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The show gardens here at Chelsea are always immaculate, packed with | :00:11. | :00:17. | |
plants at the peak of perfection. On the show this afternoon we're | :00:17. | :00:21. | |
bringing you tips on how to enjoy your own blemish-free garden with a | :00:21. | :00:25. | |
few simple steps to choosing the right plant for the right place. | :00:25. | :00:33. | |
Coming Up: back to basics - Andy Sturgeon looks at flowers that | :00:33. | :00:38. | |
flourish in different types of soil. If you happen to have a sandy soil | :00:38. | :00:46. | |
- because it's free training, it will -- draining, it will allow you | :00:46. | :00:50. | |
to grow some of these bowls. Toby picks out the Chelsea shurbs | :00:50. | :00:58. | |
picks that are perfect for acid soils. And climate change - | :00:58. | :01:03. | |
how to choose the right plants for your own garden conditions. | :01:03. | :01:11. | |
Good afternoon, and welcome to RHS Chelsea Flower Show. It's Wednesday, | :01:11. | :01:13. | |
and the event, supported by M&G Investments, has already brought | :01:13. | :01:16. | |
tears and cheers to the designers and exhibitors alike. | :01:16. | :01:20. | |
Yesterday it was all about medals. But in keeping with tradition, | :01:20. | :01:23. | |
Wednesday is the day we concentrate on the plants themselves, and | :01:23. | :01:28. | |
particularly this year, the right plants for your gardens. We all | :01:28. | :01:32. | |
like to replicate what we see here at Chelsea, but it doesn't always | :01:32. | :01:38. | |
work out that way when we do our plants a home. No, because you | :01:38. | :01:41. | |
can't copy a show garden because you might not have the right soil | :01:41. | :01:45. | |
type. You have to get that right. It's all about the ground type? | :01:45. | :01:50. | |
people always say to me, "I can't grow this." | :01:50. | :01:54. | |
"I can't grow that." - plants grow themselves if you have the right | :01:54. | :01:58. | |
soil to start with. What is ideal for your garden? Most gardens have | :01:58. | :02:03. | |
a type of loam which is a soil that's got some silt in it, some | :02:03. | :02:08. | |
sand in it, clay, a lot of worms and compost in it. It's a blend, | :02:08. | :02:16. | |
and nothing is in such a perfection it affects how it behaves. It's | :02:16. | :02:21. | |
just soft. That's what we aspire to? Yes, crumbly, perfect. What | :02:21. | :02:24. | |
about this? We're getting dirty today, aren't we? Definitely. | :02:24. | :02:28. | |
this how we can tell at home what our soil is like? I don't know what | :02:28. | :02:33. | |
my soil is like. Soil can vary from street to street. So parts of the | :02:33. | :02:38. | |
country it might vary, and you can get a chalky in one section and not | :02:38. | :02:43. | |
another? Actually, you can get chalky in the front of your garden | :02:43. | :02:49. | |
and not in the back. Clay you can get wet... It's really sticky. | :02:49. | :02:56. | |
the only soil you can mould into a sausage saip, and it will stay like | :02:56. | :03:03. | |
that. Hard work this your garden, back-breaking work. Very. It's very | :03:03. | :03:07. | |
unlikely you'd have a potter's clay, but a quarter of it is made of | :03:07. | :03:11. | |
these small clay particles, and you need to open them up and get some | :03:11. | :03:16. | |
compost to add. What's this one? This is a chalk. It doesn't look | :03:16. | :03:22. | |
like soil at all. No. You get it wet, and it's very slimy. Sometimes | :03:22. | :03:26. | |
you get stone in it or large pieces of Flint. That doesn't want to | :03:26. | :03:33. | |
break up. Some plants love it. Clematis are fantastic in it, very | :03:33. | :03:37. | |
free draining, sometimes slimy. It's very alkaline. Where would you | :03:37. | :03:41. | |
find soil like that? I had a garden in Cambridge that looked just like | :03:41. | :03:45. | |
that I used to grow lots of cut nowers on it, and they loved it. | :03:45. | :03:51. | |
Root crops are a no-no. What type of soil is this? Oh, it's bitty. | :03:51. | :03:56. | |
