them as a flower, but very people grow them
0:06:41 > 0:06:48in such quantity or with such panache as they do at Pashley Manor.
0:06:49 > 0:06:52And we went along last year when were at their very best.
0:07:01 > 0:07:04I've always, since the age four onwards,
0:07:04 > 0:07:06been interested in gardening.
0:07:08 > 0:07:12We moved here in 1981...
0:07:12 > 0:07:18when it was, to say the least, a bit of a muddle,
0:07:18 > 0:07:22but we have the most wonderful views and beautiful countryside.
0:07:24 > 0:07:27My life is surrounded by the garden.
0:07:27 > 0:07:31It's enough to keep me fully occupied every waking moment.
0:07:31 > 0:07:34That is what I really enjoy.
0:07:38 > 0:07:43It might interest you to know how this tulip festival started.
0:07:43 > 0:07:46A friend of ours telephoned me to say,
0:07:46 > 0:07:49"Do you realise what this year is?"
0:07:49 > 0:07:51I said, "Not particularly."
0:07:51 > 0:07:52And they said,
0:07:52 > 0:07:57"It is the 400th anniversary of the first tulip to be landed in Europe.
0:07:57 > 0:08:01"I think you should have a tulip festival."
0:08:01 > 0:08:04So, roughly, that's what we did.
0:08:04 > 0:08:08And we slowly increase the size, so we went for the second year
0:08:08 > 0:08:12we were very proud of having 5,000 tulips in the garden,
0:08:12 > 0:08:14and the next year 7,500,
0:08:14 > 0:08:18and then we got over the 10,000 a year or two later.
0:08:18 > 0:08:23This year we planted best part of 25,500 tulips.
0:08:23 > 0:08:26I think it's 107 different varieties.
0:08:31 > 0:08:33One of the things that's exciting is
0:08:33 > 0:08:35the anticipation of the build-up to it.
0:08:35 > 0:08:38Are the tulips going to come on time?
0:08:38 > 0:08:41Are they going to be desperately early?
0:08:41 > 0:08:44Are they going to be late?
0:08:44 > 0:08:49You know, people think I'm 85, and actually I'm only 58, you know.
0:08:52 > 0:08:57One of the great joys of this garden is Keith, our head gardener.
0:08:57 > 0:09:00Keith has worked with us all his working life
0:09:00 > 0:09:03and he came as a schoolboy in the holidays
0:09:03 > 0:09:08and then he went to horticulture college and then he came back here.
0:09:08 > 0:09:13And I appointed Keith at a very young age to be head gardener.
0:09:13 > 0:09:16This board here has one of my favourite colour combinations
0:09:16 > 0:09:19of tulips with the green star here
0:09:19 > 0:09:21with the green streak as a lily flowered.
0:09:21 > 0:09:23And then you have the white as well with it,
0:09:23 > 0:09:25which is just almost a pure white version of it,
0:09:25 > 0:09:28so they create a really nice combination together.
0:09:28 > 0:09:30And we found it's a real winner over the years.
0:09:32 > 0:09:34Tulips in containers can be really good.
0:09:34 > 0:09:36You can create a really good, long lasting effect
0:09:36 > 0:09:38if you double layer your planting.
0:09:38 > 0:09:41Put one layer of tulips in quite deep into the pot, add two
0:09:41 > 0:09:44or three inches of compost and then another layer of tulips above.
0:09:44 > 0:09:47And the lower ones come through behind the higher bulbs
0:09:47 > 0:09:49and you'll get a much longer flowering period
0:09:49 > 0:09:53and helps to fill the pot and makes it feel really dense and full.
0:10:04 > 0:10:06With the tulips, we'll use underplanting,
0:10:06 > 0:10:08predominately forget-me-nots,
0:10:08 > 0:10:11cos they'll come in most of the ranges of colours for the tulips.
0:10:11 > 0:10:14We also use red Bellis in the hot borders.
0:10:16 > 0:10:19You have a bit of a love-hate with them, I suppose,
0:10:19 > 0:10:22because they're superb at this time of year,
0:10:22 > 0:10:25they give us such a good show with this volume of tulips in the garden.
0:10:25 > 0:10:27But we're almost cursing them at times because
0:10:27 > 0:10:29it's putting us so far behind,
0:10:29 > 0:10:33but they're certainly something we're never going to be without.
