:00:14. > :00:20.Welcome to the Royal Horticultural Society's flower show in Tatton
:00:20. > :00:24.Park. This is one of my favourite shows. I love the way it has a real
:00:24. > :00:30.identity of its own. It has fabulous flowers and gardens. Also
:00:30. > :00:35.this year there is an element of fantasy too. The fantasy starts
:00:35. > :00:39.right here created in the annual flower bed competition, always a
:00:39. > :00:45.popular attraction here at Tatton Park. As well as the spectacular
:00:45. > :00:48.floral marquee with its late summer colour. This year the show is
:00:49. > :00:53.offering visitors glamour as well as gardens with its first ever
:00:53. > :00:57.ladies' day. We're joined this year by the award-winning garden
:00:57. > :01:01.designer Andy Sturgeon, making his first trip here. He'll be looking
:01:01. > :01:04.at the show gardens. There are 15 this year, more than ever before.
:01:05. > :01:08.There are 82 exhibits in the marquee, so there is masss to see
:01:08. > :01:13.here. Over the next couple of nights on BBC two, we'll be
:01:13. > :01:23.bringing you the very best of the show. So sit back and enjoy the RHS
:01:23. > :01:45.
:01:45. > :01:48.Now, by Sunday night it's reckoned that over 100,000siesitors will
:01:48. > :01:52.have come here and enjoyed the show. My guess is one of the things
:01:52. > :01:56.they'll all have enjoyed more than anything else - because certainly I
:01:56. > :02:01.do - are the intensity of the colours. You have these wonderfully
:02:01. > :02:04.rich russets, oranges, blues and purples that to me epitomise the
:02:04. > :02:08.very best of Tatton Park. But whatever it is on display here, you
:02:08. > :02:12.know that there have been months of creativity, hard work and skill
:02:12. > :02:16.just to get to this point. One of the things that we shall be looking
:02:16. > :02:19.at tonight is where people draw their inspiration from - the
:02:19. > :02:23.landscape. It could be local. It could be Parochial. It could be the
:02:23. > :02:26.other side of the world, but to start off with, Andy Sturgeon and I
:02:26. > :02:36.have been around the show gardens and found ones that particularly
:02:36. > :02:40.
:02:40. > :02:44.caught our eye. So this is the Inside Out garden designed by John
:02:44. > :02:47.Everiss Gold. It's my kind of thing because it's architecture,
:02:47. > :02:51.sculpture and it's all about lifestyle and outdoor. I don't
:02:51. > :02:55.think you like it, do you? I don't dislike it. I don't want to
:02:55. > :02:59.overplay it, but no, I don't feel warm to it. I love the conjunct
:02:59. > :03:04.shun between kitchen and outside. I love seeing a lot of herbs, but
:03:04. > :03:10.it's designed as a sort of show home rather than show garden.
:03:10. > :03:15.thing is the cedar will go silvery grey... You know about show gardens.
:03:15. > :03:19.You know these things exist now. I agree. It could do with a little
:03:19. > :03:23.bit more soul perhaps, but in part of a bigger garden, you could have
:03:24. > :03:27.that. What's great is this idea and the kitchen are one - lots of
:03:27. > :03:37.lovely herbs. It can look stylish, however you interpret it. And be
:03:37. > :03:47.
:03:47. > :03:50.The horrors of knife crime is the unlikely subject for a show garden
:03:50. > :03:57.tackled by prison officer instructor Glenn Jackson. This
:03:57. > :04:01.garden called Save a Life Drop a Knife won a gold medal and Best in
:04:01. > :04:05.Show. The first thing that strikes you especially as you come inside
:04:05. > :04:08.is tackling a very, very complicated, tricky subject. It is.
