0:00:02 > 0:00:05I'm Carol Klein and this is my garden
0:00:05 > 0:00:09nestled in the heart of North Devon, 15 miles from the coast
0:00:09 > 0:00:13and surrounded by this tranquil and beautiful countryside.
0:00:18 > 0:00:21I've taken care of my garden for 30 years.
0:00:21 > 0:00:26I know every inch of this place and every plant.
0:00:30 > 0:00:35Each season brings its own delights. There are plenty of challenges too.
0:00:35 > 0:00:38But that's what makes it so exciting and so fulfilling.
0:00:42 > 0:00:44Over the next four weeks,
0:00:44 > 0:00:47I'm going to share with you a year in my garden.
0:00:48 > 0:00:55We'll see how it bursts into life, flourishes, dies and is reborn.
0:00:55 > 0:00:57Right now, it's glorious summer.
0:01:06 > 0:01:09Each season has its own kind of beauty,
0:01:09 > 0:01:12but it's in summer that the garden reaches its peak.
0:01:12 > 0:01:17By the time August rolls around, plants are at their zenith.
0:01:17 > 0:01:23The colours are packing a punch and the borders are full to bursting.
0:01:23 > 0:01:27But it's not a question of just letting it all roll over you
0:01:27 > 0:01:31and enjoying it. There's lots to do to try and maintain that peak
0:01:31 > 0:01:36and to keep the whole picture going. You've got to be deadheading...
0:01:39 > 0:01:42..cutting things back, staking things.
0:01:44 > 0:01:48And there are cuttings to be taken of all these herbaceous plants,
0:01:48 > 0:01:53because you've got lots of them, but you want more.
0:01:53 > 0:01:56The warm days of June herald the beginning of summer,
0:01:56 > 0:02:01bringing an explosion of new growth and new opportunities.
0:02:01 > 0:02:06This gravel track runs right the way through the garden
0:02:06 > 0:02:10and it's the sort of all sorts of wonderful plants
0:02:10 > 0:02:13that seed themselves freely everywhere.
0:02:13 > 0:02:17And I can remember the very first time I saw something seed itself.
0:02:17 > 0:02:21It was a geranium up by the kitchen. I couldn't believe it!
0:02:21 > 0:02:24But now, they're everywhere and sometimes these plants
0:02:24 > 0:02:27will put themselves into the most beautiful arrangements.
0:02:27 > 0:02:30Things you could never replicate.
0:02:30 > 0:02:33You could never do this sort of thing yourself.
0:02:33 > 0:02:37There's a whole little garden here, you know, full of alchemilla
0:02:37 > 0:02:41and beautiful geraniums and then this great fennel in the centre,
0:02:41 > 0:02:45this lovely feathery thing and I just leave them,
0:02:45 > 0:02:48because not only are they not in everybody's way,
0:02:48 > 0:02:51but you know, you enjoy them, they're lovely.
0:02:51 > 0:02:55But sometimes they're on a path or in a place
0:02:55 > 0:02:58where they're not going to thrive and flourish,
0:02:58 > 0:03:03and then you can get in there with your little fork.
0:03:07 > 0:03:12This is geranium nodosum in here. Shade-loving geranium.
0:03:12 > 0:03:15And just tuck it into a pot straightaway,
0:03:15 > 0:03:18put some gravel on the top of it.
0:03:21 > 0:03:24And that's it. I'll give it a good water later on.
0:03:24 > 0:03:27There's oodles of them here, absolutely masses.
0:03:27 > 0:03:30SHE LAUGHS
0:03:30 > 0:03:33Such bounty! I mean, that's what the garden gives you.
0:03:50 > 0:03:54'I've got two lovely daughters, Annie and Alice,
0:03:54 > 0:03:58'and I've named a part of the garden after each of them.
0:03:58 > 0:04:02'It's to Alice's garden that I'm always drawn in early summer.'
0:04:05 > 0:04:08And her garden is packed full
0:04:08 > 0:04:12of all those glorious plants that just remind me of Alice.