0:10:33 > 0:10:36When we lift the bulbs off, they finish flowering,
0:10:36 > 0:10:39they'll be boxed up and donated to local charities,
0:10:39 > 0:10:41things such as hospices and nursing homes
0:10:41 > 0:10:43and they'll plant them in their grounds
0:10:43 > 0:10:45and then we'll have a brand-new,
0:10:45 > 0:10:47fresh batch of bulbs for the next season
0:10:47 > 0:10:50to guarantee the perfect flowering.
0:10:55 > 0:10:59One thing is whether I have a favourite tulip.
0:10:59 > 0:11:00It depends, really.
0:11:00 > 0:11:04I suppose I would say Queen of the Night,
0:11:04 > 0:11:06that near-black tulip.
0:11:06 > 0:11:10It's so elegant and so distinctive.
0:11:10 > 0:11:14But I particularly enjoy a tulip called Angelique,
0:11:14 > 0:11:16which is very attractive,
0:11:16 > 0:11:19and happens to be my wife's name,
0:11:19 > 0:11:22so it all fits in nicely.
0:11:25 > 0:11:29I'm often asked whether I mind our garden
0:11:29 > 0:11:31being filled up with visitors.
0:11:31 > 0:11:33They answer is, certainly no, I don't.
0:11:33 > 0:11:38They spur us on to try and see that we do a good job.
0:11:38 > 0:11:42And it's pleasure to show people something which
0:11:42 > 0:11:44frankly we're quite proud of.
0:11:57 > 0:12:04Pashley Manor is open for its tulip festival until the 7th of May.
0:12:04 > 0:12:07If you go to our website you'll get all the details of how to get there
0:12:07 > 0:12:10and what time it opens and all that kind of thing.
0:12:10 > 0:12:13Hopefully I'll have this done long before the 7th of May.
0:12:17 > 0:12:20This was how vegetables and herbs would have been grown
0:12:20 > 0:12:25from medieval times right up till the Stuart time,
0:12:25 > 0:12:26at the end of Shakespeare's life.
0:12:26 > 0:12:30And then things started to change in the 17th century.
0:12:30 > 0:12:32And when this house was built
0:12:32 > 0:12:36this is how the garden would have been made,
0:12:36 > 0:12:38with woven beds - I've used hazel,
0:12:38 > 0:12:43just normal bean sticks that you can buy, hazel bean sticks,
0:12:43 > 0:12:45and chestnut posts.
0:12:45 > 0:12:47And I've done these four beds,
0:12:47 > 0:12:51but I'm going to make another little one now.
0:12:51 > 0:12:54And you start with a post, which have been sharpened
0:12:54 > 0:12:58and I've cut down to size, but you can see they're pretty substantial.
0:12:58 > 0:13:00Quite a lot has to go in the ground
0:13:00 > 0:13:03because there's a lot of pressure by the sticks.
0:13:03 > 0:13:06The upside of that is they're really strong.
0:13:06 > 0:13:09And chestnut has two huge virtues.
0:13:09 > 0:13:13The first is, it's really good at surviving in wet soil.
0:13:13 > 0:13:16Makes brilliant posts, it doesn't rot.
0:13:16 > 0:13:18Well, if it does, it does so very slowly.
0:13:18 > 0:13:21And the second virtue is, it's dead easy to split.
0:13:21 > 0:13:24So, if I get a splitting axe like that...
0:13:26 > 0:13:28And that's it. I've got two posts.
0:13:33 > 0:13:37That's the easiest bit of the whole operation.
0:13:37 > 0:13:40The absolute critical thing if you're doing this yourself is
0:13:40 > 0:13:43to get your post, whatever you use, dead straight.
0:13:44 > 0:13:48You'll have to forgive me, I'm going to huff and puff.
0:13:49 > 0:13:51Here we go.
0:14:00 > 0:14:02And who said...
0:14:02 > 0:14:04that gardening...
0:14:04 > 0:14:07was a sedate activity?
0:14:12 > 0:14:14So, I'm going to start that end,
0:14:14 > 0:14:17and what I'll do is, so it doesn't break,
0:14:17 > 0:14:19you twist at the same time as bending.
0:14:27 > 0:14:32So, nail the top corners to stop them springing up,
0:14:32 > 0:14:35and then cut the excess posts clean.
0:14:35 > 0:14:37That's all there is to it.
0:14:38 > 0:14:41A few weeks ago, Frances Tophill started a trial,
0:14:41 > 0:14:45at RHS Rosemoor in Devon, of vegetable seeds,
0:14:45 > 0:14:49and we went down there to see how she's getting on.
