Episode 8 RHS Chelsea Flower Show

Hello and welcome back to The RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2017, an event

Over the last 24 hours, we've witnessed much excitement

across the show ground, as the culmination of years

of planning and hard work came to fruition,

with the announcement of the Large Show Garden medals.

Well, tonight, that excitement is set to continue, as we focus

on the lifeblood of Chelsea, the plants that make the show

With over 60,000 perfect specimens and 500 exhibitors making up

the gardens and displays this year, we still have plenty more to

discover and explore at the greatest Flower Show on Earth.

We've got the medal results for the Great Pavilion.

And Carol Klein will be talking with first time gold

The ultimate plantsman and all-round horticultural hero

Roy Lancaster joins us, as we celebrate his lifelong

And I'll be meeting fashion icon Kelly Brook, as she reveals how

away from the cameras, her garden at home has

Yesterday, the Chelsea judges awarded medals to the main

Well, now is your chance to have your say, as we launch

this year's BBC RHS People's Choice award.

We will have more details on how to do that later on in the show.

The Great Pavilion is the heart of the RHS Chelsea Flower Show

and, this year, we have a bumper crop of over 100 exhibitors inside.

It's a pretty big tent, covering a massive three acres,

so Carol had her work cut out for her, as she donned her

medals were revealed. the reactions as the Pavilion

It is not all about the gardens. In the Great Pavilion, all the

exhibitors have arrived this morning biting their nails. They have had a

sleepless night waiting to see what the judges have given them. It is

fantastic! Yes, I got my credit three! That is

the star of the show! Have you told her? I told her this morning, very

happy. We are overjoyed! Gold! Three now. There we go. It is a gold. Well

done! Well done! Thank you, thank you very much! What have you got? We

have got a Silver! We have got a Silver! We are over the moon. Oh! I

am so excited, I am so happy. Have you got a Gold? So happy, beyond

happy! What a morning! A hell of a morning.

You did not do too badly. Not too shabby! I think it was a Gold, the

first Chelsea Gold. So you have been before? Yes, it is our third year,

the first year was over, not bad. Second years silver-gilt and this

year, Gold. The pinnacle. We all strive for it. That is the best

display I have ever seen! Thank you very much. Tell me, if it has been

Silver, silver-gilt, Gold, what has the standard got the others did not?

People are drawn to it and they walk past and they smile. A riot of

colour, the fun of the fire. The colours of a funfair and that is

what we wanted to echo. I love that idea of the helter-skelter and these

flowers Tomlin down. It was about that wave coming down. Tell us about

the plants, the colours are really great. Yes, and rich, so you get the

best of both worlds. And because they will flower now, they will

flower all the way until October and November so you get a lot for your

money. As far as keeping them, how many plants could we leave out in

our garden? In the national collection, we have about 30 which

we would class as Hardy for anywhere in the country and we have 80 which

are half hardy. And a couple you need to bring inside with a cup of

cocoa and a blanket over the winter so they range greatly within the

family. Which of these are really hardy. Or anything related to... A

lantern form, by coloured in nature. Anything larger with a very leave,

we need to have protection for them. Your display is one of the most

imaginative I have ever seen at Chelsea! Your plants are perfect and

your Gold medal is richly deserved, well done. Thank you so much.

Congratulations to Leila Jackson, from Wall End Nursery.

With 61 gold medals being awarded, there is a golden glow

But there's still one very important award yet to be revealed -

The Diamond Jubilee Award, given to the very best

This year, it went to Penberth Plants.

This is big, how does it feel? Over the moon, a lot of tears yesterday

and every time we talked about it, I went, I am going to cry again. But I

am not allowed to! Did you have any inkling? None whatsoever. You always

like to have a chance of winning a gold medal. You have to have a 12

point Gold Medal and you cannot drop points and you get put up on your

panel with you on the mantle is so we were the best of that. So this is

perfection in itself? Yes, I like to think we are the best in the world

now. It is tricky because you have a huge range of plants, the succulents

and you have gotten the restios and you have tree fern. Why have you got

such a diverse range? We represent the garden we work from and we grow

all of these there and we specialise in South African plants. Why? We

have similar conditions in Cornwall, at Lands End. Granite bedrock is

acidic, free draining. We have got the air quality and the reflection

from the sea so we can really go for it with South African style. And

plenty of rainfall, it is quite wet with draining. The exhibit is

stunning and you have got three different areas and the visitors

walk through and get up close to the plants, how does that work between

you? We do a mock-up before the show and this year we only did the main

section. Because it was too windy to even do it. It was too windy so you

could only really do it and play it by ear? We had to wing it, really. I

did not want to say that. And because we know the plants and we

propagate everything and we grow it, we know. -- what they will do and

how they react together. It is not easy, we just know what we're doing

with those plants. You certainly do, congratulations, it is absolutely

stunning, nice to meet both. Thank you.