0:04:12 > 0:04:15There are crimsons, there's pink, there's white
0:04:15 > 0:04:21and everything's soft and beautifully sort of mounded.
0:04:21 > 0:04:24You just wait till this white phlox starts to flower.
0:04:24 > 0:04:28That's Alice's grandma's plant and it's all through this garden,
0:04:28 > 0:04:31but meanwhile, look at these astrantias.
0:04:31 > 0:04:35There are astrantias of all sorts of different kinds in here,
0:04:35 > 0:04:38some of them white, some of them dark, but this probably
0:04:38 > 0:04:41has to be my favourite. It's Astrantia "Roma"
0:04:41 > 0:04:44and it's a sterile hybrid, so it keeps on flowering
0:04:44 > 0:04:47and the place is full of white geraniums
0:04:47 > 0:04:51right from spring into the autumn, but during June,
0:04:51 > 0:04:55this is the one that's at its best - it's Geranium sanguineum Alba.
0:04:55 > 0:05:00And if you have got to choose one plant that typifies Alice's garden,
0:05:00 > 0:05:02it's this lovely rose.
0:05:02 > 0:05:06It's Rosa Mundi and Alice's second name is Rosamund
0:05:06 > 0:05:09and they were planted just for that reason.
0:05:09 > 0:05:11It's got these gorgeous pink and white petals
0:05:11 > 0:05:15that change all the time, masses of buds
0:05:15 > 0:05:20and it's at its best for her birthday month June. Just lovely.
0:05:23 > 0:05:27By mid June, some of the early plants, like oriental poppies,
0:05:27 > 0:05:30have already finished flowering,
0:05:30 > 0:05:34so I just chop them right back to encourage new growth.
0:05:34 > 0:05:40Oriental poppies seldom set seed, but along with plants like acanthus
0:05:40 > 0:05:43and Crambe cordifolia, they have thick fleshy roots
0:05:43 > 0:05:47and can be propagated from root cuttings in early spring.
0:05:47 > 0:05:50All you have to do is expose some of the roots,
0:05:50 > 0:05:55detach them from their mother plant and cut them into short sections.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58Push them into good gritty compost
0:05:58 > 0:06:01and, after three or four weeks, you'll get some top growth.
0:06:04 > 0:06:08Once the crown of healthy new shoots has formed, new roots will develop.
0:06:11 > 0:06:15At this stage, push them out, pot them up and grow them on.
0:06:19 > 0:06:21With a bit of luck, the new plants
0:06:21 > 0:06:24will be ready to be planted out in the autumn,
0:06:24 > 0:06:26or, failing that, in the following spring.
0:06:30 > 0:06:33And after a couple of summers, look at what you get -
0:06:33 > 0:06:37these magnificent towering stems
0:06:37 > 0:06:40covered with a myriad of tiny little flowers.
0:06:40 > 0:06:46It's so light and fluffy, it's the pure essence of the season.
0:07:08 > 0:07:12Compost is at the heart of all I do in my garden.
0:07:12 > 0:07:15Making it is a never-ending cycle.
0:07:22 > 0:07:25This is my present compost heap.
0:07:25 > 0:07:31I've been collecting all this lovely green stuff, fabulous nettles
0:07:31 > 0:07:36and all the sort of leftovers from my chard to put on this heap
0:07:36 > 0:07:38and it's a fast heap.
0:07:38 > 0:07:41It's only been built during the last few weeks and this is
0:07:41 > 0:07:45what I always do in summer and I'm putting this green stuff on
0:07:45 > 0:07:49to really speed everything up, and underneath I've got
0:07:49 > 0:07:55a sort of lovely brown layer with all manner of stuff.
0:07:55 > 0:07:59There are twigs and there's also layers and layers of muck.
0:07:59 > 0:08:03When I shove my hand under there, I can feel the heat.
0:08:03 > 0:08:05It really is beginning to hot up.
0:08:05 > 0:08:09I mean, compost is just, you know, it's the lifeblood of my garden.