:04:08. > :04:11.Now, you've got to be honest - you wouldn't want this garden at the
:04:12. > :04:15.back of your own house. That makes it difficult as a show garden
:04:15. > :04:17.because you have to make it attractive to some people. There
:04:18. > :04:21.are great planting combinations and things here, but you have to
:04:21. > :04:24.deliver that message. The atmosphere as the are evoked here -
:04:24. > :04:28.for example this hostile, aggressive environment down at the
:04:28. > :04:34.beginning is perfectly, brilliantly done. It is. Actually, some of the
:04:34. > :04:38.plant connections I think are lovely. They're beautiful. Although
:04:38. > :04:42.this planting is aggressive, it does move into plant accommodations
:04:42. > :04:49.here that people will be drawn to. I think it also shows that you can
:04:49. > :04:59.tackle big subjects in a relatively small show garden, and if you do
:04:59. > :05:02.
:05:02. > :05:08.them well, they will always do well. That's true. This garden called A
:05:08. > :05:14.Stitch In Time Saves Nine really works. I like it. I like the way
:05:14. > :05:17.she's taken the wild flower and this chaotic planting and made it a
:05:17. > :05:21.formal garden. Meadows have to be a certain size to work, and I think
:05:21. > :05:26.this is about as small as you can go. She's really pulled it off. I
:05:26. > :05:30.think the reason it works is you have the structures of these hedges
:05:30. > :05:35.and trues and then it allows for this unruly planting to be
:05:35. > :05:40.successful. She's young too, isn't she? She is. I was part of the
:05:40. > :05:43.panel that judged the young Designer category. I remember many
:05:43. > :05:50.years ago we were excited about this garden. It's great to see it
:05:51. > :05:54.come to fruition. I tell you, when I Dom a show, I am not looking to
:05:54. > :06:04.see familiar performances. I want newness. I want youth. I want
:06:04. > :06:05.
:06:05. > :06:09.optimism, all of which I get from this. Got it all. Over the years I
:06:09. > :06:14.have seen lots of garden like this one that use water in a dramatic,
:06:14. > :06:20.often very beautiful way, but I have never seen water used in the
:06:20. > :06:23.way Dorry Miller uses it in her garden When the Waters Rise because
:06:23. > :06:26.she's effectively created a flood. She's done this to highlight the
:06:26. > :06:30.situation of the millions across the world that are having to
:06:30. > :06:35.respond to rising water levels as a result of climate change. We went
:06:35. > :06:45.around to see her in her Cheshire home as she prepared her garden for
:06:45. > :06:48.
:06:49. > :06:56.The Oxfam garden at Tatton Park is going to show lots of adaptations
:06:56. > :07:01.to flooding. It has a shelter on stilts, portable baskets with
:07:01. > :07:05.plants and a green roof, which will have crops on it. All the plants in
:07:05. > :07:08.the Oxfam garden have been grown in the north-west of England,
:07:08. > :07:12.including this one which is a Bangladeshi gourd. This one
:07:12. > :07:16.particularly likes the conditions here in our conservatory. It goes
:07:16. > :07:20.up seven or eight feet and then along ten feet, which is what it
:07:20. > :07:24.needs to do, and it has been growing like a triffid. It has this
:07:24. > :07:29.huge gourd on it. Our next problem is going to be to get it intact on
:07:29. > :07:34.to the show ground. I'm not quite sure how we're going to do that. It
:07:34. > :07:38.could end up with us walking along the M6 carrying it. It's quite a
:07:38. > :07:41.difficult thing to make sure that all of these edible plants are
:07:41. > :07:45.going to be of sufficient quality for the show. The way we're going
:07:45. > :07:52.about that is to get lots of people across the community to grow as
:07:52. > :07:56.many thing ass possible. So we've got tins with beetroot in our
:07:56. > :08:03.friends have grown. We've grown carrots in wellies. You can see
:08:03. > :08:08.this one is a real recycled wellie, a very old one. These are from a
:08:08. > :08:10.friend who's saved them since her friend was young. He's now 30. I
:08:10. > :08:15.don't think she'd ever imagine they'd come in for a show garden,
:08:15. > :08:18.but here they are. This is the Woodland Skills Centre where all
:08:18. > :08:22.the woodwork is being made for the garden. Helen is making a basket
:08:22. > :08:30.now which is going to be half finished and in the shelter of the
:08:30. > :08:34.garden. We've also got here an empty basket. A basket that's
:08:34. > :08:40.planted up with asparagus peas. We've got about ten in all. I think
:08:40. > :08:45.this should be quite effective in the garden. This is the framework
:08:45. > :08:49.for the shelter on stilts that Alan is making, and it's got to have a
:08:49. > :08:52.green roof on it which Alan designed, so it has to be strong
:08:52. > :08:58.enough to withstand a lot of weight that we might be putting on it.