This pavilion houses the best in horticulture

from across the globe, from South Africa to Barbados.

Earlier this year, Frances Tophill visited the tropical island to meet

the Barbados Horticultural Society, as they prepared

At just 21 miles long and 14 miles wide, Barbados is a tiny island.

With the roaring Atlantic to the east and the serene

Caribbean Sea to the west, this tropical climate

is the perfect place for growing beautiful exotic plants.

Every year, a team of passionate growers from the Barbados

Horticultural Society travel thousands of miles to bring

a flavour of this beautiful island to the Chelsea Flower Show.

I'm here in Barbados to meet them, as they prepare

So here in Barbados, you have to source all of the plant material.

Anybody in Barbados that has a particular plant that we want,

go and ask and you get, because we're going to Chelsea.

The theme for this year's display is inspired by the different styles

So we're trying to depict three different types

A chattel house is probably an evolution from a slave hut.

When the slaves were freed, they could build a house

These houses can be taken down and moved to another spot.

The important thing is that the style of the planting

in the garden will be different in each one, which gives a lot

What an interesting sounding project!

And it seems like they have everything more

And now I'm off to meet a local grower who makes a really

important contribution to the Barbados Horticultural

Society's Chelsea display every year.

Professional grower Trevor Hunt grows a centrepiece for the display

And this year, he's hoping to wow the judges with a real eye-catcher

that's never been seen at Chelsea before.

And this is one that's never been because it gets so darn big.

And it's at right angles, so it's very difficult to pack.

But we're going to make a try this year and then

So you can kind of force them into flowering at the right time?

I hope you get what you're aiming for.

Whilst the Barbados Horticultural Society has been in existence

since 1927, they only made their debut at Chelsea in 1984.

I went along to meet Audrey Thomas, who helped organise their first-ever

All we had really was red ginger lilies, so we had to take

as many of them as we could actually get on the aeroplane.

And I imagine that's changed a lot now?

We take heliconias and anthuriums and bromeliads.

You know, all of the tropical flowers and plants.

Audrey's passion for plants at Chelsea is a real family affair

and has rubbed off on her niece Sally, who is now in charge

We start picking approximately a week before Chelsea opens.

Things that will last well, like this Aloe Arborescens.

And then everything has to be packed.

The boxes are all shipped on Wednesday, they arrive in London

And then they come over to Chelsea and they unpack them all,

And then that's it, they get laid out and prepared for the show.

Yes, buckets and buckets and buckets.

How important is it to win a Gold Medal?

I remember one year when we won a silver-gilt, a fella saying to me,

I'm sure you'll do absolutely brilliantly.

Jennifer, you made it! How did it go? Very well, thank you. We got it

all designed and put together and everything fitted. What did you get?

We got a silver-gilt. We wanted the Gold Medal but these things happen

and Blade Babe dust has 18 gold medals in the last 30 years so we

cannot be greedy -- Barbados has. Why did you think you did not get

the Gold Medal? The judges said a little think and we missed it by it

two points. So tantalising! What reasons debate give? If you look at

the paintings, they have paintings who is and they did not like the

hinges. The naming of the plants they wanted Latin names rather than

some Latin and some, names. And the big anthuriums? They did not make

it. We had a drought in Barbados, we had rain a week before we left. That

did not help. But maybe next year we will bring it. I notice there is a

beautiful one. De Niro, a new one. And in terms of the other plants,

many favourites? The judges and me like this behind you. This is the

first time we have brought it and they thought it was stunning. That

is a good point. We do have a lot of volunteers at

home that packs, things came quite well. It's just that the weather

here, or flowers do not like anything less than 30 degrees. We've

all been saying how lovely the weather has been this year.