0:08:09 > 0:08:14I just couldn't grow things the way I do without it.
0:08:14 > 0:08:17I'm just going to... SHE LAUGHS
0:08:19 > 0:08:20Over the top!
0:08:21 > 0:08:26And I'm going to spread it around, make a thick layer of it,
0:08:26 > 0:08:29and then, later on, as soon as I've got it,
0:08:29 > 0:08:32there'll be more brown stuff on the top too, so...
0:08:34 > 0:08:39Those nettles were... those nettles were a bit stingy,
0:08:39 > 0:08:41but I'm all right, actually.
0:08:41 > 0:08:46And nettles are one of the best ingredients,
0:08:46 > 0:08:53cos they bring all sorts of trace elements up from the soil underneath,
0:08:53 > 0:08:57but I'll tell you what, some of this chard...
0:08:58 > 0:09:01..looks good enough to eat, doesn't it?
0:09:01 > 0:09:04Perhaps we ought to have a bit of this for supper.
0:09:07 > 0:09:10I have two areas I call my hot borders,
0:09:10 > 0:09:13designed to really come into their own in late summer.
0:09:13 > 0:09:20They're a mix of overwintered exotics like cannas, dahlias and bananas,
0:09:20 > 0:09:23plus some spectacular annuals I grow from seed.
0:09:26 > 0:09:28They're all grown on in pots,
0:09:28 > 0:09:32but in July, it's warm enough to plant them out. Come late summer,
0:09:32 > 0:09:37these borders will be a mass of hot, exotic colour,
0:09:37 > 0:09:40but first, I need to make a bit of room.
0:09:40 > 0:09:45Getting these two beautiful Geranium Pratense
0:09:45 > 0:09:48out of the front of the hot bed.
0:09:48 > 0:09:53Now Geranium Pratense is just the best self seeder everywhere
0:09:53 > 0:09:58and these two decided to make this their home.
0:09:58 > 0:10:01Well, I've given them a chance, I've let them flower,
0:10:01 > 0:10:04but now it's time for them to come out.
0:10:04 > 0:10:10I wouldn't normally be lifting geraniums at this time of year,
0:10:10 > 0:10:13but now, they've got to make way,
0:10:13 > 0:10:18cos I've got these wonderful ricinus that have grown on so beautifully.
0:10:18 > 0:10:23They're going to be one of the most important features in here,
0:10:23 > 0:10:26but if I don't get them in now,
0:10:26 > 0:10:30they really won't do their wonderful tropical best by September.
0:10:30 > 0:10:34They should be sort of up here, really expansive
0:10:34 > 0:10:38and giving the whole place that kind of really exotic look.
0:10:38 > 0:10:44And I seem to have been waiting ages to do this!
0:10:44 > 0:10:50Way back in January, I sewed the seed and then potted it on,
0:10:50 > 0:10:53cos it germinated really well.
0:10:58 > 0:11:03And just kept on potting it on until we got these fine magnificent plants.
0:11:03 > 0:11:05I've no idea what these roots are like,
0:11:05 > 0:11:10but I can see some coming out of the bottom of the pot.
0:11:10 > 0:11:16Look at that. So I'm going to lower it very gently into position.
0:11:16 > 0:11:19Where it grows, all around the Mediterranean,
0:11:19 > 0:11:23it makes a huge great big, well, tree, really.
0:11:23 > 0:11:28But because they're tender, they'll never do that in my garden.
0:11:28 > 0:11:32But because I'm giving them such a lovely position,
0:11:32 > 0:11:36they should really burgeon and become enormous
0:11:36 > 0:11:40with these great big dramatic palmate leaves.
0:11:40 > 0:11:44And they're going to set the scene for this whole hot border.
0:11:58 > 0:12:01Lilies are one of the stars of the July show.
0:12:01 > 0:12:05Hemerocallis or daylilies kick off the display.
0:12:05 > 0:12:09The individual flowers last only for a day,
0:12:09 > 0:12:11but regular deadheading really helps prolong the show.
