Conifers and Pelargoniums Great British Garden Revival

There's no doubt that Britain is a nation of very proud gardeners.

Our love of flowers and plants goes back centuries.

But there's a problem. Not everything is rosy in our gardens.

Our iconic plants are under attack from foreign invaders.

Ancient woodlands are at risk of being lost forever.

And our favourite flowers are disappearing right before our eyes.

So we need you to help us in our revival campaign.

We'll be inspiring you to dig deep and celebrate the best of British.

As we reveal the country's most stunning gardens.

And sharing our top gardening tips.

It's time to rediscover our passion for plants.

And bring new life into our gardens.

When it comes to our garden heroes, the list of plants is endless.

But as for the villains of the piece,

there's one group of plants that we love to hate. It's conifers.

Their roots invade our flowerbeds.

Their branches block out the sun

and all most of us want to do is get rid of them.

But conifers have a very different side too. They're glorious plants,

both in their own right and as part of the wider garden community.

That's why I want to revive them.

'On my campaign I'm finding out all about pruning.'

Can you see light though there?

-Yeah. At the end of the tunnel!

-Yeah!

'I'm creating a fantasy conifer island.'

These ducks are in for a surprise.

'And showing you how to propagate your very own conifers.'

A very technical piece of equipment here. A plastic bag.

This is Foggy Bottom, at Bressingham Gardens in Norfolk.

It's the go-to place to see conifers in all their glory

and it's the place from which I'm going to convince you to

bring back conifers into your garden.

I used to be a teacher and I can remember there were always

some kids that people would warn you against,

tell you they're trouble.

In actual fact, given love and attention,

and the right kind of treatment, they'd reward you with

magnificent results, and it's exactly the same with conifers.

There's a risk that these misunderstood plants,

the nemesis of many a gardener, may become hated or just forgotten.

So I want us to embrace conifers

and rediscover what they can offer us and our gardens.

Trees are vital elements in our gardens

but some outgrow their welcome.

Cutting them down is a last resort

and the sound of a chainsaw is one we never want to hear.

Sadly, it's a sound that's heard more and more often on suburban

streets and almost invariably it's associated with conifers.

And it's usually two conifers in particular.

The leylandii or its close relative, the Lawson cypress.

They come in for the chop from tree surgeons like James Jackman.

Do people tend to plant them in daft places?

That is one of the problems, yeah.

Lack of planning, where the final height of the tree

is not considered. You maintain them as best you can, but a lot of them

end up coming down.

Ultimately, it's death by chainsaw.

Death by chainsaw, yes.

It's tragic to see this once-proud conifer coming down through

no fault of its own.

Planted too close to the driveway,

it grew too large for its surroundings,

but finally the current owner of the house is having to say goodbye.

-What are you going to do now?

-We're going to replant.

What with?

An Italian cypress so it will be narrower,

so I can get the car in the drive and perhaps it won't grow as tall.

-So another conifer?

-Absolutely.

But this time it will be the right conifer in the right place.

Yes. Absolutely.

Because trees like these have been planted in the wrong place,

it's distorted our view of them.

There are more than 600 species of conifers and thousands of cultivars.

They're usually evergreen trees

or shrubs with needle- or scale-like leaves.

They take their name from the cones they produce.

Often a very decorative feature.

Someone who certainly won't be cutting down any conifers in

a hurry is Matthew Pottage, Garden Manager at the RHS Garden, Wisley.

'Matthew oversees the pinetum here. It dates back to the 19th century.'

I mean, there are only two or three indigenous conifers, aren't there?

That's right, yeah.

A measly handful, and I think that's part of the excitement

when these were first introduced to these shores all those years ago.

Late 17th century, early 18th century, seeds were coming over.

These were being discovered, brought to our shores

and if you had the space and the wealth to have a pinetum,

a collection of these massive stately conifers,

it was really quite something. And also if you had the connections,

you know, where could you get these plants from? They're new,

not everyone has them, so if you could get hold of them

and show them off in huge avenues, yeah, you were someone.

You'd say, "Look at my trees and just imagine who my friends are."

The pinetum contains some amazing specimens from around the world.

Including this, the monkey puzzle tree which many people don't

realise is, in fact, a conifer.

They were planted in front gardens as exotic

novelties in the early 20th century, but they soon outgrew their welcome.

You know, ultimately a big tree, a beautiful thing when young,

-and in the right setting, absolutely splendid.

-Yes.

In the UK, conifers add millions to the UK economy from timber

and paper, but they're also extremely versatile garden trees,

coming in an amazingly diverse range of shades, textures,

shapes and sizes -

from rock garden dwarfs to forest trees.

Planted in the right place, they add drama and visual impact.

That's why I think we should be growing them again in our gardens.

At Foggy Bottom in Bressingham Gardens in Norfolk, Adrian Bloom has

devoted his life and these wonderful grounds to growing conifers.

I want to find out how he maintains the structure

and shape of these pristine specimens.

This one has got a bit too big.

Well, yes, it has, and I'm faced with that all the time.

We had the chainsaws in with some of the big conifers,

but this is one that I sort of might give a reprieve

if we can make a good enough job of it, Carol.