0:14:51 > 0:14:55A few weeks ago, at the beginning of April, I sowed ridge cucumber,
0:14:55 > 0:14:59sweetcorn and tomato seeds to kick off the veg trial I'm running,
0:14:59 > 0:15:01to find out which varieties give the best crop
0:15:01 > 0:15:04and, crucially, the best taste.
0:15:04 > 0:15:06The cucumbers and sweetcorn aren't ready yet...
0:15:07 > 0:15:10..but the tomatoes got off to a flying start.
0:15:19 > 0:15:23Our tomato seedlings are up and ready to be pricked out.
0:15:23 > 0:15:26Now, basically, you can see in this pot, it's quite congested.
0:15:26 > 0:15:29We have six in here, and there's not enough room for them to grow -
0:15:29 > 0:15:32but, as well as that, there comes a point in every seed's life
0:15:32 > 0:15:35where it's used all the goodness form the endosperm in the seed,
0:15:35 > 0:15:37and now it really has nothing to live on.
0:15:37 > 0:15:39So, I'm potting it from this low-nutrient compost
0:15:39 > 0:15:42into something a little bit more nutrient rich.
0:15:42 > 0:15:44So, we've got a slow-release fertiliser in there,
0:15:44 > 0:15:46just a basic multipurpose compost.
0:15:46 > 0:15:48This is Tumbler F1,
0:15:48 > 0:15:51which means it's very good for going in a hanging basket -
0:15:51 > 0:15:54which is great, because all our tomatoes will be, eventually,
0:15:54 > 0:15:56going into hanging baskets -
0:15:56 > 0:15:58but, for now, they need to go into this slightly bigger pot,
0:15:58 > 0:16:01where they will grow on a little bit more.
0:16:03 > 0:16:07The idea with this is we want to get as much root out as possible -
0:16:07 > 0:16:10always pull these plants out by the leaves.
0:16:10 > 0:16:13If we crush this stem, the plant will not grow back again.
0:16:13 > 0:16:16So, a damaged leaf isn't the end of the world -
0:16:16 > 0:16:18a damaged stem is bad news.
0:16:18 > 0:16:21And gently pulling,
0:16:21 > 0:16:26so we have as much root as can be with the plant.
0:16:29 > 0:16:31That can just be gently pushed in.
0:16:31 > 0:16:32Generally speaking,
0:16:32 > 0:16:35when you pot something from one container to another,
0:16:35 > 0:16:36or even to the ground,
0:16:36 > 0:16:38you want the soil to be at the same level in the pot
0:16:38 > 0:16:41as it is in its new position, but with this tomato,
0:16:41 > 0:16:43I'm actually going to bury it a little bit deeper -
0:16:43 > 0:16:47it's about half an inch of extra compost -
0:16:47 > 0:16:51and that just stops this plant from getting too leggy once it grows up,
0:16:51 > 0:16:53makes it a more robust specimen.
0:16:55 > 0:16:57And that's it.
0:16:57 > 0:16:59A bit of water, and I'll put this back into the polytunnel,
0:16:59 > 0:17:04where it'll get bigger and stronger until it's ready to be hardened off.
0:17:04 > 0:17:06If you want to join our trial, then it's not too late.
0:17:06 > 0:17:09You can go to our website for a list of the seeds that we're growing,
0:17:09 > 0:17:10and you can let us know
0:17:10 > 0:17:14how your plants are getting on via our Facebook page.
0:17:26 > 0:17:27You can have that bit, there.
0:17:27 > 0:17:29There we go.
0:17:29 > 0:17:31We'll be going back to Rosemoor
0:17:31 > 0:17:34to see how Frances is getting on very soon.
0:17:34 > 0:17:38And this is done for the moment, this little bed, here.
0:17:38 > 0:17:43It's designed for growing lots of lovely vegetables,
0:17:43 > 0:17:46and, so, I think I'd better start.
0:17:53 > 0:17:56Now, in honour of the Tudor nature of these beds,
0:17:56 > 0:18:00and also Shakespeare's birthday and death,
0:18:00 > 0:18:04I think we should have a Tudor vegetable in here first.
0:18:04 > 0:18:06I'm going to plant some skirret.