0:12:13 > 0:12:17Later, trumpet lilies provide a splendid boost to the borders.
0:12:17 > 0:12:22They're big and spectacular, either grown in the ground or in pots.
0:12:22 > 0:12:26When I'm planting up my bulbs, I detach a few scales,
0:12:26 > 0:12:29snapping them off cleanly from the mother bulb.
0:12:31 > 0:12:35I'm putting them in a plastic bag filled with damp vermiculite.
0:12:46 > 0:12:50Then I put the whole lot into a pot to exclude light.
0:13:00 > 0:13:04After a few weeks, baby bulbs are formed at the base of each scale.
0:13:10 > 0:13:14Then I just line them out in a seed tray full of gritty compost.
0:13:16 > 0:13:21Eventually, after a couple of years, they'll make big bulbs
0:13:21 > 0:13:24and they'll start to produce flowers of their own.
0:13:47 > 0:13:51It's July and the garden is burgeoning,
0:13:51 > 0:13:55but at the same time, it's teetering on the edge.
0:13:55 > 0:14:00You get the feeling that it's wonderful, but almost out of control,
0:14:00 > 0:14:02like one of those hairdos, you know,
0:14:02 > 0:14:06that's still all right, but only just.
0:14:06 > 0:14:10I mean, take this rose. It's lovely at the moment.
0:14:10 > 0:14:13Sander's White, absolutely beautiful.
0:14:13 > 0:14:16But already, some of the flowers are beginning to die.
0:14:16 > 0:14:20And it's up to me to try and prolong that beauty
0:14:20 > 0:14:24and get as much out of it as I can by a bit of discerning pruning.
0:14:24 > 0:14:28And you walk along here and, everywhere you look,
0:14:28 > 0:14:31you just know that, although you're enjoying it
0:14:31 > 0:14:33and it's wonderful at this moment,
0:14:33 > 0:14:35at any second... THUNDER RUMBLES
0:14:35 > 0:14:41..a storm could come along, cos the weather's so unpredictable in July
0:14:41 > 0:14:44and the whole thing could be flattened.
0:14:52 > 0:14:55The reason the weather in my garden changes so rapidly is that
0:14:55 > 0:15:00we're so close to one of the world's greatest oceans - the Atlantic.
0:15:09 > 0:15:13I just love to come to the seaside. It's so elemental.
0:15:13 > 0:15:19There's nothing but sky and sea and sand. It's wonderful.
0:15:19 > 0:15:23I don't do it nearly often enough, but when I do,
0:15:23 > 0:15:26this is one of my favourite places to come.
0:15:26 > 0:15:27It's Braunton Burrows.
0:15:27 > 0:15:29SEAGULLS CALLING
0:15:34 > 0:15:39It's strange to think, standing on these sand dunes, looking out at this
0:15:39 > 0:15:44lunar landscape, that my garden is only about 15 miles away from here.
0:15:45 > 0:15:48But this is where our weather comes from.
0:15:48 > 0:15:53This vast sky and these huge clouds that belt over us at a rate of knots.
0:15:53 > 0:15:58And the weather changing so rapidly too. So fast.
0:15:58 > 0:16:00One minute brilliant sunshine,
0:16:00 > 0:16:03the next big, dark clouds and torrential rain.
0:16:03 > 0:16:07It's Atlantic weather, I suppose, and it is what our garden is
0:16:07 > 0:16:09influenced by, it's what it's subject to.
0:16:11 > 0:16:12It's beautiful.
0:16:17 > 0:16:19This is the plant I've really come to see.
0:16:19 > 0:16:22This is Eryngium maritimum, a dingy. A true sea holly.
0:16:22 > 0:16:27And Braunton Burrows is one of the places where it really thrives
0:16:27 > 0:16:29because the conditions are totally perfect.
0:16:29 > 0:16:33This is a plant which has evolved with its environment.
0:16:33 > 0:16:35It is a very specialist environment
0:16:35 > 0:16:38and very specialist adaptations that it's got.
0:16:39 > 0:16:42Just look at this. It's incredibly prickly.