Congratulations, I think it looks absolutely lovely. People say we

should have got a gold but I'm not going to argue with the judges, I'm

happy with what we've got. Chelsea attracts notable

figures in horticulture from around the world,

but very few are as highly regarded A complete hero of mine. Thank you

for coming. I know this is a very special Chelsea for you because the

RHS has given you a lifetime achievement award and you've won

just about everything else. So congratulations on that. Thank you.

Was it on the new expected? I did not I was totally in shock and had

not prepared anything. But yeah, I'm still trying to get my head around

it. Of course I feel honoured and I'm so grateful to all those

involved in making that decision. You genuinely have spent a lifetime

in horticulture, particularly as a Parkman, how did you begin? I

started at Bolton Parks Department. I was given the chance of working

with two foreman in that park, Moss bank Park in Bolton, who were

genuine plant men. They grabbed me and taught me about plants, told me

the Latin names, and they taught me about where plants come from, how

they came to be in our gardens. When I left school I knew little about

the three Rs but I learned the three Clippy, plants, people and places. A

much better education. Talking about places, you are famous for your

travels. You've been all over the world looking for plants. How did

that start? Because that is a far cry from Bolton Parks Department.

You're right. That's where I started. Like charity, planned

knowledge begins at home. The true value, I feel, of knowledge, it

adheres to plants, comes in the sharing of it. That is how it

starts, people share their knowledge with me, I've been able to pass that

on. To travel the world from my home, my doorstep, my home garden,

and see the gardens of China, Chile... And it still continues.

You're clutching a notebook. I know you've kept notebooks about all your

travels and what you do. Is that from the very beginning or is it

selective? This is the latest in... I must have maybe 200 notebooks

dating back to the 1950s. I can never keep a diary. I never get on

with diaries. But notebooks, in here you can see there are plants,

people, places. Lots of stories about all three. That's what my life

is about. Plans, people and places. You've written a book, did you have

to trawl back through the notebooks? Right at the beginning. It contains

what I feel are some of my best stories and most interesting people,

and plants. A garden makes many friends, as you're well aware of,

all over the world, who are kind and sharing and generous, it's the best

profession you could ever be in. In your professional life you were the

curator of Hillier 's arboretum. We haven't even touched upon that, a

considerable job. All I would say is, there are hundreds of thousands,

probably millions, of Ross, who are eternally grateful for the

inspiration you've given us, the advice, and it has been such a

pleasure working and knowing you. Thank you. Thank you, Monty.

Always a huge inspiration and a thoroughly top bloke.

Yesterday, we revealed the medals awarded to the Large Show Gardens

Tonight, we're launching the 2017 BBC RHS People's

Choice Award, giving you the opportunity to vote

for your favourite Large Show Garden.

Simply go to our website, bbc.co.uk/chelsea, and you will see

all of the eight gardens up for the award and the information

Voting opens at the end of tonight's show, at 9 o'clock.

To help you decide, Rachel de Thame and Toby Buckland will be guiding

you through each of the eight gardens.

Breaking ground, designed by Andrew Wilson and Gavin McWilliam, aims to

show how Wellington College are breaking down barriers to education.

That comes through in the messages from students etched onto the copper

wall, and these large architectural structures, transparent walls that

appear to disintegrate towards the ends. The main landscaping material

is sandstone and it is repeated throughout the garden for

continuity. In the walling at the back and the large Hugh Dennis labs.

It is also used to make these chunky pieces of furniture. The planting

towards the back of the garden represents the heathland that

surrounds Wellington College. There are some silver birch saplings.

Towards the front of the garden, still very much green is the main

colour, but highlights of purple from the delphinium, Salvia...

Tracy Foster's garden is a snapshot of the Yorkshire coastline in full

bloom of summertime. Wild flowers everywhere from foxgloves in the

hedgerows and under trees to white and pink Campion with bloom like

flowers on the banks. Of course, thrift, basking in the Sundown the

beach. It's a garden with authenticity, because every pebble,

every stone, even the rocks in the abbey behind me, have been brought

here by truck from Yorkshire. The water here isn't just a babbling

brook, it's the sea being sucked from the sand as the tide,

represented by the pool at the front of the garden, goes out. There are

even boys bobbing in the water out in the bay.

takes inspiration from green spaces for patients recovering from cancer.

It's an enclosed garden with a hornbeam hedge running round it. The

only way to view is either through the slatted garden gate or up on the

walkway. The core of the garden is a granite cuboid which has been broken

apart. All the other elements are made from the same material. From

the chippings at ground level, the furniture, and the water feature.