0:18:06 > 0:18:09In Shakespeare's time, it was a very common root vegetable -
0:18:09 > 0:18:13in fact, right the way through from medieval England
0:18:13 > 0:18:14up until the 19th century,
0:18:14 > 0:18:16most vegetable gardens would grow it,
0:18:16 > 0:18:18both for its vegetable,
0:18:18 > 0:18:20which is somewhere between carrot and parsnip,
0:18:20 > 0:18:22and also for medicinal purposes -
0:18:22 > 0:18:25it was used as a poultice for sores,
0:18:25 > 0:18:27and people believed that it warded off the plague.
0:18:27 > 0:18:29They would fry them in butter or roll them in flour,
0:18:29 > 0:18:31and they were sweet - and that was the key,
0:18:31 > 0:18:35because remember, this is a time before sugar was widely available.
0:18:35 > 0:18:39So, any sweet root vegetable was highly prized.
0:18:39 > 0:18:42You'd simply plant them so that they're level with the soil,
0:18:42 > 0:18:46and they will die right back in winter.
0:18:47 > 0:18:50And if I put them here, this will stay here.
0:18:50 > 0:18:53They like good drainage, but also plenty of moisture.
0:18:53 > 0:18:56Well, they're going to get plenty of moisture, that's for sure.
0:18:58 > 0:19:02As part of our celebration of Shakespeare's birth and death,
0:19:02 > 0:19:04Nick Bailey has been looking at
0:19:04 > 0:19:08the horticultural and botanical references in his work.
0:19:12 > 0:19:14I've been head gardener here at Chelsea Physic Garden
0:19:14 > 0:19:18for six years - but that's just a small blip in the garden's history.
0:19:18 > 0:19:22It was established in 1673 to train apothecaries
0:19:22 > 0:19:24in the identification and use of medicinal plants -
0:19:24 > 0:19:27in other words, they needed to determine between
0:19:27 > 0:19:30the good and the ill, the poisons and the potions.
0:19:32 > 0:19:35A huge step towards this understanding came in 1597,
0:19:35 > 0:19:38just as Shakespeare was hitting his stride as a playwright
0:19:38 > 0:19:40when John Gerard published his Herball,
0:19:40 > 0:19:42a general history of plants.
0:19:45 > 0:19:48It really would have been the most extensive
0:19:48 > 0:19:49book on botany at its time.
0:19:49 > 0:19:53Now, it's unclear whether Gerard and Shakespeare
0:19:53 > 0:19:56would have been aware of each other, but they were certainly neighbours,
0:19:56 > 0:19:58they moved in the same in the same social circles,
0:19:58 > 0:20:02and it's been that an illustration in the front cover here
0:20:02 > 0:20:05is of Shakespeare - the only illustration during his lifetime.
0:20:05 > 0:20:09Now, if this is true, it would mean that there's a stronger link
0:20:09 > 0:20:12between him and this bible of botany.
0:20:14 > 0:20:16So, let's look at some examples of plants,
0:20:16 > 0:20:19potions and poisons in the works of the bard,
0:20:19 > 0:20:22and see if Gerard can help identify what exactly they were.
0:20:25 > 0:20:28"No warmth, no breath, shall testify thou liveth.
0:20:29 > 0:20:34"The roses in thy lips and cheeks shall fade to paly ashes,
0:20:34 > 0:20:36"and in this borrowed likeness of shrunk death,
0:20:36 > 0:20:39"thou shalt continue two and forty hours,
0:20:39 > 0:20:43"and then awake as from a pleasant sleep."
0:20:43 > 0:20:45So, what was this mystery substance?
0:20:47 > 0:20:49One likely candidate is Atropa belladonna,
0:20:49 > 0:20:51also known as deadly nightshade -
0:20:51 > 0:20:55but which in Gerard's Herball is known as sleeping nightshade.
0:20:55 > 0:20:58Gerard says that while a small amount leads to madness,
0:20:58 > 0:21:00a moderate amount causes a dead sleep -
0:21:00 > 0:21:02just what Juliet was after.
0:21:04 > 0:21:07There's plenty of skulduggery in Denmark, too.
0:21:09 > 0:21:12"Upon my secure hour, thy uncle stole
0:21:12 > 0:21:14"with juice of cursed hebenon in a vial,
0:21:14 > 0:21:16"and in the porches of mine ears
0:21:16 > 0:21:19"did pour the leprous distilment."
0:21:21 > 0:21:24This time, Shakespeare explicitly identifies the substance used -
0:21:24 > 0:21:26hebenon, or henbane.
0:21:29 > 0:21:33And, again, Gerard is a possible source.