0:16:42 > 0:16:45You're certainly not going to get any grazing animals
0:16:45 > 0:16:49tucking into this. And it's a bad place to have a picnic too!
0:16:51 > 0:16:56Each of these cones of flower is protected by these incredibly
0:16:56 > 0:16:59fierce bracts. These spines really hurt.
0:17:00 > 0:17:04The bracts and the basal leaves are covered in this thick
0:17:04 > 0:17:08sort of wax to resist the sea spray,
0:17:08 > 0:17:10to protect the cuticle of the leaf
0:17:10 > 0:17:12and to allow the plant to go on growing.
0:17:15 > 0:17:17Eryngium maritimum is a native plant
0:17:17 > 0:17:22so I hoped I would be able to grow it, but no such luck!
0:17:22 > 0:17:25It must have pure sand to grow in and, of course,
0:17:25 > 0:17:27it loves to be by the sea.
0:17:27 > 0:17:30But what I do grow is Eryngium bourgatii,
0:17:30 > 0:17:33and it's an especially blue form.
0:17:33 > 0:17:36The place it thrives best in my garden is in the raised bed.
0:17:39 > 0:17:44It likes high fertility, but it also demands really sharp drainage
0:17:44 > 0:17:46and that is just what I give it.
0:17:46 > 0:17:51As it's ready to be pollinated, it does exactly what this one does -
0:17:51 > 0:17:56all these flowers go from silver to brilliant blue.
0:17:56 > 0:17:58But in the case of my bourgatii,
0:17:58 > 0:18:01the stems and all the bracts go blue too.
0:18:01 > 0:18:05So even though I yearn for that steely foliage,
0:18:05 > 0:18:06I am very happy growing that.
0:18:34 > 0:18:38My hot borders are beginning to come into their own now,
0:18:38 > 0:18:40with masses of exotic foliage
0:18:40 > 0:18:44and the hot, hot colours beginning to emerge.
0:18:44 > 0:18:46But there is always room for some more.
0:18:47 > 0:18:50In this bottom corner of the hot borders
0:18:50 > 0:18:54is this ricinus that I've planted, just a matter of weeks ago.
0:18:54 > 0:18:58It's really got established. They're almost like little trees.
0:18:58 > 0:19:01But look at all this bare soil here.
0:19:01 > 0:19:06I want to fill it up and I think these are exactly the right thing.
0:19:06 > 0:19:09This is Rudbeckia Rustic Dwarf, all grown from seed this year.
0:19:09 > 0:19:13This big wide range of hot colour.
0:19:13 > 0:19:16And this little cosmidium, so pretty, look at that.
0:19:16 > 0:19:20I've never grown this before, but it is ideal.
0:19:20 > 0:19:21It's going to mix in really well.
0:19:21 > 0:19:23What do you think?
0:19:24 > 0:19:28But this is what I was going to show you. Come and have a look at this.
0:19:30 > 0:19:33I put these willows in, just as stakes,
0:19:33 > 0:19:38big strong stakes to hold up this fence panel.
0:19:38 > 0:19:41But they've taken root and they've grown up to the sky.
0:19:41 > 0:19:43They are absolutely enormous.
0:19:43 > 0:19:48Meanwhile, I came over to think about sawing them down,
0:19:48 > 0:19:50but look what's on here.
0:19:50 > 0:19:54Hornets. And they've stripped the bark off some of these.
0:19:54 > 0:19:57I don't know whether it's to build a nest -
0:19:57 > 0:19:59I doubt it, it's too late in the year.
0:19:59 > 0:20:02There's probably some sort of sticky deposit on there, sugary.
0:20:02 > 0:20:06And they're tucking in and really enjoying it. They look quite drunk.
0:20:06 > 0:20:08Might be aspirin, of course, it's a willow.
0:20:08 > 0:20:10Perhaps they've all got a headache.
0:20:17 > 0:20:21It's just a couple of weeks ago that I was at Braunton Burrows.
0:20:21 > 0:20:25It was so beautiful, I really should go there more often.