It's all softened by planting. So we've got that colour of the bar

salt picked out. -- of the basalt. We've got the bright purples of the

irises, pinks of the geraniums. One of the first things I look for

when I enter any garden is it's feeling or mood.

It's such an important element to a garden,

Each evening this week, multi-gold-winning Chelsea designer

Adam Frost has been exploring the gardens at this year's show

to reveal the innovative design tricks and ideas that can be

You might have me feel full of energy. And that can be manipulated,

you can use that to create the right mood in your garden. Each evening

this week our multi-gold winning Chelsea designer Adam Frost has been

exploring the gardens on show to reveal how design tricks and ideas

can be utilised in your own gardens to get the effect you want. Tonight

Adam is looking at how designers have gone about creating the right

atmosphere. When I'm designing a garden, I

really want them to have atmosphere. What I do to help that process is

use a word. I think of romantic, maybe bold, may be calm, may be hot.

By doing that it really helps me to sort of focus on what I'm trying to

get out of that space I'm designing. To me, this is party. I feel I've

off a plane and arrived in Mexico. I think that's one of the things about

gardens and atmospheres, you can really think about maybe some you

love, somewhere you want to be. And bring that home with you in a

suitcase. I love the way, actually, there is some colour on these walls.

Sometimes we are fearful of colour. Playing with a bit of colour, maybe

only in one space, and really, really bring it alive.

Do you know, for me what is an incredible element in any garden.

You really think about it you can change the mood so much and so

easily. You can have a calm reflective space, then you can add

some drama. You can have water roaring, drown out the outside

sound. Really think about how you want to use it. Is it the sound, is

it a reflective surface? What are you really trying to do when you

create that space? I absolutely love that, just makes

me smile. It might drive other people crackers, just that sounds...

CREAKING.. Reminds me of being a kid with a garden gate, it demonstrates

how much sound can create atmosphere in the garden. It actually sounds

more like my knees. I think that's a fantastic idea,

just a great way of creating a little bit of sort of tension and

mystery. You could do that at home just to divide a space, even a wide

gap, something to pull you through. I think it's a lovely way of adding

to that atmosphere. This is a fantastic little space I found

tucked away. I think it's a really thing to do in a garden, create

somewhere slightly hidden away. With plans, it's got a really mellow

palette to it, we've got firms... They told everything down. It makes

you realise planting really can affect the mood. If you choose one

of those words, whether it's romance, drama, and you use it to

drive your design, you can really end up with that place you really

want to spend some time with. Pick a word, what do you think? How about a

disaster? Your garden isn't that bad! We still have a lot to come

this evening from the Chelsea flower show supported by M Investments.

We immerse ourselves in colour and scent,

as we meet garden designer Sarah Raven in the Radio 2

We look behind the garden gate, as fashion icon Kelly Brook invites

us into her stunning English Country garden and reveals her

And if you have any questions for myself or Joe, send them

We'll be answering them at the end of the programme.

As well as being beautiful to look at, some of the gardens

here at Chelsea also have a story to tell.

When garden designers Jonathan Smith and Adam Woolcott joined forces

to create an Artisan garden for the World Horse Welfare charity,

that story took the form of a little horse named Clippy.

What we're really, really hoping for with this garden is that people

come and see the garden and they will

They will become passionate about the

I'm Adam Woolcott, I've done gardening all my

My grandmother was mad on gardening, my mum was mad on

We both love plants, and we love what we do, but we have

different approaches and I think that complements each other.

We actually said at the last show that we wouldn't

actually do another RHS show, because it is a lot of work, it is

very stressful, but you know what, we just couldn't resist.

When we first got the call from World Horse

Welfare, we went up to their main rescue centre.

It's quite humbling to see the horses there.

In different stages of rehabilitation.

There was a particular horse called Clippy

that really gave us the

inspiration to create the garden at Chelsea flower show.

Clippy was a horse that was found in the most

Actually standing up all the time because the space was so small.

Really, really terribly abandoned horse.

But Clippy was rescued, Clippy was looked after,

And now you just wouldn't believe the difference.

I mean, this horse now is having a wonderful life out

in the paddocks, out in the wild herbs, the wild flowers.

And this is the kind of garden that we are

So what we've done is, we've created a wild

flower garden that has almost like two areas.

There is one area of the garden that is a neglected, dreadful

stable area, planted with plants that are quite harmful to horses.

This year actually growing a lot of our plants, as we normally do,

Here we've got hemlock, which kind of speaks for itself.

It really is incredibly toxic to sort

This is ragwort, one of the most poisonous plants

to horses that most people have heard of.

Part of it is a bit of education, so we can show people,

these are the sorts of plants that are very

harmful for horses, so if

you've got them in your paddocks, get rid of them.

And then we wanted to open up the garden so that the

horse was then led into a more welcoming space.

That side of the garden represents hope.

Dandelions is one plant that's really, really

Some people say it's actually good for their

Look at that fantastic flower, you know, yellow, wonderful

We thought it was important this year to include a sculpture in the

garden, a horse sculpture, because we wanted to show

that the invisible horse that was in the stable has now

We discovered a chap called Tom, and this chap is

absolutely incredibly talented, and can create all sorts of animal

sculptures literally out of nothing but horseshoes, and we thought,

It's good, though, going off to see this sculpture.

I actually, I was kind of thinking we're not

It's going to get a lot of attention at Chelsea, this one,

It is something completely different.

Knockout, just what we were looking for.

Some of the supporters of the charity have donated their

Are there any well-known ones on the sculpture yet?

That's Milford Haven, one of the Queen's

This is actually from one of the Queen's horses.

There's plenty more as well to go on.

All in all, we're just hoping that our passion for this

There is that pressure, added pressure, that it is the best that

we can do, because we don't want to let anybody down,

and we certainly don't want to let the horses down.

The fabulous garden. It looks great. There are a lot of wild flowers and

weeds, at Chelsea, you serious? Yes, we are, wild flowers can be really

stunning and there eyes an irony as well because a lot of weeds you

think will be difficult to get rid of like underlines and docks and

when you try to get rid of them, they possessed and they will not

disappear and when you give them some love and get them to show

standard, they show off. Not as easy to grow as you would imagine. I

thought they would be the easiest in the world. No, they show off. The

horse looks good, it has rusted and it blends in. Yes, the horse has

only just been finished. We really chuffed and it has taken that night

rescue Bale and eventually it will get a dark rusty colour. How many

horseshoes? Between 300 and 400 and some have been donated by the Rhyl

family, Princess Anne and the Queen and the champion Olympic horses. So

it eyes really nice and we are really chuffed with it. It does look

great. But Clippy was down here on Monday. What did he think of this

garden? Clippy over liked it! He started launching around! And we did

say, can we bring the Clippy onto the garden? We said, no, that cannot

happen! Was torture because he has come a long way from Somerset and he

saw these lovely plants and he could not eat one of them. There are some

that horses should not eat? Brag what eyes the classic and we have

deadly nightshade. We have box globe. It eyes ironic because things

like horseradish with horse in the name and horse-chestnut, they are

bad for horses. It eyes great here and it looks stunning and you got a

Gold Medal, I am not surprised, it eyes the most fantastic garden I

have ever visited. Congratulations, great to see you.

Earlier this evening, we launched this year's BBC RHS

People's Choice award, giving you the opportunity to vote

for your favourite design in the Large Show Garden category.

You can vote at the end of the show, but to help you decide,

we're reminding you of each garden across tonight's programme.

Here are Rachel and Toby with the next three.

Walk on the wild side, that sums up the work of Charlotte Harris

perfectly because her garden eyes a representation of the boreal forests

of Northern Canada. This eyes a large wilderness, ravaged by fire in

summer and covered in snow in winter. The fires release nutrients

and caused lush growth and the flames reference in that the work,

the scorched on the bridge and the furniture of the Pavilion. And the

furniture of the Pavilion. Are strewn through the Borders giving

the garden a rugged feel. This eyes more than a forest garden, the patio

eyes big enough to use for a table. This eyes softened around the edges

by wild planting of water, the bees working the blames here. 500 Years

of Covent Garden by Lee Bestall eyes inspired by that famous part of

London and Lee has used the same materials you would find there, the

car. -- the cobbles and the paving stones and the brick wall. These

arches are how the structure looks at Covent Garden. You have got a

hornbeam hedge surrounding it and even each corner, you pick up on the

history of the market with these old Apple trees. And there is also

cornice at the back. The pale colours filtered through the garden.

Whether it is on the foxgloves, and there are also the yew creating

mounds throughout the border. But on the front of the garden, clouds of

grass punctuated by the warm pink of roses and lupins. Based on a Maltese

quarry, James Basson's design is like a labyrinth in the land that

Time forgot. Thanks to changes of level that dominate the scene. It is

a garden that has surprises around every corner from a table for

alfresco dining to this cool pool. There is the wiry yellow spires,

fluffy tops of bunny tail grass. And I have not seen the plant at Chelsea

before, it is called squirting cucumber and it has Kiwi sized fruit

that propel themselves across your garden 30 feet. With this regiment

of stones which are of cuts from the quarry matched with the planting, it

is not a garden that is a match between two people. One likes to

keep things neat and tidy and the other does not.

I'm in the 'BBC Radio 2 Feel Good, Colour Cutting Garden',

one of five gardens here at this year's Chelsea designed to celebrate

And this garden is a real feast for the eyes.

And it is a celebration. The colour is exploding out. But not in a

chaotic way, in the most extraordinary and controlled and

triumphant march of every colour so it is wonderful. Really beautiful. I

love it. Everybody else is loving it and it is a good job you do as well.

Everybody is saying not just looks nice, it is a garden they feel they

could have at home. Could you? It really is and one thing I have

noticed today is the Eucalyptus wood planted and days ago was literally

at the height of the Silver birch frame and all those who are bees and

sunflowers have crowded it well so things are really growing. They

planted on the ground or are they in pots? A lot in pots. It is an

artifice and carefully constructed. But could people do this at home and

is it possible or did you take the idea and a couple of colour

combinations or could you create something as rich as this that is

sustainable? You could, they are annuals, a lot of them are self

seeding and there is a structure of evergreen with eucalyptus and Roses

and perennials and there are bedding areas we change every year so you

can bed out. I have beds like this at home and they will give you a

succession because if you cut them, it is like deadheading, but alive.

You have colour outside and you replenish it by bringing it inside

and that is the difference to most perennials like it PNE. It is the

reverse. But you cannot really do much in the shade, you are limited.

You definitely are limited and there are some things like the Angelica,

we have a shady zone over here. But you are more restricted because

annuals make their food from the sunshine and it is like putting them

on a starvation diet, in the shade. A lot of annuals. One thing is

annuals and some of the most popular ones have flower heads that are

convoluted and very busy and not so good for pollinators. Is it possible

to balance having a lot of wildlife and in and this incredible amount?

Yes, it genuinely is and you need to look at the centre of the flower.

Because Moss is perfect and the poppies blow for the pollen and not

the nectar. And this beautiful single dahlia which is very

elaborate but if you watch, the bees are going and feasting on the centre

of the flower. So they are not contradictory. We are feasting on

the colour, it is lovely, it is a triumph and thank you for bringing

it to Chelsea. Well, it has been really good fun! But! -- good!

The Chelsea Flower Show attracts some of the world's most

International fashion icon and actress Kelly Brook

is a regular visitor to the show and when the cameras stop

rolling, there's only one place she wants to be -

This is the true version of meat and it is not what you see it on the

television. This is the real me really, I guess. You kind of putting

yourself out there and that is why I have kept my passion for gardening

and to one side because that is funny and I never wanted it to be

judged. When I got older, I realised it is important to share those

things because that really who you are. It is basically like a 10-year

labour of love. The gardens were completely overgrown and it was in

disrepair and falling down so for me it was about stripping it back to

its bare bones and getting the landscape right and now I am

starting a two but the plants backend that I love. -- I am

starting to put the plants back in it that I love. My grandfather was a

gardener and he had an amazing vegetable patch up and he was always

out in the garden, so maybe a bit of my passion comes from him. What I

love about Bond planting, I am getting stuck! Everything goes in so

easily! I have put Primula is over there and I hope that is not too

wet. It does not sit in the water, it wants to meet around the outside.

The thing with gardening for me is that I learn as I go along and the

things I do is from experience over the ten years of planting stuff and

it not working and seeing something self seeding and driving somewhere.

This is why you need to have experienced gardeners helping deep

because it can be an expensive hobby because if everything dies, you have

to start over, but that never happens, so you are all right! The

idea behind the garden was that I wanted to create rooms in the garden

and because I am from a theatrical background, I wanted it to have an

experienced. Every area to have a different atmosphere and a different

field. There is formal areas and then at wild areas as well because

that is me, that is who I am and that is what I love.

This is the lime walk. Sitting Reach Sissinghurst has a fabulous lime

walk. After ten years of growing it has reached its potential.

This, I have to say, is the reason that I bought the house, this is a

freshwater spring that comes up right outside my kitchen door. I

planted it with some iris, this daisy I put in last year has done

really well. It evolved a little bit over the years. This year we've been

really lucky and everything has come up really beautifully. So this is

the natural stream that kind of follows an from the freshwater

spring. As you can see it's quite established and starting to come up

now. I've just come back from France where I went to Mono's garden. I was

so overwhelmed and jealous of the colour that was in that garden. I

put in some water lilies and we have a gun that I planted.

I love the ease. They are nice around a pond because they give a

bitter fight. They are really, really pretty for a spring land

around a pond. So, this is my laburnum arch. This was kind of do

we keep it, do we get rid of it? Because it is such a lot of

maintenance. I went to stay at Barnsley house and saw Rosemary

Berry's laburnum arch with the alleys and I came back inspired and

said, we're keeping it. And we'll make the best of it because when it

comes out, in flower, it is yellow. -- we saw the aliums. As one thing

is finishing another thing is flourishing, which I think is really

important in a garden. It's beautiful. At the moment I've only

got one vegetable patch but the idea is if it works what I would do is

build four and have a crop rotation. One salad, one vegetable, maybe one

for cut flowers, maybe a herbal one, I don't know. I need to get some

ideas when I go to Chelsea and see what they recommend. You know how

you use to what your grandpa and your mum in the garden watering the

plants every night. You're like, what are they doing that for? Now

I'm doing that. It's bizarre to me. But it's just so relaxing and

therapeutic, watching something grow and nurturing something, I just

don't think there is anything more satisfying, really. I love it. You

really are our hands-on gardener, aren't you? You get stuck in, get

the wellies on, get in the pond. I thought I was until I came here

today and saw this, now I feel completely amateur, this is

incredible. This is like my dream vegetable patch can I just say? I'm

desperate to grow a vegetable patch for so long now. I realise now I

really do plant everything way too close together. What have you seen?

The Kayal. I have to say my Kayal does look like that at the moment.

Chelsea standard. So I was really happy when I saw that. It's probably

all I've got at Chelsea standard. -- Chelsea standard kale. You want to

grow some herbs, don't you? These flowering chives I love, I love

anything I can eat but also looks pretty. It's not my garden, but eat

away. Have a little chive breath, we both have to have one. Aren't they

nice? Full of flavour. You've had chives. Sprinkle a little salad. I

don't normally do flowers. Chive flowers are beautiful, really nice.

What is this? Nasturtium. 123, go. That's delicious. Little bit

peppery. That's really nice. Suite then the pepper comes through. That

strong. In a good way. They are so beautiful just dotted around a

salad. They look great. They flower all summer. I need to do that, then.

Plenty of sun, good drainage, they will grow away. I definitely need

some of those. Now have you got a Mulberry?

Handbag? Know, a mulberry bush! Or treat! I don't have a mulberry tree

but that is so cute. This won plant of the year. It is a black and white

mulberry crossed together and everyone's after one, frankly.

They've been breeding this for about 30 years. They come in these compact

varieties covered in fruit. This could be great in my vegetable

patch, wouldn't take up too much room. I love it. You know what, I do

like that, then it doesn't spread out too much. That's gorgeous,

that's beautiful, that's perfect. I think this is such a genius idea. I

saw a picture of it so I bought an old palate and a staple gun. The

herb palette was an absolute disaster, it looked awful. You are

trying out making something for nothing. I love the idea it was

something for nothing and it would have a big impact. I've heard you

are prolific on social media. Yeah, I love to tweet my aliums, people

seem to respond to it and love it. I hate to miss this opportunity. Shall

we do a selfie? Right, I'll put that on social media. You've got the

model pose, I just did a grin. We'll see how many likes you get. Had fun

at Chelsea? I'm in my element here, I'm going here completely inspired,

I'll be in the garden all weekend trying to recreate them in I've seen

here. That's one of the dangers. Lovely to meet you, Kelly. Thank

you. Now it's your chance to be

the judge, as we take a look at the last two of the eight

Large Show Gardens you can vote for in the BBC RHS

People's Choice award. The Morgan Stanley garden is

inspired by the geometry found within nature and, by extension, how

nature then inspires musicians. It's very much a garden of three parts.

In the centre, you've got this performance space, with oak and

limestone. And on this side it's a very informal feel, so you've got

trees. Underneath it, the planting of firms. Primulas and other shade

lovers. As you walk through into this part of the garden the

atmosphere becomes much more exuberant.

These clipped you shapes surrounded by the planting of perennials.

Inspiration from this design was taken from the Chinese city of

Chengdu in Szechuan. If you look up the origin of apparent online or in

a book, there is a good chance it comes from Szechuan. Their flora is

not only immense, it also mostly grows happily here in the UK. So

everything from peonies, irises, primulas, two rhododendrons...

They're all Chinese and they are all from Szechuan. Now in this garden

they are arranged in these almost smoky green contrails. I use that

word because all those these colourful triangles are supposed to

represent the mountain ranges of the region, they looked like the tail

fins of claims, cutting through cloud pruned plants.

That's all 8 of the large show gardens you can vote for.

Voting opens online at the end of the programme and closes

But it's not only the gardens out in the show ground

This year more exhibits in the Great Pavilion

are pushing the boundaries to create complete gardens.

Award winning designer Juliet Sargeant went to see them.

Traditionally, the Great Pavilion has been all about showing

individual plants to absolute perfection. But recently there has

been a bit of a move to show us what we can do in our own gardens by

displaying them in more of a garden setting, in absolutely fabulous

combinations. On the alias stand, Sarah Eberle has teamed up with

Caitlin McLaughlin to create a garden inside. When plants are shown

as single specimens it doesn't give you any idea how to plant them, what

to plant them with. And so I really wanted to bring that reality to the

marquee. You really have created this haven. It doesn't feel as if

there's anything else around this garden. I think part of that is

probably the trees you've used. Are there any people could use in a

small garden? The hornbeam we have at the front is a bigotry but for

smaller garden you can cut it, keep it under control. These are in

containers. And the peaches we have. Another way to create a tall hedge,

if you like. We call it a hedge on sticks. Caitlin, any favourite

combinations of plants you suggest people try at home? I'm a big fan of

totally tangerine, we've got it scattered through, got it in

sections, I think it's so cheerful looking, it makes me happy. There is

that wonderful pop of colour. Exactly. In all the years Rosie

Hardy has been exhibiting at Chelsea, she's always embraced the

idea of displaying her plants in the garden combinations. We're growing

things that grow in people's gardens and they want to see how they can

grow them in their gardens. There must be challenges because you are

having to create a design in three dimensions, people can see it from

all the different angles. Quite often I will use quite tall plants

right at the edge. Something like the grass has beautiful, long wavy

grass, but the actual greenery is quite low, so it does bend itself

being on an edge. That's really interesting, you are using what I

would call translucent plants. It is, it's that keeping of using maybe

something bold, then something translucent in front of it that

might be taller than the thing that is bowled behind. Anything new for

us this year? This year we were very lucky, we've got a new salvia called

Crystal blue, mixes well with a lot of grass planting or other perennial

planting, is a really fabulous new plant. Rosie is certainly at the top

of her game. Hashtag ask Monty and Joe, following on from yesterday's

results, Carol from Dorset asks, who are the judges and what are their

qualifications for judging? The judges are a team, they apply, they

don't get paid at any stage. They are trained for two years and in

that process they attend and watch and pass, then they do a year of

provincial shows. Ben Ando only then can they apply to come to Chelsea.

It could be more, could be five. There is a designer, landscape,

plantsman, and they are hugely respected in their field. Often

gold-medal winners. James Alexander Sinclair will join me on Friday and

we will talk and walk through a gold medal winning garden just explaining

how points were awarded. If you have any Chelsea related questions about

judging or otherwise and you would like Joe and I to answer, send them

to us through the hashtag. That's it I'm afraid we're out of time this

evening, but we'll be back here again tomorrow night at 8pm when the

nation's favourite culinary queen Mary Berry takes us on an exclusive

tour of her garden at home. If you can't wait until then James Wong and

Nicki Chapman will be back at 3:45pm tomorrow. Go online now and cast

your vote for one of the eight large show gardens of this year's BBC RHS

People's choice award. The details are on our website. That's it, see

you tomorrow. Goodbye. I have never slept with

a man that I just met.