:08:58. > :09:05.It's got to look rustic but be very sturdy. I think it will set off
:09:05. > :09:10.this before. If you'd have told me a year ago that I'd be sitting here
:09:10. > :09:15.now telling you about this garden, I wouldn't have believed you. I've
:09:15. > :09:25.got my fingers crossed. I think it's going to be great, and with a
:09:25. > :09:32.
:09:32. > :09:37.wing and a prayer, we'll get there. Well, Dori, what a great garden.
:09:37. > :09:40.The idea is this whole plot has been flooded. It's not a pond.
:09:40. > :09:43.Absolutely not. So you have flooded the whole site with water.
:09:43. > :09:48.garden is all about growing in adverse conditions, and climate
:09:48. > :09:52.change means growing in very extreme weather conditions, such as
:09:53. > :09:58.flooding. And growing you have - it's packed full of plants, lots of
:09:58. > :10:03.edibles in the ground and baskets as well. Is that the portability?
:10:03. > :10:06.It is. A group of volunteers made the baskets using willow, which we
:10:07. > :10:11.have in the background of the garden, so we're using what we've
:10:11. > :10:16.got. In Bangladesh, for instance, they'd use what they have. Our
:10:16. > :10:21.rafts are used with polystyrene where they would use bamboo.
:10:21. > :10:27.the gourd made it. You unravelled that from your conservatory. You
:10:27. > :10:30.didn't think you would get it here. I know. It came in our neighbour's
:10:30. > :10:35.horse box. We had all the planting done, but in the last couple of
:10:35. > :10:39.days, there was still a bit to do. At one point I found myself in the
:10:39. > :10:43.pouring rain planting in mud. It was a horrible experience, but
:10:43. > :10:48.where I was doing it for a show garden, people in other parts of
:10:48. > :10:58.the world are doing it for real. It's very interesting. You got a
:10:58. > :11:02.
:11:02. > :11:06.gold medal. The juplgs loved it. Congratulations. Thank you. Tatton
:11:06. > :11:11.is the last really big show of the year, and they say you should save
:11:12. > :11:18.the best until last. One of the things that makes it unusual is
:11:18. > :11:21.that you get lots and lots of northern growers here. In some
:11:21. > :11:30.cases people don't exist any further south. One of the very best
:11:30. > :11:34.is a true northern - this time from Scotland. They're renowned for
:11:34. > :11:42.making these beautiful stands, but the plant we're really interested
:11:42. > :11:47.in is this beautiful Wild Swan. This -- won Plant of the Year at
:11:47. > :11:52.the Chelsea Flower Show. No wonder - it's an absolute delight. Because
:11:52. > :11:56.its parent is probably a spring flowerer and an autumn flowerer it
:11:56. > :12:06.seems to go through the season. If you turn the flower over you can
:12:06. > :12:12.
:12:12. > :12:16.see this gorgeous blue reverse. It Another northern grower from
:12:16. > :12:21.Cumbria - showing a plant that comes into its own at this time of
:12:21. > :12:25.year - the hydrangea. The great majority of these plants are woody.