0:20:25 > 0:20:31In fact, it's tempting at this time of year just to enjoy yourself.
0:20:31 > 0:20:35The garden is looking pretty special.
0:20:35 > 0:20:39But there are a few things that I've got to do right now,
0:20:39 > 0:20:42otherwise they won't get done.
0:20:43 > 0:20:47I've got to strike while the iron's hot. That scoop will do.
0:20:47 > 0:20:49And some grit.
0:20:51 > 0:20:55Taking cuttings of my favourite herbaceous perennials.
0:21:01 > 0:21:03This is it.
0:21:03 > 0:21:07This is Aster lateriflorus horizontalis. I adore it.
0:21:07 > 0:21:11It's this gorgeous dark colour, but it sticks its arms out like this.
0:21:11 > 0:21:13You can even make a hedge.
0:21:13 > 0:21:18It's one of the plants that I've added to Annie's border.
0:21:18 > 0:21:22Look at how this has come on, it's astonishing!
0:21:22 > 0:21:26But it's got another sort of era that is just coming on.
0:21:26 > 0:21:27All these gorgeous asters.
0:21:27 > 0:21:32But before this one starts to flower, I want to take these cuttings.
0:21:32 > 0:21:36All you do is just pull a little piece down like that,
0:21:36 > 0:21:38with a heel.
0:21:38 > 0:21:40You can raid these plants
0:21:40 > 0:21:43and you really won't know that I've been here at all.
0:21:43 > 0:21:46I'll get several brand-new plants out of it.
0:21:46 > 0:21:49It's not crucial what length these are.
0:21:49 > 0:21:54Quite sort of short and strong and each with this little heel.
0:21:55 > 0:22:00So if I have half a dozen from there to start with,
0:22:00 > 0:22:05and then all you do is just strim
0:22:05 > 0:22:08these basal leaves off like that.
0:22:08 > 0:22:11Between your thumb and finger.
0:22:11 > 0:22:16And if there are any nasty little extra bits at the bottom
0:22:16 > 0:22:18where you've pulled a bit too much of the stem,
0:22:18 > 0:22:21just take a sharp knife and trim them up.
0:22:21 > 0:22:24Then you just plant them round the edge of this pot.
0:22:24 > 0:22:28You can try this with all sorts of herbaceous perennials.
0:22:28 > 0:22:31Anything that produces these sort of side shoots.
0:22:31 > 0:22:38Water it well, keep it somewhere nice and bright, but not in full sunlight.
0:22:38 > 0:22:43Not so it bakes. They root surprisingly quickly.
0:22:43 > 0:22:47They'll be decent little plants if I keep on repotting them.
0:22:48 > 0:22:52A bit of grit over the top. I can probably get a few more in there.
0:22:55 > 0:22:59I'm always too greedy when it comes to things like taking cuttings.
0:22:59 > 0:23:00How's that?
0:23:06 > 0:23:10When summer hits its stride, so do my hot borders.
0:23:11 > 0:23:15Today, we are going to add some exotic touches
0:23:15 > 0:23:17to make them really zing.
0:23:18 > 0:23:21Staging day is a big event,
0:23:21 > 0:23:24so thank goodness my husband Neil is here to help.
0:23:25 > 0:23:28The colours may be hot, but these plants are tender
0:23:28 > 0:23:31so I keep them undercover until the weather is hot as well.
0:23:31 > 0:23:34Then, just as they hit their prime, out they come.
0:23:36 > 0:23:38This is going to be brilliant.
0:23:42 > 0:23:43Not too bad, is it?
0:23:52 > 0:23:57Then, as we move into August, I add the final touches. I love doing this.
0:23:57 > 0:24:00It's like creating a show garden.
0:24:00 > 0:24:03The transformation is instantaneous and wondrous.
0:24:06 > 0:24:09This is really, really heavy.
0:24:09 > 0:24:12I think I will have it up here.
0:24:14 > 0:24:17Just make this as intensely red as I can.
0:24:17 > 0:24:21This is the last part of staging these borders.
