Episode 1 Hampton Court Palace Flower Show

Hello and welcome to the Royal Horticultural Society's

Tomorrow the gates open for a six day horticultural

celebration of Summer and tonight Rachel, Joe and I are here to give

This year there's a common theme running through the showground

celebrating neighbourhoods and community spirit.

If there's one flower that unites, it has to be the rose and

if you love them as much as I do, get set to be spoilt because there?s

an entire marquee here dedicated to England's National Flower.

But out of the hundreds of varieties on display only one can

I'll be revealing which one it is later in the show.

And if that's not enough to tempt you

there's also a huge Floral Pavilion filled with nurseries showcasing

I'll be finding out which varieties are set to cause a stir.

The show gardens are one of the great drawing features of any flower

show. There are 33 this at Hampton Court, but I suspect the most talked

about will be the conceptual gardens, which have become one of

the great features of Hampton. This year they are themed. There are

seven different ones and each one reflects one of the seven deadly

sins. On Wednesday, our guest, Mary Berry, will be taking her view of

these horticultural vices. Also on Wednesday we've got the bug expert,

George McGovern, who will be looking at our gardens under the microscope,

especially at those insects which are invisible to the naked eye, yet

live in a teeming thousands in all our back gardens. But right now,

Rachel and Joe are taking a look at the highlights of the large gardens.

Selina Botham has been inspired by the wildlife, the nature conscious

farmers are increasingly living around their crops. She's taken that

idea and turned it into a more domesticated size garden. What I

really like about it is the planting itself. Around the outside with got

a wild flower meadow that creates a maze, away into the centre where

you've got a lovely seating area. These are my favourite bits of the

garden, these are made of straw, these seats, and they are beautiful,

sculptural focal point as well. They will biodegrade over time, but

that's because they are made of natural materials, as is everything

in this garden. At the back we've got these sculptures. They've been

inspired by birds but also to when courage birds into the garden. To

encourage insects to come overwinter here. At the front, we've got a very

simple wall, logs stacked on top of each other, with some wild flower

turf on the top, again to encourage as many little critters into this

garden as possible. That's such a simple thing to do in any garden.

This design very cleverly embraces elements of the MacMillan Legacy

Garden and that's apparent here in the bicycles. Just to remind us that

those nurses often travel to see their patients on a bicycle. You've

got this extraordinary sculpture, which again is representative of a

legacy of Dexter cattle that were left to Macmillan. But for me, this

garden is all about the planting. The softness, the delicacy of it. I

love these tall verticals. And a beautiful aconite called stainless

steel. It's melded together with these grasses, but this ornamental

carrot, with lovely burgundy flowers. It's all very much a

stylised representation of the countryside around Castle Cary in

Somerset, where Douglas Macmillan grew up. I think it does that

beautifully. I love this bit here. It's a very beautiful garden that

binds together the past, takes it into the future and it has a

timeless quality. Boxes of bananas, not what you'd

call a traditional planting style. John. This is the bird garden in

your trilogy. Remind us John. This is the bird garden in

trilogy is about. We started off down at Chelsea. It was remembering

the moment 30 years ago that the Ethiopian famine came to global

attention. The garden was a huge aid crate with ache parachute crashed

through the trees. It was the promise of a verdant landscape. It

is built fully open, releasing 10 million trees that have been planted

over the last few decades there. Now at Hampton Court, the crate is still

here but it's no longer needed, it's a skeleton of itself. Now the

produce is going in other directions. This garden is all about

export and the shipping pallet. It's positive, it's a celebration really.

It is, it's an uplifting college -- message of how far it has come. A

cut flower industry with a couple of billion US dollars a year. I get it

now. I saw it as a load of crates, fruit and flowers, but now I get the

message. Fantastic, well done. One of the things that makes Hampton

Court Flower Show is not just its scale, it is after all one of the

largest flower shows in the world, but it is after all one of the

largest flower shows in the world, but its setting. With the Royal

Palace and the fantastic park, it is glorious.

Who knows what Hampton Court's most famous resident Henry VIII would

have made of the show gardens, but perhaps he would have approved

of the restoration of one of the Palace's historic kitchen gardens.