0:21:33 > 0:21:37It causes an unquiet sleep, and is deadly to the party.
0:21:45 > 0:21:48Henbane really can be deadly, but the reason we grow it here
0:21:48 > 0:21:50is because of its historic medicinal use.
0:21:50 > 0:21:53Of course, I'm wearing gloves to protect my hands
0:21:53 > 0:21:56while I'm collecting the seeds, and, if we break down that seed,
0:21:56 > 0:22:00we've got where the most toxic, toxic part of the plant is,
0:22:00 > 0:22:01where the poison is.
0:22:02 > 0:22:04Now, later in the play,
0:22:04 > 0:22:06Hamlet kills Ophelia's father,
0:22:06 > 0:22:08and this, of course, triggers Polonius' son
0:22:08 > 0:22:10to seek revenge on Hamlet.
0:22:12 > 0:22:14Poison is, again, the chosen method,
0:22:14 > 0:22:17but this time on the tip of a sword -
0:22:17 > 0:22:20and, for Gerard, the ideal concoction for this
0:22:20 > 0:22:23kind of foul play was aconite, or wolfsbane.
0:22:25 > 0:22:28He writes, "Wolfsbane is a deadly medicine,
0:22:28 > 0:22:32"wherewith the hunters poison their spears, darts and arrows
0:22:32 > 0:22:34"that bring present death."
0:22:40 > 0:22:45Now, like henbane and like atropa, aconite is very, very poisonous,
0:22:45 > 0:22:47but the difference is,
0:22:47 > 0:22:49this is actually a useful garden ornamental.
0:22:49 > 0:22:51You can see the buds are starting to form just here,
0:22:51 > 0:22:55and it produces this really intense, deep, deep blue flower -
0:22:55 > 0:22:58all round, a great garden plant, well worth growing -
0:22:58 > 0:22:59keep your gloves on.
0:23:02 > 0:23:06Of course, it's not all tragedy in Shakespeare.
0:23:06 > 0:23:07There's the odd comedy, too -
0:23:07 > 0:23:10and, once again, plants loom large,
0:23:10 > 0:23:12often in the form of handy love potions.
0:23:14 > 0:23:17"Fetch me that flower, the herb I showed thee once.
0:23:17 > 0:23:19"The juice of it, on sleeping eyelids laid
0:23:19 > 0:23:22"will make or man or woman madly dote
0:23:22 > 0:23:25"upon the next living creature that he sees."
0:23:27 > 0:23:29Love-in-idleness is, in fact, Viola tricolor,
0:23:29 > 0:23:32which has a long history of use in herbalism.
0:23:32 > 0:23:34Shakespeare's story has it
0:23:34 > 0:23:37that Cupid's arrow fell on a little white flower,
0:23:37 > 0:23:39turning it purple with love's wound -
0:23:39 > 0:23:41hence its power as an elixir.
0:23:44 > 0:23:47There's no evidence in Gerard or anywhere else
0:23:47 > 0:23:50that Viola tricolor has any love-inducing effects.
0:23:50 > 0:23:52In fact, today it's more commonly used
0:23:52 > 0:23:56to scatter across the tip of a salad just for pretty adornment.
0:23:56 > 0:23:57I've tried it, and I must say,
0:23:57 > 0:24:00it's had no perceivable effect on my love life.
0:24:06 > 0:24:08The thing that I love about Shakespeare
0:24:08 > 0:24:12and plants is you feel that he's describing them
0:24:12 > 0:24:16from personal experience - it's intimate and it's personal,
0:24:16 > 0:24:19and that really comes through in all his work.
0:24:19 > 0:24:23But one plant that was around in his time -
0:24:23 > 0:24:26it was introduced just about the time of his birth -
0:24:26 > 0:24:27was the potato,
0:24:27 > 0:24:30and I'm sure he wasn't intimate and personal what that,
0:24:30 > 0:24:32because it was regarded with suspicion
0:24:32 > 0:24:36when it first arrived - and, in fact, for the next 200 years,
0:24:36 > 0:24:40as food only fit for animals or the very poorest.
0:24:40 > 0:24:43And the delicious potatoes that we savour now
0:24:43 > 0:24:46certainly wouldn't have been a Shakespearean experience.
0:24:46 > 0:24:50However, the ones that I've been growing in bags
0:24:50 > 0:24:52have been doing well,
0:24:52 > 0:24:54and it's time for the next stage.