We're pruning this out to make it like some of the other ones

that I have pruned underneath and lifted up.

This is Pinus mugo "Ophir".

It turns a lovely gold in the winter

so I wouldn't want to chuck it out unless I have to.

Now, pruning is essential to keep conifers looking their best

and at a manageable size.

And removing low branches allows well-chosen plants

to grow underneath.

First thing is to cut the lower branches

because we're probably going to have to get rid of all of those.

It will take a little while, I think.

-So you do this with secateurs first?

-Initially with secateurs.

-And not with loppers.

-If you do it with loppers you often

can't see the branches properly.

But anything dead that has got no shoots on the end can come

away anyway and probably some of the weaker shoots in here.

Can you do this to any conifer?

Some conifers don't lend themselves to this

because the final form won't look very good.

It depends on the shape of the tree and the branching system.

Pines are a great candidate for this,

just because they have got these big individual growths

and you can make sort of blobs of them and you can see through them.

Yes.

Don't be afraid to prune your conifer.

The best time to do it is during the summer or autumn.

-Can you see light through there?

-Yeah. At the end of the tunnel.

Yeah.

-SHE LAUGHS

-Definitely.

A job like this can take a good few hours,

but the results are impressive.

It's fabulous.

It's fantastic.

Look at all this stuff that's come off it.

You can see through it, too.

All these wonderful new vistas that have been created,

and look at the space underneath now.

Imagine what fun he's going to have planting stuff here.

One of the most enchanting things about conifers is their diversity.

You know, there's so many different forms. Look over here.

How's this for a perfect example?

Here you've got something that's like a '70s executive toy.

It's just wonderful fountains.

Everything's upwards. And over here this looks as though,

I don't know, it's creature-like.

It's almost like a tortoise.

Some great creature going through the bed

and this time everything hanging down.

Quite different shape and form to the needles, too,

and everything about it is pendulous, hanging down.

But some conifers are totally esoteric. Look at this one.

It's higgledy-piggledy. The whole thing is just going every which way.

All over the place.

But sometimes conifers are so predictable.

Look at this juniper in the middle.

This is Juniperus communis "Sentinel"

and it's always going to be this tall, slender shape,

adding those great punctuation marks to the border. What variety, eh?

Conifers shouldn't be thought of as giant overbearing monsters

so I've come to the Peak District to see an old friend, Steve Furness,

who grows the most extraordinary collection of dwarf varieties.

His garden proves small is beautiful.

Most people have conifers growing too big.

Here I've got a dwarf conifer that's growing too slowly.

We've got a slow-growing alpine here which is actually out-competing it.

Yeah.

That grey one there. What is that, Steve?

That's a Picea pungens. That's one of those spruces.

It's one of the very dwarf ones

and it doesn't really grow much higher than about six inches.

So some varieties of this would be great big trees, wouldn't they?

Yes. The blue spruce is a forestry tree. It grows enormous.

This is a very different proposition, isn't it?

This lovely sort of tight cushion.

Oh, it's strong. What is it?

Yeah, this is one called "Green Globe"

and doesn't it just make you want to stroke it?

It's absolutely gorgeous.

Steve's always been crazy about conifers

and his obsession goes back 50 years.

He's created the most exquisite rock garden packed with

some of the smallest and most unusual conifers.

Most of the conifers that you see behind us

have been in about 35 years.

-Really?

-Yes. 35 years. Some are a lot older than that

because people tend to move conifers, and I'm no exception.

I've still got ones that I had as a child.

-They're friends, really, aren't they?

-Yes, they are.

-They're like pets.

-They are. They grow with you.

You know, they will last a lot longer than the average gardener,

which is a sobering thought.

The garden here at Foggy Bottom uses conifers here in

so many imaginative ways.

Sometimes as specimen trees, other times in groups.

Very often mixed and mingled with all sorts of other plants

and sometimes as hedges.

I'm going to show you how to get the very best

out of your conifer hedge and keep it in tiptop condition.

This is Thuja plicata, "Western Red Cedar",

although it's not a cedar at all.

It makes such a belting hedge because it's thick,

it's dense, you can trim it.

Leylandii often goes brown in the centre when you trim it,

but not this one.

The reason this hedge looks so dapper, and it does -

it's dense and green and brilliant -

is that it's been regularly pruned and that's the secret, really.

To get in there with some sharp shears.

Just cutting in a bit at a time.

It's very much easier to cut again

than to stick the other bits back on.

Because thuja is so dense it makes a great nesting spot

for birds like greenfinches and chaffinches.

Wait till late summer,

when fledgling birds have flown the nest before you prune.

I think the thing is that there's nothing to be afraid of with this.

It's going to regenerate.

Even when you cut into quite old wood, you can

see these new shoots that are about to take over.

I'm shaping this thuja

so it's broader at the bottom than it is at the top.

That's vital to stop it getting top-heavy because if it does it

will start to splay apart,

especially if we have snow, and you never know

but with this sort of built-in buttress shape, then it should be

fairly well guaranteed,

a good-shaped hedge for a long, long time.

For me, conifers are a key component for our gardens

and, used imaginatively, they can be combined with other plants to

make interesting glorious displays.