Sandy soil, so it's a loam with a high proportion of sand. That makes | :03:56. | :04:00. | |
it free draining. The other thing about sand is because it's free | :04:00. | :04:05. | |
draining, you tend to wash out all the lime that's in it, so it's good | :04:05. | :04:09. | |
for rhododendrums. A soil master class. | :04:09. | :04:16. | |
So when you know what soil you've got, the next step is to know which | :04:16. | :04:19. | |
plants suit it. So Andy Sturgeon's been to the Great Pavilion to | :04:19. | :04:28. | |
compile his Chelsea guide. Now, people always moan about clay | :04:28. | :04:33. | |
soil, but looking at some of these plants, I really wish I had it. One | :04:33. | :04:38. | |
of my favourites is this plant. It's also got wonderful foliage. At | :04:38. | :04:44. | |
this time of year in spring you can have carpets of it in a great clay | :04:44. | :04:49. | |
soil and also this plant. It likes things a little bit damp, so it's | :04:49. | :04:54. | |
the damper end of clay. The thing about these plants is they look | :04:54. | :04:57. | |
superb together. It's the combination. You can have all of | :04:57. | :05:02. | |
this froth, but you need something to anchor it. This plant will do | :05:02. | :05:06. | |
just that. A huge plant like this will put punctuation into the | :05:06. | :05:09. | |
planting. The leaves are this wonderful bronze when they come out | :05:09. | :05:19. | |
:05:19. | :05:22. | ||
and fade to a green as they mature. If you happen to have a sandy soil | :05:22. | :05:26. | |
because it's free draining, it will allow you to grow some of these | :05:26. | :05:32. | |
great bowls because the winter wet won't cause them to rot. If you're | :05:32. | :05:35. | |
growing tulips, you know some will last forever, pop up year after | :05:35. | :05:40. | |
year, but others will slowly fade away, and you have to keep | :05:40. | :05:46. | |
replanting every two or three years. That's something I find with tulipa | :05:46. | :05:50. | |
ballerina, but it's got a great colour. As the tulips fade away, | :05:50. | :05:54. | |
the alliums pop up to take over the show, some of these wonderful | :05:54. | :05:59. | |
globes like Mt Everest here, the white one. They really are | :05:59. | :06:03. | |
spectacular. They'll really thank you for giving them a well-drained, | :06:03. | :06:08. | |
sandy soil. Now, I get on with chalky soil. To be honest, I do | :06:08. | :06:12. | |
find it a struggle at times. There are great plants you can grow. This | :06:12. | :06:17. | |
is one of them. What I love about this is it flowers for ages because | :06:17. | :06:22. | |
the flowers open at the bottom, and they die off. Then the one at the | :06:22. | :06:27. | |
top open. It goes on for ages and ages. There are more spikes that | :06:27. | :06:33. | |
come off at the sides. It also sows seeds, so you get seeds for free, | :06:33. | :06:37. | |
sometimes more than you want. There's purple version as well. It | :06:37. | :06:47. | |
:06:47. | :06:47. | ||
looks fantastic alongside this huge plant, giant antic grey leaves with | :06:47. | :06:51. | |
yellow flowers. Then there is this. This is something really special. | :06:51. | :06:57. | |
It's good to have something special in your garden. This is a digitalis | :06:57. | :07:02. | |
from Spain. The thing about this is it really loves growing on a chalky | :07:02. | :07:10. | |
soil. That's bonus. How about this plant? I think it's pretty easy to | :07:10. | :07:17. | |
see why "ladybird" is in the name. You see it growing all over chalky | :07:17. | :07:22. | |
downland. It will sow seed, but only germinate if you disturb the | :07:22. | :07:25. | |
ground, then it will pop up all over the place, a wonderful thing. | :07:25. | :07:29. | |
It just goes to show, no matter what type of soil you've got, you | :07:29. | :07:36. | |
can always turn it into an asset. Whilst chalky soil is very alkaline | :07:36. | :07:43. | |
- or sweet as we gardeners say - there is another type, which is at | :07:43. | :07:49. | |
the opposite end of the scale. Ericaceous soil is much more acidic. | :07:49. | :07:56. | |
It builds up beneath disSiduous trees. On the ground they're broken | :07:57. | :08:03. | |
up by the bacteria in the soil. Because they perspire all the time, | :08:03. | :08:07. | |
what happens is, is they give off acidity. That makes the ground lose | :08:07. | :08:12. | |
any sweetness it has and makes it perfect for a very specific palette | :08:12. | :08:16. | |
of plants. There are easy ways to tell whether you have acidic soil. | :08:16. | :08:24. | |
If you live on the coast, look your neighbours' gardens. If they can | :08:24. | :08:33. | |
grow blue hydrangeas, your soil is acidic, if you live inland and see | :08:33. | :08:39. | |
rhododendrums or heather, your soil is acidic. If you're still not sure, | :08:39. | :08:46. | |
you can go down to the garden centre and get a soil tester kit. | :08:46. | :08:55. | |
Put in some soil, add water. Add the magic moisture. If it comes out | :08:55. | :09:01. | |
red, you have acidic soil, and you can plant wonderful plants like in | :09:01. | :09:09. | |
this garden. One of my favourites is this plant. It has lovely winter | :09:09. | :09:13. | |
leaves that look good all year long. If you think the rhododendrums are | :09:13. | :09:19. | |
a little bit on the gaudy side, what about this one? This is a | :09:19. | :09:23. | |
connoisseur's plant. The flowers - they're not as important as the | :09:23. | :09:28. | |
leaves. The leaves are covered in this quilt-like substance. It has | :09:28. | :09:32. | |
an insulating layer that stops the plant losing too much moisture and | :09:32. | :09:36. | |
keeps the flower buds protected from frost, just gives the garden a | :09:36. | :09:40. | |
whole glow. Finally, the other type of plants you must grow if you have | :09:40. | :09:45. | |
acidic soil are ones that like deep, rich ground, and Chris has got a | :09:45. | :09:53. | |
whole range of them here - hostas, ferns and others. Chris isn't the | :09:53. | :09:59. | |
only gardener that's used a woodland setting to inspire | :09:59. | :10:01. | |
gardeners in this Chelsea Flower Show. | :10:01. | :10:11. | |
:10:11. | :10:20. | ||
James Alexander Sinclair has been This is the Bradstone Pan ash | :10:20. | :10:26. | |
Garden. The whole thing is about vitality, colour and excitement. | :10:26. | :10:30. | |
This is inspired by fluttering kites, and the colours change all | :10:30. | :10:34. | |
the way down. To make it more exciting, there is a wall that goes | :10:34. | :10:37. | |
all the way back down that way, then the colour from the sculpture | :10:37. | :10:42. | |
is picked up in the planting, so you have this vortex of planting | :10:42. | :10:48. | |
that whizes its way in, and we have geraniums and all sorts of things | :10:48. | :10:52. | |
rotating around a strong vertical - one birch tree that goes straight | :10:52. | :10:57. | |
up in the air. Around the edge of that there is yet another curve - | :10:57. | :11:01. | |
there is a curve of painting, then all the way around the edge is this | :11:01. | :11:05. | |
far more delicate band of woodland and shady plants that ends up round | :11:05. | :11:12. | |
about here. Now, woodland is really a posh name for shade. Pretty much | :11:12. | :11:18. | |
anyone who in their garden has a decent-sized shrub like this hazel | :11:18. | :11:22. | |
underneath it, under it you can grow things that don't like the sun | :11:22. | :11:26. | |
like this grass or fern or this plant. All of these things need to | :11:26. | :11:36. | |
:11:36. | :11:47. | ||
This next garden continues the woodland theme. This is Petra, | :11:47. | :11:53. | |
Tranquility Set in Stone. I am standing here surrounded by very, | :11:53. | :12:02. | |
very wonderful multi-stemmed acer campestre. Usually you find it in | :12:02. | :12:06. | |
hedge rows. It's a field maple. What's special about this tree is | :12:06. | :12:10. | |
come the autumn time, all of these leaves turn the most wonderful | :12:10. | :12:14. | |
butter yellow, so we're emerging from the woodland into a woodland | :12:14. | :12:20. | |
glade - except that this woodland glade is not as you would expect - | :12:20. | :12:23. | |
close-cropped grass and grazing deer and bunny rabbits. This one is | :12:23. | :12:28. | |
emerging into a garden with all the necessary mod cons you may require, | :12:28. | :12:34. | |
for example, over here is a fully- funking plunge pool - not just any | :12:34. | :12:39. | |
old plunge pool. It is cleaned by this rather fantastic bog bed just | :12:39. | :12:44. | |
there. On the edge of the woodland is this wonderful undulating wild | :12:44. | :12:48. | |
flower meadow, then a wall, then set into the wall are very | :12:48. | :12:51. | |
comfortable-looking chairs which seem to be beckoning me forward to | :12:51. | :13:01. | |
:13:01. | :13:08. | ||
sit down and enjoy the peace and We're spending the afternoon | :13:08. | :13:11. | |
looking at how to choose the right plant for your garden conditions. | :13:11. | :13:15. | |
We have looked at soil and habitat. But the other really important | :13:15. | :13:19. | |
thing to consider is the aspect, and this stand has some great | :13:19. | :13:27. | |
plants that'll thrive in full sun. These plants are really all about | :13:27. | :13:31. | |
the flower, and if they don't have plenty of sunshine, it just won't | :13:31. | :13:37. | |
happen, and the trick here is to make sure that the base is | :13:37. | :13:40. | |
absolutely baking in full sun. Do that, and they'll reward you with | :13:40. | :13:50. | |
:13:50. | :13:50. | ||
Now, if you're not sure whether a plant likes sun or shade, there are | :13:50. | :13:54. | |
a few pointers, a few things to look for, like this plant, for | :13:54. | :13:59. | |
example. It's got a very silvery leaf. That's a great indicator it's | :13:59. | :14:02. | |
going to like full sun because it's probably from a Mediterranean | :14:02. | :14:06. | |
climate where it's very hot. The reason it's silver is because it | :14:06. | :14:10. | |
will reflect lots of light and keep the plant nice and cool and cut | :14:10. | :14:15. | |
down the water loss, so look out for that. Something else to look | :14:15. | :14:19. | |
for is the leaf size and shape. This lavendar has small narrow | :14:19. | :14:23. | |
leaves. That's also to cut down water loss. If you don't grow this | :14:24. | :14:29. | |
in full sun, it will get tall and leggy and ugly. | :14:29. | :14:34. | |
Make sure it's absolutely light. There are some plants that can take | :14:34. | :14:38. | |
plenty of sunshine as long as their feet are permanently wet. One of | :14:38. | :14:45. | |
those is this plant which loves the boggy soil. Look at those fantastic | :14:45. | :14:49. | |
little flowers. If you want a ground cover, you can't do better | :14:49. | :14:52. | |
than this plant. If you have a damp soil, this will carpet it | :14:52. | :14:59. | |
wonderfully, and this is a relative of a giant, with these superb, huge | :14:59. | :15:04. | |
leaves. Most gardens have at least some | :15:04. | :15:08. | |
shade, and the great thing about shade is it allows you to grow lots | :15:08. | :15:12. | |
of wonderful ferns. The superb shape is such a fantastic contrast | :15:12. | :15:22. | |
:15:22. | :15:23. | ||
It's difficult to find flowering plants where there isn't much sun | :15:23. | :15:28. | |
life. For did dappled shade you can't get better than the this one. | :15:28. | :15:35. | |
The flower lasts for ages but the leaf's important too. You get a | :15:35. | :15:42. | |
carpet of foliage that smothers the ground. Hesperis, the sweet rocket | :15:42. | :15:47. | |
harks a wonderful evening scent. It self-seeds, and the white version | :15:47. | :15:52. | |
is fantastic, because as twilight arrives it gleans out from the | :15:52. | :15:56. | |
darkness -- gleams out from the darkness. It is good to know that | :15:56. | :15:59. | |
whatever challenges your garden givers you, you can always find the | :16:00. | :16:08. | |
perfect plant. There's a lot more to come on this | :16:08. | :16:16. | |
afternoon's Chelsea Flower Show. Coming up: against all odds - we | :16:16. | :16:19. | |
visit the show garden proving that flowers can grow in the most | :16:19. | :16:26. | |
impossible conditions. The perfect plant - RHS judge | :16:27. | :16:30. | |
Raymond Evison reveals the star qualities between the 2012 Chelsea | :16:30. | :16:37. | |
Plant of the Year. Today at Chelsea we're bringing you | :16:37. | :16:41. | |
expert tips on how to find the right plants for your garden. Well, | :16:41. | :16:46. | |
there is one family of plants that can adapt to almost any gardening | :16:46. | :16:51. | |
conditions and those are much-loved hardy geraniums. Here's Chris | :16:51. | :16:56. | |
Beardshaw with a guide to the best one for you. | :16:56. | :17:01. | |
Amongst the plants that at the Chelsea Flower Show there is one | :17:01. | :17:05. | |
that stands out as offering the greatest range of habitats in which | :17:05. | :17:09. | |
it thrives, and the greatest diversity of structure and colour | :17:09. | :17:14. | |
variation. It's the geraniums and here is one of them. This is our | :17:14. | :17:21. | |
British native displaying all the classic characteristics of the | :17:21. | :17:26. | |
family - five petals and protruding sexual parts at the centre of the | :17:26. | :17:31. | |
flower, a rather cut and divided leaf. The common name, crane's bill, | :17:31. | :17:35. | |
comes from the fact that the sexual parts of the flower, once the | :17:35. | :17:40. | |
petals have fallen, you reveal the carpals, distinctive like a bird's | :17:40. | :17:50. | |
:17:50. | :17:50. | ||
beak. A geranium that demands the deep | :17:50. | :17:59. | |
shade of woodland is this one. The so-called morning widow. This is a | :17:59. | :18:05. | |
perfect example. Dark petals swept back, plentiful on the flowering | :18:05. | :18:13. | |
spike. It's got a common name of mourning widows because the pettals | :18:13. | :18:21. | |
resemble the hats worn by the widow. This is Samobor, with dark notling | :18:21. | :18:26. | |
on the foliage, which adds an extra dimension to your designs. | :18:26. | :18:32. | |
If you want a second crop of flowers, as soon as the first crop | :18:32. | :18:36. | |
has gone, cut it down to the ground to encourage fresh leaves and a | :18:36. | :18:43. | |
second bloom. If this is too dark for your shaded woodland area, try | :18:43. | :18:48. | |
the geranium phaeum. It's pure and beautiful. | :18:49. | :18:55. | |
This is geranium palm atum. Its home is madderia in the Canary | :18:55. | :19:02. | |
Islands, where it loves the sun- drenched free-draining soils. It is | :19:02. | :19:06. | |
later flowering and that's why at this time of the year you only see | :19:06. | :19:11. | |
the buds. But when they burst, they are Madgents ta in colour and | :19:11. | :19:17. | |
persist through to the frosts. One of the geraniums that rivals in | :19:17. | :19:23. | |
open sunshine is this. As the species name suggests, it is drived | :19:23. | :19:29. | |
from the foothills of the mountains, where it grows in the most vigorous | :19:29. | :19:32. | |
and opulent grassland. It is that that gives ate rather wonderful | :19:32. | :19:37. | |
habit that is of use to gardeners. If you allow it to drift through a | :19:37. | :19:42. | |
meadow, it prospers, but equally if you blend wit other herbaceous | :19:42. | :19:47. | |
perennials it is a great competitor, forming low mats and creating | :19:47. | :19:51. | |
flowers that pop up through the canopy of its neighbours. This | :19:51. | :19:56. | |
geranium also share as character resist wick all of those in the Jen | :19:56. | :20:00. | |
us understands is promiscuity. They cross readily. If you introduce two | :20:00. | :20:05. | |
species into your garden the poll than will be transferred and as a | :20:05. | :20:09. | |
consequence a new form of the plant could emerge, which means if you | :20:09. | :20:14. | |
elect those seedlings and grow them on, in future years you too could | :20:14. | :20:24. | |
:20:24. | :20:24. | ||
have a Chelsea winner of your own. This afternoon we're looking at how | :20:24. | :20:27. | |
to create the perfect garden by choosing the right plants for your | :20:27. | :20:31. | |
particular circumstances. But Toby, is there ever an environment that | :20:31. | :20:40. | |
is impossible to plant? I've tried to think of one but I know from my | :20:40. | :20:44. | |
own experience my drive, which gets mossy and mud on it attracts the | :20:45. | :20:52. | |
weeds. Even on concrete plants will grow. This is a very, well, a | :20:52. | :20:57. | |
climbing garden, it is tranquil but it represents in demilitarised zone | :20:57. | :21:01. | |
in Korea. This is the first time I've been on this garden. Just | :21:01. | :21:05. | |
looking out you do feel calm and peaceful and then you are reminded | :21:05. | :21:10. | |
by this barbed wire, we have a watch tower behind us. When I first | :21:10. | :21:14. | |
saw the garden I thought it was nature reserve and then you see | :21:14. | :21:19. | |
this tragic humanity, the bullets, the soldiers' coat buttonness to | :21:19. | :21:22. | |
floor. It is very moving. The garden tells a story, that there | :21:22. | :21:28. | |
was a war in Korea, the Korean War 60 years ago, and since that time | :21:28. | :21:33. | |
there's been this no-man's-land colonised by nature. So in a way it | :21:33. | :21:39. | |
is reclaiming it is it? Yes, I think that's the message of the | :21:39. | :21:43. | |
garden - where there is conflict, nature ignores it. The stream runs | :21:43. | :21:49. | |
through the fence, and the plants don't care about man-made | :21:49. | :21:53. | |
distinctions about who owns what. Do plants adapt to different | :21:53. | :21:56. | |
environments? Obviously the soil here, if you have had a whole Army | :21:56. | :22:00. | |
going through, there couldn't have been a lot of goodness around at | :22:01. | :22:04. | |
that time. The plants improve the soil for other plants to grow. | :22:04. | :22:08. | |
That's the trick. If you have a difficult place to plant at home, | :22:08. | :22:11. | |
scatter a few seeds or have weeds growing in it, because it | :22:12. | :22:17. | |
conditions the soil. That's what's happening in this soil. Are these | :22:17. | :22:21. | |
all weeds? For example that orange plant, it is beautiful. Is that a | :22:21. | :22:31. | |
:22:31. | :22:31. | ||
weed? That's a country cousin of GM. They can cope in rocky ground. | :22:31. | :22:36. | |
Ideal for bomb craters I guess. these here? Crane's bills, they | :22:36. | :22:45. | |
have shallow roots. It does have a feeling of peace, of tranquillity. | :22:45. | :22:50. | |
And claiming nature is what's rightfully hers. There is even a | :22:50. | :22:56. | |
pair of nesting blackbirds. shows it doesn't take long. Such an | :22:56. | :22:59. | |
impactful garden. In the quest to find the perfect | :22:59. | :23:02. | |
plant for gardeners up and down the country, every year the Royal | :23:02. | :23:04. | |
Horticultural Society award one new plant at Chelsea the enviable title | :23:04. | :23:13. | |
of Plant of the Year. Here's Toby with some of the worthy contenders. | :23:13. | :23:19. | |
This year there've been some sensational new plants for indoors | :23:19. | :23:26. | |
and out. Starting with this. Dianthus memories is a new take on | :23:26. | :23:32. | |
an old garden favourite. It has upright flowers in profusion and | :23:32. | :23:41. | |
they are exquisitely scented. Digitalis silver cub is a special | :23:41. | :23:51. | |
:23:51. | :23:51. | ||
fox glove. If you sow it in February it flowers earlier. | :23:52. | :23:58. | |
These pet uenias are a break listen through in breeding. They can cope | :23:58. | :24:04. | |
with the cold, minus 5. For the first time there are Petunias for | :24:04. | :24:12. | |
late spring bedding. Royal Navy is deep blue and sweetly scented in | :24:13. | :24:17. | |
spring. If you like your flowers compact and full, this is one for | :24:17. | :24:22. | |
you. The thing about cape daisies is | :24:22. | :24:29. | |
they flower for a long time. This in the pink is no exception. What | :24:29. | :24:39. | |