0:24:21 > 0:24:25But look how well everything is doing in these hot borders.
0:24:25 > 0:24:28All these rudbeckias. Look at that. That cotinus.
0:24:28 > 0:24:31And the hedychiums have only been out a couple of weeks,
0:24:31 > 0:24:32but they're brilliant.
0:24:32 > 0:24:37The crocosmia, that one is actually called Flame, so it is ideal.
0:24:37 > 0:24:40All this rudbeckia and helenium,
0:24:40 > 0:24:43it's beginning to look really magical.
0:24:44 > 0:24:48And sort of what I had in my head. You never really know though.
0:24:48 > 0:24:54But this is a beauty. Already, masses of these red flowers.
0:24:55 > 0:24:57This one's Bishop of Llandaff.
0:24:59 > 0:25:05And I think it's the most fabulous dahlia and perfect for this spot
0:25:05 > 0:25:10because these flowers are the most brilliant vermilion red.
0:25:10 > 0:25:12They just set the tone for here.
0:25:12 > 0:25:17Look how they are going to mingle with all this ricinus...
0:25:17 > 0:25:21That's been out a few weeks too, but it's grown elsewhere.
0:25:21 > 0:25:24I think it's sort of magnificent.
0:26:10 > 0:26:11SHE LAUGHS
0:26:13 > 0:26:17To get anywhere in the garden, you really need a machete.
0:26:19 > 0:26:22Everywhere is growing so lush and so fulsome.
0:26:24 > 0:26:26This border has been brilliant.
0:26:26 > 0:26:29Firstly, with Geranium psilostemon
0:26:29 > 0:26:32then floriferous phlox
0:26:32 > 0:26:35and spiky veronicastrum.
0:26:37 > 0:26:40But I want to add a few things because at the moment,
0:26:40 > 0:26:43everywhere is sort of quiet and I want
0:26:43 > 0:26:46the interest in the borders to continue right the way through.
0:26:46 > 0:26:50So I am adding these Nicotiana Langsdorffii.
0:26:50 > 0:26:54It's not what you would call a smack-you-in-the-eye sort of plant,
0:26:54 > 0:26:56but I love it.
0:26:56 > 0:26:58It's got these long green trumpets,
0:26:58 > 0:27:01and little blue antlers in here.
0:27:01 > 0:27:03It's just such a pretty plant.
0:27:04 > 0:27:09And I can remember in March or so, sowing the seed of it,
0:27:09 > 0:27:13very fine seed, on the surface of a tray of compost.
0:27:14 > 0:27:19It took ages to germinate. But once it did, it moved on quite quickly.
0:27:19 > 0:27:23I pricked out all those little seedlings into separate modules
0:27:23 > 0:27:25and then potted them on into pots.
0:27:26 > 0:27:29Some of them I put out into the garden
0:27:29 > 0:27:32when they were nice, chunky rosettes.
0:27:32 > 0:27:35But I always save a few and keep on potting them on
0:27:35 > 0:27:38so I've got some big resplendent plants
0:27:38 > 0:27:41that I can just drop into spaces where they're needed.
0:27:41 > 0:27:44I think they are ideal in here now.
0:27:45 > 0:27:49You know, July and August, it has been wonderful, really.
0:27:49 > 0:27:52There has been such exuberant colour everywhere. Marvellous.
0:27:52 > 0:28:00But now, you get up in the morning and you come out... It's shivery.
0:28:00 > 0:28:03You can feel the cold and you look up at the trees
0:28:03 > 0:28:07and you get this hint of russet and orange.
0:28:07 > 0:28:10And that's what September's going to bring.
0:28:10 > 0:28:13It's as though somebody has swept across the garden
0:28:13 > 0:28:16with a giant paint brush and joined all those colours together
0:28:16 > 0:28:20so they all become soft and subtle and mellow.
0:28:20 > 0:28:23I'm looking forward to it, but for now,
0:28:23 > 0:28:25I'm going to really make the most of this.
0:28:42 > 0:28:45Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd