Episode 15 RHS Chelsea Flower Show

Good evening from the grounds of the Royal Hospital here in London.

We're coming to the end of our coverage of the Royal Horticultural

Society's 2013 Chelsea Flower Show. The event, supported by M&G

Investments, celebrated its 100th year this year. And tonight we're

taking a look back at a week that's combined glorious nostalgia with

contemporary style. Coming up this evening: By Royal Appointment. We

look at the garden designed for a prince with a very special message

in mind. I haven't heard of Lesotho. A 30% of people there have HIV, and

people they need our help. Medal medley. We look back at the big

And going native. Andy Sturgeon looks at the British wild flowers

wowing the crowds in this year's Great Pavilion.

I think it it's the Great Pavilion which is at blown away more than

anything this year. Looking at the flowers in there, the spectacle is

sensational, even for a hardened old gardener like me been an

incredibly hard spring. It's always amazing in there. I was talking to

the growers, and they have had the worst in 25 years, ever since they

have been coming. Some of them are fleecing their exhibits at night

because temperatures are dropping at night. Talking to a herb grower,

she said a lot of these nurseries haven't had a sale to speak of

since last June. A rotten summer last year, a long winter, late

spring. Their livelihoods depend on it. If you have a local nursery,

police support them. The sun will come out in the next few weeks, and

they need your support. But we do need some more of this in the

garden, I think. Over the years, Chelsea has received huge support

from the Royal Family. In the early years, Queen Mary and King George

were regular visitors and Her Majesty, the Queen has attended the

show 48 times since her Coronation. This year, as part of the centenary

celebrations, the Queen's grandson, HRH Prince Harry commissioned the

designer Jinny Blom to create a garden for his charity Sentebale.

The charity supports projects in Lesotho, an African country that

has been devastated by the AIDS virus. Earlier in the week, Jinny

told me why it was so important. Share his Lesotho translated to

Chelsea. Up to the Grand Hyatt here. This is our laser good

interpretation of the pavilion of the round houses in Lesotho.

Beautiful stone. A lot of hard landscaping but when you go to

Lesotho, the contrast between raw rock and mountain and the grass

LANs is very extreme. So I wanted to express that very clearly. It's

a plateau country and this is our platter with a house on top and a

house is very important to me, because that is the symbol of what

is lost if you lose your family. The idea of having a circling arms

of a home of. What the physical evidence of the water lilies.

perimeter is nature, and the outside is the house, the mountains,

which creates their dislocation from the rest of the world and from

Aida which can help it and, in the middle, marooned, a very fragile

piece of technology. Modern laser cutting, everything we have at our

disposal and this is Lesotho mud. My friends' children run around,

children's footprints in the middle, beating down the earth and that's

how it would be done. Lots of publicity from the Prince Harry

about this garden. It cannot make a difference? What do you hope it

will achieve? Would make a difference? I'm really hoping it

does. I had not heard of a Lesotho. Its landlocked, its tiny, 1.8

million people, a 30% of people have HIV, and it can be stopped in

one generation with the right drugs and they are available thanks to

the United Nations. I think if people now know Lesotho, its its

own country, Kingdom, twinned with Wales, we have a long relationship

with it, royal involvement, we can help it, and if this lets people

know it's a beautiful place to visit, walk around, and people need

our help. Raising awareness is so good for that. Well, Jinny won a

Silver Gilt medal and lots of other people, not just Chelsea exhibitors

have been trying to win funding for the campaign for school gardening,

by painting garden gnomes. Elton John, with his glasses, to Lilly

Allen, on the left of Elton John, Rachel over there. You have done

yaws over there. Yes, with my little Arsenal kit and everything.

That has got to go to a proper fan of. I like your one. This chap here.

I made a spade out of cardboard. did you make that yourself? I did.

I got paint absolutely everywhere. Covered in it! I like the colours.

Some of them are still available. This is in New Zealand Maori. He is

doing the hacker. She was doing it yesterday in the Showground and she

emptied a place in minutes. This is the prize specimen for me. Lawrence

Llewellyn Bowen. This has gone now. What a work of art. Don't you think

that's wonderful? The it's wonderful. Thanks to everybody who

contributed. Go to the website if you want to bid for the ones which

are left. On Tuesday, as is customary at Chelsea, it was time

for the RHS to hand out this year's medals. And, again, as usual Nicki

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 56 seconds

I don't want to look at it. You have been at awarded the best

in category. Thank you. Thank you! Thank you. That's a classic and a

reaction there. By silver medal, fantastic. Thank you very much

It was a fifth gold medal for Australian nursery Flemings. And

for owner Wes Fleming and designer Phillip Johnson, the only thing

that could top that was winning Best In Show for the very first

time. Just before I went to chat to them, Nicki arrived with the news

they had been waiting for. Great to see both. We need to see

A can you believe it? No, I really couldn't, Allen. After nine years I

didn't think it would be possible for an Australian garden to be Best

In Show. We are blown away. This is basically your own back garden. You

us, in Victoria. Tell us about the studio of yours. A it's

extraordinary. My mother lives in London 50 years ago. Wrote love-

letters to my father, written at the airport, they got engaged to

that night, so we worked on that and brought all that to life.

everybody is a marking on, the sound of the frogs. I love the

sound of the frogs. One late night in my garden, I had a camera,

recording the frogs. So I could bring them to Chelsea. And we did

that. I told Her Majesty about that story. A mad as a box of frogs. Is

this going to be all last Chelsi? Yes, unfortunately. It's something

I'm going to miss dramatically. What we have achieved, raising our

profile, we have to move on. We have do you is what we have learnt

back home to try to improve things. We are going to miss you so much

because you are abroad, not only at fresh air, but a warmth to the show.

This is the one which is most redolent of the real Australia.

We've had a barbecue areas etc. But, from our point of view, this seems

to be your home and brought her. heard some Australian saying, this

isn't Australia. I had to say, I have to correct you. This area is

where we live. This is a Western Australia wild flower meadow. I

don't know where they live. going to put this back in your

hands. Congratulations. Thanks for giving us nine years of pleasure.

She Shane to see him go. I had a big hug with him. It's the end of

an era. They bring a breath of fresh air every year. 30 years ago,

Alan, was the beginning of an era. Yes, we have some footage of you.

have Alan Titchmarsh with me. Alan, you have designed a garden yourself.

What are the ideas you have? It's a small garden. Most of us have up

tiny plots and this is only 38 ft long, but it works well with a keen

gardener and small children as well. Hopefully, by using this kind of

idea, we might get the children to Those small children have now got

small children of their own. That dates me. You are a pioneer. Ahead

of your time, family Gardens, vegetables, everything. Where

Reilly, 30 years later, everything follows. A you did look a in 1970s

football manager, frankly. I still have got a tie. Never throw away

tie away. Let's not talk about her. It's not my favourite subject.

We're halfway through our look back over Chelsea 2013. They are moving

swiftly on before he hits me. There's plenty more memories still

to come. Breaking the habit. Actress Judy Parfitt, alias Call

The Midwife's Sister Monica Joan, picks up some top Chelsea tips.

Could I grow as standard rose in a pot? Water is the secret. Water,

water, water. Bringing the inside out. Joe takes a look at alfresco

rooms. And right plant, right place. Andy Sturgeon's looks at native

plants for different garden Has to be one of the most familiar

and striking of Alan natives. If you have a shady spot and a garden,

it's an ideal choice. Chelsea has always attracted a wealth of exotic

exhibitors with floral offerings that stretch from the tip of South

Africa to the deserts of Arizona. But that doesn't mean our own

native flowers, which are just as varied and beautiful as their

exotic cousins, have been forgotten. Andy Sturgeon visited the Great

Pavilion earlier this week to look at native plants to suit any garden.

The foxglove has to be one of the most familiar and striking of our

natives. They are woodland flowers and happy amongst the trees so it

the other shady spot in your garden, they are the ideal choice. The

interesting thing about these foxgloves is they have been

selected from nature. They have not been bred, so their colours have

resulted from the choices that the pollinating insects have made. And

all these different colours, there's always going to be a native

There is a shade and then there is deep shade. This is the large leaf

to read nettle. It will put up with the difficult conditions, under

trees, in any soil, it will spread a bit, but the flower is so exotic,

particular one will actually grow in the sunshine and don't be fooled by

appearances because it is not as delicate as it looks. If you can

replicate a limestone cliff with water running through it, it is your

ideal planned! Sometimes the name tells you all you need to know. This

is a common plant found in our damp is a common plant found in our damp

meadows so if you have got some moist soil in your garden and some

sunshine, this is a great little plant. It is subtle and

sophisticated. I love it, it is so good I even used it in my own garden

here last year at Chelsea. The Marsh Marigold also has a name that will

give us some clues as to where it is happy because the first part of its

name means wet or boggy and this plant has to have its feet wet at

all times. If you haven't got room for a pond, it is perfectly happy in

a container. Some plants just aren't that fussy. Aquilegia has never

fallen out of fashion and one of the reasons is it will grow almost

anywhere and suits almost any situation. A herbaceous garden, a

gravel garden, it somehow looks right almost anywhere. This British

native is a prolific self seed so you will probably find it will

choose where it wants to grow for You never know who you will run into

at Chelsea, and earlier in the week I ran into Edward Cates, a man who

has been coming here even longer than me. When did you first come to

Chelsea? 1951.We have got a picture of one of your gardens, in 1952, and

this is an enormous great water worn limestone. Yes, from the Isle of

Purbeck. How long did you have to make it? About two weeks. We used a

lot of crowbars. You got a gold medal. That is correct. It was a lot

of fun. I am 82 now. That bodes well for a generation of gardeners.

activity. Congratulations. I like it that you are taking your gold medal

away again! He didn't trust you with it! BBC One viewers will know her as

Sister Monica Joan in Sunday night's hit drama Call The Midwife. However

actress Judy Parfitt took time out from her religious duties this week

to visit us here at Chelsea. Judy was looking for tips from the

experts for her immaculate courtyard Oh, roses. The scent, my passion.

Michael, hello. Could I grow a standard rose in a pot? How big

would the pot have to be? Yes, as big as possible, something like 18

inches square. Roses like to feed and potting compost that you buy in

a garden centre has food for about six weeks and then nothing. Water,

water, water. James, hello, I am so fascinated by these beautiful shapes

you have here. When I try and do something like that, it gets

scorched on the end. The reason is because you are doing it on a sunny

day and the sunshine is trying out the edge of the leaf. Thank you. One

of the particular reasons I wanted to visit the flower show this year

was I am looking for a piece of sculpture for my garden and

something here might fit the bill. I am totally in love with your horse

and I want it desperately. This piece would take about five days to

put together and another three days of preparation. I have a courtyard

garden, and I will tell everyone you did it, and maybe you will give it

to me. It was worth a try. It is quite wonderful! This is heaven. The

only thing that could make it better is a nice glass of fizz. Cheers!

couldn't get herself that sculpture but she got herself a glass of

bubbly. She was enchanting company. I have always been a fan and it was

lovely not to have my illusions dashed. I met her briefly and she

was adorable. In the late 1960s there was a

metamorphosis in garden design, as the notion of the outdoor room

became a popular concept. The idea of creating an extra room outside

was also reflected at Chelsea, primarily through the work of the

influential designer John Brookes. Today the trend for outdoor living

can still be found in the show gardens as I discovered earlier this

week. The idea of the outdoor room is on the rise, but here in the

seeds of change garden, the gardener has pretty much created an entire

house complete with dining room, kitchen, pantry, outdoor classroom

and playground as well. When I am designing a garden, I always think

about where I am going to put the seating area and work off that. I

like to be generous with space as well, like this one here. You have

got a vantage point across the garden, you don't just feel like you

are stuck on the back of the house. This is a kitchen area complete with

bespoke garden you. You might be able to go to the shop and buy one,

but think about integrating it into the space rather than an

afterthought. He has built into the walls these lovely bits of timber

and drilled holes in them so it doesn't feel like the sterile space.

This garden is absolutely exquisite, and it is tiny. The entire garden is

five metres by seven metres and it has this lovely little tatami room,

which takes its name from the tatami mat I am sitting on. In here you

would meet some important people and make some important decisions while

looking out on the landscape beyond. If, like me, you don't know anyone

important, you can have the whole place to yourself. I could sit here

all day. It is lovely to have some time to

yourself, but we all have to be a bit more outward facing and

communicates with the larger world around us and that is what this

garden communicates, it has a dual personality where everything is

structured and open so the public can see you. Over here, it is a

different story. It is lovely in here. You come down three steps and

you are into a sunken garden, a very secluded and private place. Rather

than overlooking the plants, you feel like they are overlooking you

and that is a good tip, to get plants to eye level so you are

looking through them. The idea of an outdoor room is not particularly

new, but there are many different interpretations of that concept here

at Chelsea. Well that's nearly it for another year. But before we go

there's time to fuse the past with the present - join us as we enjoy

nature at its most perfect from this year's show accompanied by the music

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 56 seconds

that delighted the crowds back in 100 years? More to the point, next

year? I want to see experimentation, adventurous design

is going out there, heading for a gold medal, knowing where they will

head and pleasing their sponsors. I want to see some interesting design

that is pushing the boundaries a bit more. Surprisingly people a bit.

Taking risks. Also, can I make a plea for getting rid of graph paper

and having some curves? Sometimes the most outlandish thing is having

a diagonal rather than a square, but don't get me wrong, these are the

most talented designers on earth, but I agree with you entirely -

let's see something that surprises us a bit. We have got to think

forward 100 years from now and the next bicentenary, what will garden

design be like then? We don't know, but next year, curves, gentlemen.

Make it shapely. It's time to say goodbye to the 2013 RHS Chelsea

Flower Show. We've had a glorious week, as we always do. There's just

time to say join us next year when we'll be doing it all again. Alas,