A bountiful plot that back in the day would have been

the beating heart of the Royal Palace, producing tonnes of

A few days before opening we joined the keeper of the kitchen garden and

mastermind behind the project, Vicki Cooke, to find out what our Royal

This used to be Henry VIII's jousting arena. But when Justin went

out of fashion it was turned into a kitchen garden. They were originally

in use between 1689 and 1840. They were built for William and Mary, who

decided to make the Palace their main residence. We wanted to

recreate the garden as it would have looked in the Georgian period. We

had the helpful plan of 1736, which was done by John Rock, a

cartographer of the time. This was originally a six acre site, we've

restored one ache of it. It's this one quadrant that you can see here.

The fruit and vegetables produced in this garden would have gone straight

into the palace kitchens. This isn't some hidden away kitchen garden,

this is right next to the Palace will stop they would have fed the

hundreds of people working and living in the Palace at that time.

Not just the king and his family but all the courtiers and all the

various people who kept the Palace running.

As part of their research for this garden, it was important for us to

find out what would have been grown and eaten back of the time of the

garden. One of the specialities of the era were grand salads. According

to the head gardener, a grand salad should consist of no less than 35

ingredients. Whilst we might recognise lettuces, cucumbers and

endives, they were also eating Hartshorn, type a plantain, it grows

by the sea naturally and has nice, salty leaves. We were also growing

something called cost Marie, which would have been every single kitchen

and cottage garden. It was used for flavouring beer but as a salad

ingredient also. We've got a recipe here for a grand salad, published in

1723. The centrepiece of it is a turnip. Let it be formed like a

castle, made of past and washed over with a castle, made of past and

washed over with egg yolk of eggs, and within it a tree, with green

herbs and stuck with flowers. These were really grand centrepieces to

have your dinner party. One thing we've been keen on is trying to

source crops and varieties that were grown in the era. We reckon about 40

to 50% of what we are growing here is pre-Victorian. One crop where

we've got a good spread of varieties are peas. This variety is called

Robinson. During the time of this garden, a new fashion came over from

the courts of France, and that was for eating these fresh, green and

out of the pod. That would have seemed a pretty decadent thing to

do, considering they were your winter storage stable. There's a

quote from the mistress of King Louis XIV of France. She said, it is

kind of fashion and madness that has overtaken the ladies of the court

who, when they have subbed at the table of the king, they still go

home and stuff their faces with peas. With that in mind, I'm going

to eat some peas! This is one of the more unusual

salad crops we are growing. It was one of the ones mentioned in the

retired gardener book of 1706. One of the crops suitable for the

gentleman to grow in his garden. It grows wild around the coast of the

UK, it's called scurvy grass. It has a very high vitamins C content, so

sailors returning from long voyages would seek out this planned to eat

to prevent scurvy. The flavour is unusual. It started off as a mild,

pleasant salad green, it's got hotter and hotter as the seasons

progressed and now it takes -- taste something between cress and

horseradish. It would certainly add a bit of pep to your salads. For me,

this has been a fantastic project to be involved in because it has been

really interesting finding out about the history of the vegetables, the

history of food that used to be eaten. With just this little area,

we can showcase some of the gardening techniques and varieties

that would have been grown in the era.