:24:39. | :24:44. | ||
makes it special is its leaves. Heuchera is a chameleon of a plant. | :24:44. | :24:54. | |
:24:54. | :24:55. | ||
Its Las Vegass turn plum and purple. There's a new house plant on the | :24:55. | :25:02. | |
block. What makes it special are these fabulous leaves, shaped like | :25:02. | :25:10. | |
a dragon's tongue. All are good enough to scoop the | :25:10. | :25:14. | |
top honours but which plant beat all of these? | :25:14. | :25:20. | |
Raymond the worthy winner for 2012 is... It is this fantastic Foxglove | :25:20. | :25:24. | |
Digitalis Illumination Pink. Isn't it a fantastic plant? Beautiful. It | :25:24. | :25:34. | |
:25:34. | :25:35. | ||
has the wow factor straight way. straight away. Absolutely. The | :25:35. | :25:40. | |
judges selected this because of its outstanding uniqueness. Is going to | :25:40. | :25:47. | |
be a worldwide sales hit. It is going to be with us for a very long | :25:47. | :25:52. | |
time. Foxgloves are so popular in our gardens. Why is it our winner? | :25:52. | :25:57. | |
Why it's different, all the foxgloves we currently grow are | :25:57. | :26:02. | |
biennial, they grow one year, they flower the next year and they die. | :26:02. | :26:05. | |
This is a perennial plant, so it will go on for a long time. It is | :26:05. | :26:11. | |
ideal for growing in a pop. Hate so many atry buects ideal for a small | :26:11. | :26:17. | |
or large garden. So I could have this in my garden for four or five | :26:17. | :26:21. | |
years? Longer than that I'm sure. How long will it continue flowering | :26:21. | :26:27. | |
for each year? I have not grown it yet but I'm told it is going to | :26:27. | :26:32. | |
flower for a lot of the summer. If you look at the detail of this, it | :26:32. | :26:37. | |
is fantastic. I need to put my glass on but the detail is | :26:37. | :26:40. | |
fantastic. Foxgloves are known to spread throughout the garden. | :26:40. | :26:44. | |
is sterile so it means that it won't put seedlings all over the | :26:44. | :26:51. | |
garden. You plant this one and it stays and doesn't spread. It is | :26:51. | :26:54. | |
controllable. It is the ultimate accolade to be Plant of the Year | :26:54. | :26:58. | |
2012. How long do the breeders work on a plant in development? This | :26:58. | :27:01. | |
plant was in the planning and thought to be impossible but it has | :27:01. | :27:06. | |
been possible by some very clever breeding work. This would have been | :27:06. | :27:11. | |
thought of four or five years ago, probably more. It is such a | :27:11. | :27:16. | |
prestigious award. Can we get it in the shops now? You can buy it | :27:16. | :27:21. | |
online. It is not in garden centres yet but look out for this lovely | :27:21. | :27:28. | |
winner of Chelsea Plant of the Year 2012. So if we good to the RHS | :27:28. | :27:36. | |
website and follow the link it will give the details? Yes. Thank you. | :27:36. | :27:43. | |
A worthy winner. Time for one e-mail. Kelly Bennett | :27:43. | :27:47. | |
has said yesterday James visited a Japanese garden in the artisan | :27:47. | :27:51. | |
section. It won gold. It is beautiful. It can have on it what | :27:51. | :27:54. | |
can only be described as moss pebbles. Can you tell me what they | :27:54. | :27:59. | |
are and where they can be obtained from? They are pin cush moss. They | :27:59. | :28:03. | |
are a fabulous moss. Designers like them because they are the first to | :28:04. | :28:08. | |
tell when the soil is drying out. The tips start to go white. It is | :28:09. | :28:13. | |
like a cannery down a mine. Where to buy, it is one of those plants | :28:13. | :28:19. | |
you will have to hunt out on the internet to find a specialist | :28:19. | :28:22. | |
supplier. There are you are Kelly. That's your answer. | :28:22. | :28:25. | |
Well, that's all we have time for this lunchtime, but Alan is back on | :28:25. | :28:29. | |
BBC One at 7.30pm, when he'll be looking at the exhibitors who are | :28:29. | :28:32. | |
advocating a Mediterranean style of gardening. | :28:32. | :28:35. |