Don't you just love this planting?

It's so relaxed. So informal.

The Ageratina "Chocolate", with gorgeous dark foliage,

set off by these wonderful geraniums.

Geraniums are such brilliant plants but I think this is one of the best.

It's Geranium "Rozanne", with these white centres to the blue flowers.

It scrambles everywhere and it flowers for ages and ages,

and to use it with this fiery red crocosmia.

But surely the crowning glory of this whole planting is this

magnificent conifer.

This is Juniperus chinensis "Aurea", and it's a proud sort

of statement, right in the middle of this rather formal planting.

It's got lovely sort of lax tips to the growth too, which I think

combines marvellously, and if you look up to this Scots pine,

straightforward indigenous tree,

and in its branches is clambering a lovely yellow clematis.

That's Clematis "Bill Mackenzie",

and it just gives an extra dimension to that conifer.

Here, those same two plants - the crocosmia and the geranium -

are used together, but this time in a completely different way.

With this soft pennisetum, they make great waves right through

the planting and the whole thing is separated from the front

of the border by these fence posts of conifers.

This is Thuja "Degroot's Spire", and it makes a series of sentinels

that describe this wave running right through the bed.

And at the front of the border, in total contrast,

this very formal planting.

Lines of festuca. This is "Elijah Blue" contrasted with dark sedum.

It's a really inspired planting.

The unique shape and size of conifers makes them

incredibly versatile to play with in your garden,

create new pictures mixing colour, texture and foliage and using scale.

So I've got a grand plan to create an amazing

display of conifers on an island in this park

in Matlock in Derbyshire, to spread the word about my campaign.

But first I need to find the right ones.

They've got a really good selection of different conifers.

Some very beautiful things, and I think some of them

are going to be just what we need for our island installation.

With the help of nursery owner Neil Thompson, I think we've chosen

the right plants.

I think this is a lovely yew. These are columnar, aren't they?

-Yeah.

-So they're just going to keep going up.

Exactly. Very tight. Very slow growth rate.

Grow in almost any soil.

This is the perfect spot for my display

and I hope it'll prove that conifers deserve a place in all our gardens.

Well, I've got my setting. I've got my conifers. Aren't they beautiful?

But what I need now is a centrepiece.

Something to set the whole thing off.

And I know just the man to help.

Rob Heard has found a fantastic use for conifers.

Now, all these wonderful constructions you've made

-out of leylandii.

-Leylandii.

Yeah, I used to be in forestry for sort of 15 years and a tree surgeon.

We chopped them down endlessly. Everybody hated them

and I thought, "This thug of a tree, we've got to do something with it."

In actual fact, leylandii has got some attractive curves and sweeps.

So it's the only use I've found for it.

-Well, isn't that a lovely thought?

-It is, yeah.

That something that is just thought of as a thug

and ought to be destroyed

suddenly becomes, through your wonderful creative hands...

-Thank you.

-..something utterly beautiful.

Ahoy there!

Can we have a lift to our island, please?!

These ducks are in for a surprise.

'And hopefully it's not only the ducks that are in for a surprise.

'I want to convince the people of Matlock to rethink conifers.'

I used to have them many years ago and they just grew that big

that it just blocked all the sun and it just killed my grass.

But you can choose something that's only going to grow

to the size you need it.

It's just a question of information, isn't it?

Yeah. It is. They are nice.

I mean, I wouldn't ever say no.

Keep coming. Keep coming.

You almost feel as though you could walk along some of these branches.

-Yeah.

-And just jump off and get into the castle.

I think Rob's amazing creations

and the conifers complement each other perfectly.

But now it's finished, have I convinced the local folk

to revive the conifer?

How do you like our instant garden?

Fantastic. Beautiful.

What do you think about what we've done here?

Oh, it's absolutely lovely, I hope it stays here forever.

I like the different colours and different sizes and shapes

and the way you've mixed it all up. It's lovely.

Don't they just prove this point that conifers aren't just

-leylandii planted as a hedge?

-No. Not at all.

I wouldn't have thought that just green would look so pleasant.

I've always been a flower man.

So in future do you think you might be persuaded to grow a few conifers?

I might be!

The wonderful garden at Foggy Bottom in Bressingham Gardens has been

a labour of love for 50 years for king of conifers Adrian Bloom,

and in that time he's grown many different varieties.

Propagating conifers is straightforward.

There are three ways of doing it -

grafting, growing from seed or by taking cuttings.

It's easy. Anyone can do it.

This is a Lawson cypress, it's called "Globus",

and it's got this lovely sort of rotund shape.

This tree is 40 years old,

but it would still be nice to have a few more, wouldn't it?

So all we want to do is find a really good energetic shoot.

You want to select a piece right down here

into where you can see that the wood changes to a darker brown

and you want a nice big chunk like that

because you're going to get several cuttings from this.

So straight into this plastic bag

and probably it's a good idea, especially on a hot day,

or if you can't do it immediately, just to spray it.

Just to give it a little bit of extra moisture, and off we go.

Now for the exciting bit.

Aren't I lucky?

Adrian's given me access to his private treehouse

to take my cuttings.