This looks fantastic, isn't all from the garden? Yes, harvested this

morning. We have salad Bernards, some blood warts, scurvy grass. It's

a very unusual flavour. That's not what I expected. It is sort of a bit

bitter, but not in a bad way. It's a good aftertaste. What an interesting

taste! Would that have been put on the table in the 1730s? Yes, they

would have been grand centrepiece arrangements. We have this idea that

somehow Georgians and 18th century in general, people just eight meat

and lots of it, and didn't really have many salads, but that's not

true. No, the Tudors with the big meat eaters. The Georgians got into

their vegetables in a big way. A lot of the variety matched have

disappeared. Gal it's been a bit of a mission to track down the heritage

varieties, but also the wild flowers. This is still a working

garden. What amazes me is how ordered and immaculate, everything

looks so healthy and good. How do you manage that? We have a team of

three gardeners. Because it is a garden that is so close to the

Palace, it would have been a place that even back in the 1700, Lords

and ladies would have walked around it, so it would have had to look

beautiful. It looks lovely, both in the ground and on the plate. Its

hugely successful. You can come and see it. If you are coming to the

show and you fancy looking at the Royal vegetable gardens, come on,

it's open in daylight hours. From old varieties fit for

a King to new plants holding court There are thousands of plants in

here. If you look around, you will find some absolute beauties making

their debut here at Hampton Court. Just like this one, it's a real

beauty. What is interesting is it's a major breakthrough in agapanthus

growing. It's a bicolour. The first byte colour that is hardly an

deciduous, so it can be left outdoors all year round. It is

beautiful, it's got a lovely flower form. I love the way that the Indigo

blue flowers start off blue and then they bleach

blue flowers start off blue and then they out to white on the outside.

This really is tough. It is hardy, it was found growing in the

foothills of the Pennines. evergreen shrub. It needs a little

protection, maybe grow it in a pot. This one is brand-new. It is called

Red Dwarf. All of the growers hybridise in

search of the perfect plant but this is a happy accident.

Dame Edna is gone to be so excited. There is a new gladioli and it is

pretty glamorous. I am not sure it is for me but some people are going

to love it. These orchids are seriously bright.

They are always looking for new varieties. These are as yet unnamed.

Who knows what they will be called? They are looking for smaller, dainty

flowers and lots of blooms in bright orange. I think they have achieved

it. People think these are really hard to look after but they need to

be watered with rainwater, stick the part in another parts of the routes

are shaded, and as long is there is no direct sunlight they will flower

away. There are some incredible orchids.

Just look at the range. Developing that sort of passion for a single

plant is a great way of bringing communities together. I am meeting

the pupils of a school from Somerset who have all fallen head over heels

for orchids. You are the man behind the Orchid

Project. Tell me about it? All the plants grown here have been blown by

the pupils. -- grown by. It is all based around growing orchids from

seed. What inspired you? I was quiet and did not have any confidence. I

was taken to this greenhouse and I was amazed with this little world in

the glasshouses and I stayed. What has this led on to? I did work with

a team of students in the Himalayas which took me to a national

competition. Amazing. What is this? This is orchids seed. It is very

small and does not carry a food source so we have to grow it on

agar. Has this influenced what you might want to do with your future? I

am becoming a trainee at Bristol Botanic Gardens in September. You

must be so proud. I have signed up Zoe as an adult volunteer. She is

not getting away! Fascinating - well done.

This part of the show is called the Plant Village and it is heaven for

me. It is also the location of the Plant Heritage Marquee. It showcases

the national collections. These exist in order to really make sure

that a single genus of plants has as many varieties as possible

sustained. Many of these collections are held by a single individual. I

have come to see one held by many people across the city of Bristol.

This is looking stunning, your calendula. We thought we were going

to have annuals as a national collection and they could not have

them in one place as there would be problems with cross pollination. We

provide community groups with the equipment and training, so anybody

can get involved. What sort of people are growing in? Unday

centres, 50 plus accommodation. My eye is drawn to the pots? We talk

about the plans and they get involved in their schools. -- the

plans. The idea of working together to keep

one plant on the horticultural radar is one thing but when it comes to

coordinating efforts to put the town of Thetford on the map, that is

something else. The ladies of the local Monday club sent a call to

arms out to the community. Everyone from the staff of the local call

centre to children of the local primary school did their bit to help

bring a flavour of East Anglia to Hampton Court threw a shoe garden.

-- through a show garden. We are the Monday Morning Club, and

Hampton also know what's coming. We are passionate about Thetford. We

want Thetford to be remembered in every part of the country. We wanted

something that would be a community project. The garden seemed a natural

way of doing that. And the fact that we hadn't got any clue about plans!

Never mind! We like pretty things. We liked seeing the garden. We knew

we had to get a garden designer. This name kept jumping out. My name

was at the bottom of the list. Whether everyone said no or not, I

do not know, but they got to me. It was a marriage made in heaven. Their

craziness, I am trying to sort of contain it.

The garden that we've created is inspired by all the communities that

have made Thetford what it is today. Look around. You travel around the

school and juicy Portuguese people, Polish people, and when I started

looking into the history, this town was created by the Romans, by monks,

and by the Iceni and it is believed that Boadicea was here. It is a

magical place. Flint is such a key element in the town. Everything is

built of it. It is a fantastic site, the remnants of the old priory

built in Flint. It was founded by monks about 900 years ago. At one

point this was the largest cathedral in the country. This fantastic

Gothic arch behind me rises up to the heavens and that gave me the

inspiration for the centrepiece of the garden. The whole garden has

evolved from that and it is going to really bring it to life. This is

John, he is a master flintknapper. It is his work which will form the

centrepiece of the garden. I have got five days to go the replica at

Hampton Court and it will take me ten. It is a passion. We need to

know where we came from before we know where we are going and if you

can't understand the past then you're not going to be able to

understand the future. We are here at the Shadwell estate. They have

been fantastic, providing facilities and staff to help me grow the plans.

-- plants. I have included woad because of its link to the Iceni

tried. Crushing believes gives you the colour they used to Louis -- use

on their faces. A lot of this planting will be used on the priory

ruins and it is the herb. You have got two types of oregano. You have

got the curry plant which has got lovely flowers and it is really

fragrant as you brush past it. This part represent a Doctor Who at the

end of the first black major in the UK, in Thetford. Hopefully people

will ask questions about why he is here and we can explain that. We

have had a huge amount of support and it has been absolutely

fantastic. We have had schoolchildren going around

collecting pine cones. We have had the local allotment Association

growing poppies. That is just one of the examples of how fantastic

Thetford has been, coming together and raising money and offering

support, services and help for us to make it work. The message we have

got to get over is that if us four zany ladies can get a show garden to

Hampton Court and pull it off, anybody can do anything. That is the

bottom line, that is it. You think you pulled it off? Did we

pull it off? What do you think? This man has done the impossible. We have

had little money, lots of ideas. We said, come on, put it together. It

is superb. It is superb. Every element in this garden relates to

Thetford. I've was very strict that every element had to have a reason

to be her. I have chosen the flowers around, I have repeated the

verbascum. Down here we have seeing the priory from different angles,

the courtyard, the wild flower garden. This Flint path replicates

the river. This offshoot is the revenues. This is roughly speaking

the shape of the rivers. There is nothing that should not be here.

Well, I don't think so! How he has achieved this on the budget that we

have given him, we said, sorry, this has got to go into the garden, and

this has got to go in. All of the money was raised from the community

in Thetford and in the beginning, when I met the ladies, we wanted to

be able to say to people, we have created this garden and we have not

wasted your money. This is something we are all proud of. You should be

very proud. I am so impressed that you managed to stay in good spirits

and work with these four ladies. Well done to all of you.

From what has to be community of the year to Rows Of The Year. Which one

is going to win a? Rachel has been finding out.

This is a trial organised by the Association Of The Rose Breeders. It

has been going for 32 years and takes a massive amount of work and

preparation behind the scenes for a rose to win.

Each year, breeders submit their best new roses and those are

trialled for two years and down the country in different climates and

soil types. Then they are awarded points reform, colour, fragrance,

health and vigour, and at the end of the trial, the points are added up

and the winner is announced. Here it is. It is called For Your Eyes Only.

It is the result of 30 years of selective breeding. It has

exceptional disease resistance. It is prolific throughout the season.

The most special thing is the dark eye at the centre of the flower.

That has been inherited from a wild rose from part of the Middle East.

You can see these elegant little pointed buds and gradually, as the

flower opens and ages, the colour fades to this lovely, dusky pink.

Tantalisingly, you have to wait a bit longer until you can buy it

because it takes a while to mass propagate enough. It should be

available in the autumn and with a rose this special, it is definitely

worth the wait. Rachel will be showing us more when

we return to Hampton Court on Wednesday on BBC Two at eight

o'clock. I?ll be taking a look at a brand new

design category - turf sculpting The People's Choice Award winner

will be bringing us these take on the show. Goodbye.