0:25:01 > 0:25:05You may remember that I planted a couple of seed potatoes
0:25:05 > 0:25:07in this bag a few weeks ago.
0:25:07 > 0:25:10I put them in the greenhouse, kept them watered -
0:25:10 > 0:25:12and they've grown, they've really grown well.
0:25:12 > 0:25:16This is about 18 inches tall. They are romping away.
0:25:16 > 0:25:18But as soon as you see them reach the top of the bag,
0:25:18 > 0:25:21it is important to earth them up.
0:25:21 > 0:25:25I'm just using a normal, peat-free compost,
0:25:25 > 0:25:29and just pop them around the growth.
0:25:29 > 0:25:32You won't harm the growth in any way by covering it up.
0:25:32 > 0:25:35I'll let this grow back up another foot or so,
0:25:35 > 0:25:38and then I'll top it up again to the top of the bag,
0:25:38 > 0:25:41and that will maximise the quantity -
0:25:41 > 0:25:45and hopefully the quality - of the tubers I harvest.
0:25:45 > 0:25:48But remember, keep them well watered.
0:25:48 > 0:25:51That is the key to good potatoes.
0:25:51 > 0:25:54Now, you may not be growing potatoes in a bag,
0:25:54 > 0:25:58but here are some other jobs you can do this weekend.
0:26:04 > 0:26:05Now is the ideal time
0:26:05 > 0:26:08for planting out any kind of potatoes.
0:26:09 > 0:26:13If you're short of space, a very good way to grow them is simply
0:26:13 > 0:26:18to make a hole in the ground and pop them in using a grid pattern -
0:26:18 > 0:26:22and this is especially good if you're growing them in raised beds.
0:26:26 > 0:26:30The new growth of the potatoes won't appear for a few weeks,
0:26:30 > 0:26:33so, to use the ground to the maximum effect,
0:26:33 > 0:26:38plant out seedlings of lettuce, rocket, or sow some radish -
0:26:38 > 0:26:41and this will grow and be eaten
0:26:41 > 0:26:44before it gets shaded out by the potatoes.
0:26:46 > 0:26:48If you haven't yet cut back your pelargoniums,
0:26:48 > 0:26:50this is something you should do now,
0:26:50 > 0:26:52and this will stop them getting leggy
0:26:52 > 0:26:55and encourage nice, strong, fresh growth.
0:26:55 > 0:26:59Also, give them a feed - liquid seaweed is fine -
0:26:59 > 0:27:01and feed them once a week
0:27:01 > 0:27:03for the next few months.
0:27:05 > 0:27:07If left to its own devices,
0:27:07 > 0:27:13sage becomes a woody shrub with fewer and fewer leaves,
0:27:13 > 0:27:15but if you cut it back hard,
0:27:15 > 0:27:19this will produce a mass of fresh leaves
0:27:19 > 0:27:20that are ideal for cooking with.
0:27:23 > 0:27:26Now, don't compost the clippings.
0:27:26 > 0:27:27Either use them in the kitchen
0:27:27 > 0:27:30or, if you've got a fireplace or a barbecue, put them on that,
0:27:30 > 0:27:34and they'll fill a room or flavour the food with the most
0:27:34 > 0:27:36beautiful fragrance of sage.
0:27:38 > 0:27:40LAMBS BLEAT
0:27:47 > 0:27:48Come on.
0:27:48 > 0:27:51Now, you want a drink, too, don't you?
0:27:51 > 0:27:54Nellie will give you a hand.
0:27:54 > 0:27:56We've got a couple of orphan lambs...
0:27:56 > 0:27:58Get down now, this is not for you.
0:27:58 > 0:28:03..which we're having to bottle-feed, because the mum died,
0:28:03 > 0:28:06and we're having to look after them.
0:28:06 > 0:28:11Which my son, who is a sheep farmer,
0:28:11 > 0:28:13has delegated to me for the next four weeks.
0:28:13 > 0:28:15Go on, there you go. There you are.
0:28:15 > 0:28:18The dogs are rolling all over the chionodoxas,
0:28:18 > 0:28:19which I planted last year for the first time.
0:28:19 > 0:28:22They're a little late, but they're coming up.
0:28:22 > 0:28:25Everything is bursting out.
0:28:26 > 0:28:31Well, from all the varied animals here at Longmeadow, and me,
0:28:31 > 0:28:33that's it for today -
0:28:33 > 0:28:37and I'll see you here next time. Until then, bye-bye.
0:28:37 > 0:28:38Come on, let's go back.