What I want to do now is select some good cutting material,

and you can see that you've got the main shoot coming through here

and you've got these little laterals and side shoots and I'm just

going to gently pull those down so they come off with a heel.

That's what this little piece down here is.

So it's a bit of the wood from the main stem.

From this I should get several cuttings, and next I'm going

to trim the heels to help ensure they won't rot in the compost.

And then I want to take these bottom growths off here.

Now, I can do it with finger and thumb.

Fortunately, I've got some fingernails.

Or again, I could use the knife.

But the whole object of the exercise is to just make sure you've

got a nice chunk of clean stem because a lot of this cutting,

the base of the cutting, is going to be under

the surface of the compost when it reaches the pot.

All right, next step is your compost.

So the compost I'm using is a mixture.

Almost 50/50 of very fine grit and a loam-based compost.

Grit improves drainage yet helps retain moisture.

So just tap down the top gently and then here's our lovely exposed bit,

and this is the piece that's going to sit right under the compost.

Now, you want them close,

nestling in to the edge of your compost

and just press them in nice and firmly, like that,

so there's no air pockets in between the cutting and the compost.

Just firm it down, and then room for one more here.

One more little one,

and they're going in right up to that first whole leaf.

That's really quite important

because they will take roots all the way along that stem.

Especially where I've wounded them

by pulling those little side pieces off too.

So that's absolutely fine.

Now, if my compost was dry at this stage, I'd water it thoroughly,

but it's not. It's nice and moist

and this sort of additional spray will just add to that.

I've got a technical piece of equipment here.

A plastic bag. And just very gently, without disturbing

your cuttings at all, just slide this over the top and pull it down

so it makes a proper seal with that, and put a rubber band around it.

That just means that they're in their own little greenhouse. Yeah.

With plenty of light, but out of direct sun, these cuttings

will produce roots in a matter of a few weeks.

But don't get tempted to see if they've started to root.

When you start to see new growth appearing on the top of these

shoots and that wonderful moment

when you finally see white shoots emerging from the drainage hole,

you know that your cuttings have been successful.

Tip them out, pot them up individually and eventually they'll

be ready to join all these other wonderful plants in the garden.

A couple who don't need to be convinced to revive the conifer are

Carol and Keith Marsh, who have been enamoured of them for over 30 years.

-Look at the yew trees.

-They're amazing.

-You can't believe they were only a foot tall when they went in.

-Yeah.

They use their garden in Bedfordshire to showcase

the diversity and range within the species.

I've treated it rather like a flower garden.

Using low, prostrate-type conifers at the front

and then getting taller and taller as you go to the back so, although

it's trees, it's emulating what people do with flowers every day.

This is one of my favourite conifers.

It's a weeping yew, and look at all the new growth.

It is just so stunning.

This hedge is quite special

because it separates where I park the car from the part of the

garden that we use, and the one nice thing about yew is that you can

grow it to a reasonable height, but you can grow it extremely narrow.

So although it's getting very dense,

the actual thickness of it is not much more than a foot.

There are so many varieties, so many colours, so many shapes.

Look lovely 12 months of the year.

Most gardens can't give you that.

In the '70s I suppose conifers were overexposed

but do you know what? The more I've come to know this wonderful

group of plants and appreciate their myriad qualities,

the more I've fallen in love with them.

I'd implore you all to include at least one conifer in your garden.

Even if it's only a single one, I know you'll come to love it.

Across the series, our revival team are travelling the length

and breadth of Britain, celebrating our gardens.

You couldn't draw, as a landscape artist, a more perfect picture.

Flowers...

And the scent. Oh, it's sensational.

..and plants.

This plant is perfect. That's going to get off to a great start.

Next, Tom Hart Dyke shares his passion for pelargoniums.

When I step into a garden, the scent conjures up botanical

fables of plant hunters on missions of discovery.

In the colours, I see the sweat and tears of nurserymen

breeding for perfection.

And for me,

a great garden is like exploring our most treasured works of art.

So perhaps someone could explain why one of the most fragrant,

colourful and historically interesting plants has become

so maligned and misunderstood.

Ladies and gentleman, this is not a geranium,

this is something we should proudly be calling the pelargonium.

On my revival I'm going to be battling to give

the pelargonium its rightful name.

Ever since I started gardening that's been a geranium.

I'll show you just how diverse this wonderful plant is

when I visit the biggest collection in the world.

From a distance it looks like a cactus.

And I'll be hitting the campaign trail for my pelargonium referendum.

Place your vote now!

The pelargonium was brought from South Africa to Europe

in the 17th century by Dutch plant hunters, and it resembled a plant

native to Europe, the true geranium, and in their enthusiastic eagerness

to classify their new discovery it was incorrectly called "geranium".

The rest, as they say, is horticultural history.

Although incorrectly named, they still gained popularity

and still found their way into the gardens of some of the grandest

stately homes in the country.

This is Calke Abbey near Ticknall in Derbyshire,

and what makes the baroque mansion behind me so unique is that,

rather than being restored to its former historic glory, it is

being preserved as an example of a country house in decline.

Today there's a sort of poetic symbolism between the faded glory of

this estate and the faded reputation of the glorious pelargonium.

However I'm pleased to say that not all is lost at Calke Abbey,

as the gardens here have been preserved to reflect their

glory years, including a fascinating display of potted pelargoniums.

It's just a shame that we don't hold these colourful

beauties in such high esteem any more.

Personally, I find it very frustrating that people still today

think of the pelargonium as a cheesy seaside bedding plant or as a plant

that's thrown away onto the compost bin at the end of the season.

I want to show you that there is

so, so much more to the glorious humble pelargonium.

If there's one place where the mistaken

identity of pelargoniums as geraniums could be rectified

it's where we go to buy our plants, and that's why

I'm kicking off my campaign

at a major gardening centre in Warwickshire.

To show you why the names are so important, I'm going to find

you a true geranium.

It's this variety here, one of the most famous geraniums to date.

Geranium "Rozanne".

I'm 99.999% sure that these bedding plants over here will be

called geraniums.

And, lo and behold, I was right.

These vibrant bright-red pelargoniums have been

incorrectly labelled as geraniums. Ladies and gentleman,

what's the difference between a pelargonium and geranium?

Well, what else do you need to say?

They are completely and utterly different in the flower shape,

the flower structure.

The scent of the leaf, the colour of the leaf

and the whole form of the plant.

You can clearly see the difference, and even in the form

of the true geranium here, much more a straggly habit.

It's a fully hardy perennial. A pelargonium is a tender perennial.

The difference is staggering. This is not a geranium that I'm holding.

This is a pelargonium. This is not an isolated case.

These plants tend to be wrongly labelled as geraniums

at garden centres across the nation.

I want to see if the customers here can spot a true pelargonium.

What do you think this plant is?

-Well, I know what it is.

-What is this plant, sir?

It's a nice geranium.

Would you be surprised to hear that it's called a pelargonium,

-and it's from South Africa?

-You see that? Geranium.

I would recognise it as a geranium.

Pelargonium is a little bit more of a mouthful.

Do you grow these in your garden?

I do, but not pelargoniums. This type!

Ever since I started gardening, that's been a geranium.

But if it's got its own individual name, why not use it?

Well, this chap's got a point.

I want to see

if I can get an explanation from Plant Area Manager Jackie Barker.

You've got a fantastic array of pelargoniums here but I see on

the big sign in the middle and all the labels they're called geraniums.

Why have you got them as geraniums?

Well, I totally agree with you. They are all pelargoniums.

It's just that, for ease,

and for the customers, we always still call them geraniums

and the suppliers and the nurserymen still call them geraniums.

Do you think by renaming them pelargoniums

they would drop in sales,

or is there a difficulty in changing the name?

Well, it would stop a lot of confusion because obviously

we've got the issue of when a customer comes in for a geranium

the first thing I have to say is, "do you want a hardy geranium,

"a herbaceous perennial or do you want the bedding geranium?"

And as soon as I know that, then I can say, "Oh, you mean

"pelargoniums, then?"

-So if you had them as two distinctive...

-That's it.

It would be a lot easier.

Do you think in the future it's possible, then?

Oh, absolutely. I mean, it's one of my favourite plants.

I love summer because of geraniums,

the pelargoniums are coming out!

To find out more about this much-misunderstood plant

I'm heading to the home of one of the oldest significant

collections of pelargoniums in Britain.

I call myself a modern-day plant hunter but I have never been to the

wonderful staggering gardens at Stourhead in the depth of Wiltshire.

This garden was founded on plant hunting.

Avid plant collector Sir Richard Colt Hoare inherited

the estate in the late 1700s.

He had a particular passion for pelargoniums

and amassed over 600 varieties.

Around 120 of which still survive today.

This hugely important collection is cared for by walled garden

supervisor Penny Lee.

Here's the pelargonium house in here.

I can smell it 30 yards away.

Why did you bring me in here?

Don't bring Tom, the plant nut, into a structure like this.

Penny, this is the finest collection of pelargoniums I have ever seen

and shows you how diverse this extraordinary family is.

Plants I've just heard about.

Fantastic.

Was this collection influential in the rise of the pelargonium?

It was considered the finest in the country.

Richard Colt Hoare, being the plantsman that he was,

was cross-breeding, experimenting

with the diversity of the plants that he had.

This is one of his hybrids. This is a really important plant.

It would have been a really exciting plant at the time because it

was one of the first hybrids produced in the pelargonium group.

The one thing I want

to come out of this pelargonium Great British Garden Revival

is for everybody to say pelargonium, not geranium.

Is that going to happen?

That would be very good if it did because they are not geraniums.

They're pelargoniums, and they're special in their own right.

In the early 19th century when Sir Henry Crew began expanding

the pleasure grounds here at Calke Abbey, he didn't want

the vista from his house being spoilt by the comings and goings

of his gardening staff, so he built a tunnel to keep them out of sight.

Well, if it's good enough for them, it's good enough for me.

In keeping with the former rules of the house I'm off to the gardens

to show you how to create a display of pelargoniums to be proud of.

In my personal view the best way to show off the genus

pelargonium is by displaying them in a container.

Whether you've got a window box, whether you've got a hanging basket.

Whatever type, shape

and size of your container they will look cracking and I think it's

so fitting for me to actually have this Victorianesque urn because

it was the Victorians, after all, that popularised the pelargonium.

Fist up, I want to give you this trailing, blinding display

of foliage and flowers.

This particular plant, Pelargonium peltatum, is a blinder.

Now, this is quite fragile.

It's been growing in the greenhouse for the past two or three months.

So what I'm going to do is give it a little tip using the container

so it doesn't move too much. It sounds and looks a bit harsh.

I'm pulling it out by the base of the stem, but I do not want to pull

it out by the smaller branchlets or else they'll just snap off.

I'm carefully going to place it at the edge of the container.

Planting it just level with the compost that you've placed in.

I'm not going to press it in and fully plant it

until I've put its two companions in.

While this plant produces beautiful flowers, I'd personally be

happy with its stunning foliage alone.

For me it's now one of my favourite pelargoniums to add to the mix.

I'm putting in three scented pelargoniums.

It's not just about the looks of the foliage with these ones,

it's that smell.

Just lightly rubbing on the leaves will release a citronella scent.

It is magic, and in a hot summer's evening you don't even have

to touch them to get the smell.

You just waft past and they fill the atmosphere

with their seductive oils,

and now I'm going to go over to this variety called "Old Spice".

It's got a real aftershave smell to it,

and like every other pelargonium the smell is so distinctive.

No two pelargoniums smell the same.

That's looking pretty good

and now we're going for this great-named plant

which is "Orange Fizz".

The flowers on this are actually pretty ornamental

and are a good large size.

Smell check again.

Subtle. Subtle.

In-between the two scents, I would say.

And the icing on the cake.

This is a regal pelargonium called "Hazel Cherry".

These have these almost orchid-like flowers and a very,

very compact plant.

It's a great centrepiece.

I'm giving it quite a lot of space because it will expand out

and fill all remaining space.

I'm just lightly firming in the compost.

The most satisfying thing to do is the watering.

I'm not going to absolutely soak the plants from above.

I don't want to soak them in water just to start with.

Especially the flowers.

If you soak the flowers of this - they've just come out

the greenhouse - you'll end up blemishing the flowers.

It would be a bad start to your joyous container.

The most crucial thing to do to bring a smile to anyone's

face is to just step back and admire your work.

Once you start growing pelargoniums you won't want to stop.

I'm off to meet a couple in Coventry who grow their own

pelargoniums from seed, but while they share a love for the same

plant, they express it in two very different ways.

This is Malcolm Harris.

He's been growing and breeding the beautiful bushy

and compact angel varieties for over 30 years.

I love these angels because they're MY angels.

They are easy to grow.

They are very rewarding in terms of producing a very attractive

plant in a very short amount of time.

This is Judy, Malcolm's wife.

She loves pelargoniums too, but she grows the dwarf zonal

varieties, known for their succulent stems and attractive foliage.

These are my babies. They are dwarf pelargoniums.

They are absolutely gorgeous and they're far better than the

angels that my husband grows across the way, but don't tell him that.

What's your favourite plant in the collection?

It's a gold-leaf variety that we named

"Berkswell Golden Anniversary"

because last year was our 50th anniversary.

-Many congrats.

-Thank you.

-You see, that's a dwarf.

-A good compact plant.

They don't grow big and that's the beauty of them.

I'm very proud to say some of these plants are mine.

This is one of mine. It's got, like, fingers on the leaves.

-It's one you bred yourself?

-I bred myself. Yes.

-Wow.

Yes. You don't have to grow them in a greenhouse.

You can grow them on a window ledge.

You can grow them in a conservatory and you can also keep them

growing 12 months of the year.

All you've got to do is dead-head them and they'll keep flowering.

And what fascinates me

is the majority of breeding is done by British amateur growers

that, without people like yourselves,

the pelargonium industry,

not just in this country but worldwide, would just fall apart.

That's right.

It could, and it could happen in the next few years if we're not careful.

It's getting into a little bit of a desperate situation

so you really need to get through to the public by

whatever means possible that this is the plant to grow.

This is the plant to grow in your garden.

This is the plant you will love to grow

and you will carry on growing it once you've got hooked.

I've got a real plan here to raise the profile of pelargoniums.

-Are you both with me on this one?

-Yes, certainly.

-Yes.

Brilliant, let's raise our hands to pelargoniums. One, two, three...

ALL: Pelargoniums!

I've come up with a great revival idea that will raise public

awareness of the pelargonium but I'm going to need Malcolm

and Judy to join me and take to the streets.

Vote in the Great British Pelargonium Debate!

Place your vote now!

Place your vote between two sumptuous pelargonium candidates.

Thanks to Judy and Malcolm.

But will the public vote for Judy's dwarf varieties or Malcolm's angels?

Have you heard of a pelargonium before?

No, I haven't heard of pelargonium.

-Have you heard of geraniums?

-Yes.

They're quite nice because they've got the zones on the leaves,

and that's one of the reasons they're called zonals.

Into the ballot box there.

They're much easier to grow than weeds.

In actual fact they can take the place of weeds in the garden.

My vote is cast.

It is a secret.

Into the box I go.

Where are you ladies both from?

Zimbabwe.

Did you know that the origins of the species responsible for all

the plants you see today are from your neck of the woods?

We didn't know that.

You can grow them on window ledges.

You can grow them anywhere you like, and I just love them!

They last a lot of time.

There's an awful lot of flowers on them.

Angels like yourselves ought to be growing these.

Well, it's been a hard-fought campaign,

-hasn't it, Judy and Malcolm?

-Definitely.

-It has.

-Do you think you've won it, Judy?

-I'd like to think I have.

And whatever the result?

I shall still live with her!

And the winner is...

Angel pelargoniums. Well done, Malcolm.

-It was close. It was close.

-Commiserations, dear.

That's all right. I can live with it.

Guys, it's been good fun today

but the point is we have raised awareness of this fantastic genus.

Of course you don't just have to decide between zonals and angels.

There are over 200 species and thousands of cultivars,

so you're guaranteed to find the perfect

plants for your gardens or windowsills.

Seeing the pelargoniums in the greenhouse here at Calke Abbey

has brought back memories of my childhood love for these

fabulous flowers.

My personal passion for pelargoniums started at the age of 14 whilst

I was at school.

Now, next to my dormitory were two amazing glasshouses filled

with lovely scented pelargoniums.

I would often sneak in there during the lunch hour,

and on one particular occasion, I was in there two hours, I snuck

in at the back of the classroom in the middle of a maths lesson,

hoping nobody would see me. I was wrong.

The maths teacher saw me all right. "Hart Dyke. Where have you been?"

"I've been in the glasshouses, sir."

"You've been sniffing those geranium leaves, haven't you?

"Right, I want 1,000 words after class, please."

"What am I going to write, Sir?"

"You will never ever sniff geranium leaves again."

"I have a problem with that, Sir."

"Do we have a problem?"

"Yeah, they're actually called pelargoniums

"and they're from South Africa."

Well, if looks could kill.

I got a C for maths at the end of that year

and I've sniffed pelargonium leaves ever since.

Inside the walled garden here at Calke Abbey

they have an ingenious pelargonium display that's just so charming.

Gardener Jules Mitchell is here to show me more.

Jules, I can't help but produce this amazingly broad smile on my face.

It's the most quirkiest thing I have seen.

I love the blue shelving.

Yeah.

It's a theatre that is known for displaying auriculas

early on in the spring.

Once the auriculas had finished,

it seemed to make sense to put pelargoniums on

that last right the way through till the end of October.

How many different ones have you got?

We've got about 25-30 different varieties so we try

and put a selection of those on in a tapestry of colours.

What's your favourite one?

I think the sidoides. I think that's lovely.

I love the colour of it. It's different.

It is different and you look at the leaves

and think true geranium, don't you?

Yeah, and I think people will look at the flower

and say that's not a pelargonium, but it is.

And you've got at the top there -

I can just see from the corner of my eye - what's reputed to be

the earliest pelargonium introduction from South Africa.

Yeah. Triste. No-one would ever identify that as a pelargonium.

-Dare I say fern?

-I know. I know.

-It's got a fern-like leaf.

-It's really weird, isn't it?

One plant that's seducing my eye is the one over here

because I know that the colour yellow in a pelargonium is

particularly rare, isn't it?

Yeah. Solaris, and they are yellow, aren't they?

Creamy yellow, aren't they? Flowers. Yeah.

There's one other one that's really caught my eye.

Personally, for scent, it just cannot be beaten.

-Yeah. No.

-It's pole position on my pelargonium list.

-Yeah. Tomentosum. Yep.

-Just a slight little rub.

-Yeah.

-It percolates through the nasal hairs.

-It just sort of would make a good tea, wouldn't it?

-Great tea.

Fantastic.

Because of the nature of the theatre,

it's slightly dark at the back

so they don't tend to flower as well at the back.

So if we leave them,

you'll end up with a green stripe along the back

and flowers at the front

so we will move them about just for that reason.

It is a brilliant display. So easy to maintain.

So easy to look after. Why don't more people do this?

-They should.

-Yeah.

The range of flowers, colour, fragrance

and foliage you get from pelargoniums is truly unrivalled.

To inspire you to get planting,

I've come to Fibrex Nurseries in Warwickshire.

This nursery is home to the largest collection of pelargoniums,

not just in the UK, but in the world,

and I can't wait to get stuck in.

This family business was born out of a true love

and appreciation for the pelargonium

so it's safe to say that owner Richard Key is a fellow fanatic.

This is probably our most weirdest pelargonium.

It's eccentric, Richard!

It's spinosum. It's a cactus flowering one.

-From a distance it looks like a cactus.

-Yes.

I've never heard of it.

What's your best seller?

-Oh, the best seller now is a variety called "Lord Bute".

-Oh, dear.

It's almost luminescent pink around the margins of each

of the flower parts and why is it so popular?

It just flowers and flowers.

I've had it in flower right up until end of November, outside.

Over 100 years old.

These old varieties were very tall, small flowers, and the breeding

that went in to get these were done by the head gardeners in big

country houses as they were the only people who could afford it.

-Afford the heating bill of the greenhouses.

-That's right, yeah.

Breeding now has been changed

-and we've got bigger flowers, smaller plants.

-More compact.

More compact, and it's just the British heritage.

-We have growing plants.

-It's funny to me you saying all this

because I immediately think of South African breeders who are responsible

for a lot of this because that's where this originates from,

but actually without the British influence with breeding, developing

these plants, we wouldn't have the eclectic mix that we have today.

No, you're absolutely right.

Do you get South African visitors popping over

-and going, "oh, goodness me."

-Well, we get a few.

We had some the other day and they were knocked out by the collection.

-And they were their own plants originally.

-Yes, yes!

The vast variety of pelargoniums here are truly astonishing

and it's one family of plants that keeps on giving.

'It seems that Richard's sister has one more pelargonium-based surprise

'lined up for me.'

Leaves in the cake, Ange? Are they pelargonium leaves?

Yes, they're pelargonium "Radula".

It should give a Turkish-delight flavour to the cake.

I want to turn it over

because there's a little bit of lemon icing on the top.

Oh, I see.

There, that's better, isn't it?

Now, that is absolutely spectacular.

With all the leaves removed, it's time to taste.

Fantastic.

Cups of tea in the air.

Pelargoniums forever. One, two, three, pelargoniums forever!

Well, it's true what they say.

Variety really is the spice of life.

There's nothing that I enjoy more than expanding my plant collection.

Especially my precious pelargoniums.

I'm back at Calke Abbey to show you how easy it is for you to

propagate them from cuttings.

One of the most thrilling aspects of being a gardener is being

able to propagate plants. And pelargoniums are as easy

as horticultural pie to take cuttings from.

In my personal opinion the best time to take a pelargonium cutting

is at the end of June, beginning of July.

It's the perfect time to take them.

It gives you the rest of the season for the plant to take root

and develop into a very, very nice looking plant by early autumn

and then you're multiplying your favourite

pelargoniums for seasons to come.

One of my favourite pelargoniums to take a cutting from are these ones.

The variegated-leaved zonal pelargoniums.

Now, the cutting itself, very, very simple,

but there are a couple of important points to make.

With a very sharp knife here, I'm going to make the cut

just below this node here.

Three or four nodes down from the apex of the stem.

A node is where the leaf is coming out of the stem section here.

You want to make the cut below the node,

and that is where the roots will burst forth.

If you make it above the node, it will not root in this section here.

It's such an important part of plant propagation.

You'll get at least three out of this plant.

My next one here, slightly smaller.

So we're going down three-and-a-half nodes down the stem.

This may seem quite harsh to take off a lot of the lower leaves.

It's just to reduce the moisture loss through the leaves.

There are no roots for the moisture to draw from,

so you want to de-stress it as much as possible by leaving just a couple

of leaves at the top of the plant, and now it's time to pot them up.

Before adding the compost you need to make sure you have good

drainage by covering the base of your pots with grit, and the idea

is to fill the pot with compost to about an inch of the rim of the pot.

And now for the fun bit. Placing the cutting in the pot.

In the compost.

Sliding it down the inside of the pot by an inch,

inch-and-a-half at the most.

Not placing the cutting in the middle of the pot in the compost.

I find they rot a lot easier if you do that.

It's a tip that will add to your success,

propagating pelargoniums from cuttings.

Give it a gentle tap and they're ready to go.

And don't forget to label your cuttings.

To me, it's important to know the name of the plant.

And just to get them going, just a little

trickle of water around the edge of the pot so that we can guarantee

that we won't have to water them again until they start rooting.

The last crucial thing to do is just to cover the pot with a plastic bag

and just with a rubber band, tie the plastic bag around the pot.

That will reduce the transportational loss of moisture

coming up through the leaves and will ensure your cuttings will root.

Between four to six weeks' time and by the end of this season,

September or October, you'll have plants to die for.

Clearly, pelargonium growers are a passionate bunch

but the problem is there just aren't enough of us.

We could all do with taking a leaf out of Ken Abel's book.

Based in Suffolk, he's known amongst pelargonium

enthusiasts as the best prize grower in the country.

I got Best Of Regal in the show with this one,

which is "Oriental Delight".

This plant, angel "Berkswell Fiesta" got Best In Show.

A lovely round shape is what judges are looking for.

I first decided to put some plants into a show at the local society,

and I got talking to the judge there, and he said,

"Why don't you try going to the National because your plants are good enough?"

So 1999, I took six plants and I came away with five trophies

and I kind of got hooked on it.

Ken's so good at growing prize-winners that he's now

banned from entering some local competitions as his impressive

plants put other potential competitors off.

Over the years I've been quite successful.

I've won 16 national shows

and I think I stand at 67 Best In Shows at the time.

Most days, on average, about four hours a day

I spend on my pelargoniums.

Heading up to a show, I can be in there 12 hours a day.

If you want a good plant, you have to be prepared to spend some

time on them.

I love pelargoniums.

They're such a great plant with so much to offer.

From their wonderfully scented patterned leaves

to their showy flowers that add a splash of colour in summer.

No longer should they be called a geranium.

They are the pelargonium

and everybody should be growing them in their gardens.