:12:25. > :12:35.They're shruby plants, but not this one. This is utterly gorgeous, and
:12:35. > :12:40.it's most unusual to see it. It's a cultivar of that plant, and it's a
:12:40. > :12:48.shade lover from China. It loves damp, moist shade. It hangs its
:12:48. > :12:58.head, has these lovely, waxy petals. It's when you turn them up you see
:12:58. > :13:02.
:13:02. > :13:05.the full glory. It really is Once again, Hart Nurseries put on
:13:05. > :13:09.this magnificent display of lilies. They're a very local nursery.
:13:09. > :13:14.They're just 20 minutes down the road, and the great majority of
:13:14. > :13:19.lilies that are grown - 90% of them, in fact, are grown for cut flowers,
:13:19. > :13:24.but one of the problems has always been that they produce such masses
:13:24. > :13:29.of pollen, and if you get it on your clothes, it's just about
:13:29. > :13:35.intolerable, but to get around this, breeders have been working on an
:13:35. > :13:39.idea of producing a Lily that doesn't have any pollen. Fazira is
:13:39. > :13:44.just that, not a trace of pollen on these flowers, but when I stand
:13:44. > :13:52.back and look at it, I am not that keen. It lacks some of the grace
:13:52. > :13:55.and elegance some of the species have. I much prefer this pink
:13:55. > :13:59.favourite, the pinnacle of the stand. It's so elegant. Although
:13:59. > :14:09.all of these lilies are shown as cut flowers, the great thing about
:14:09. > :14:13.
:14:13. > :14:18.it is you can buy the bulbs right Now, this is a very first year
:14:18. > :14:23.exhibiting this flower, and what a totally brilliant job they made of
:14:23. > :14:27.it. Although their plants aren't tardy, they certainly are. They're
:14:27. > :14:37.from Derbyshire, and it's so great to come to Tatton Park and see so
:14:37. > :14:38.
:14:38. > :14:48.many wonderful northern growers The flowerbed gardens stories of
:14:48. > :14:53.pride in bedding plants. We went along to visit the designers Adam
:14:53. > :14:58.Walcot and John Smith as they prepared Frinton-on-Sea's entry
:14:58. > :15:02.into the competition. This is a fantastic resort on the east coast
:15:02. > :15:08.of England. It is a town with history, and a town that people are
:15:08. > :15:13.proud of. Looking around, you can see why. The beaches are immaculate,
:15:13. > :15:19.you could almost be on the Mediterranean shores. By back in
:15:19. > :15:23.the early part of the 20th century, this place was massive. It was
:15:23. > :15:33.where the high society came. It had beach huts and it was really quite
:15:33. > :15:35.
:15:35. > :15:40.something. The flower bed we have created is called taking a dip, and
:15:40. > :15:47.it draws its inspiration from the Victorian era. The centrepiece is a
:15:47. > :15:50.Victorian bathing machine, and we also have rocks, so we have a
:15:50. > :15:54.simple but effective scheme. colours will be quite striking
:15:54. > :15:59.because we are using orange and yellow, and different shades of
:15:59. > :16:03.blue to represent the sea. We have only used a few colours, we have
:16:03. > :16:09.not over-complicated it, so it will be simple but still striking, we
:16:09. > :16:16.hope. David has been at the tour de force behind this garden. Once we
:16:16. > :16:20.mentioned the idea, David contacted a local engineer, showed him the
:16:20. > :16:25.design and immediately they were hooked. They came up with this
:16:25. > :16:29.bathing Booth for taking a dip, and it had to be constructed. Being as
:16:29. > :16:34.we are a community, we look to the community to see how we could get
:16:34. > :16:40.this done, and we designed a beach hut on a frame so it could come to
:16:40. > :16:50.me, and I put the finishing touches on it, which was all the woodwork.
:16:50. > :16:54.
:16:54. > :16:59.It is rather charming actually, It is nice to be here on the beach
:16:59. > :17:04.with the bathing machine with us, and to get some plants here seeing
:17:05. > :17:09.how they work together. This is a selection of what we will be using.
:17:09. > :17:13.The colours are not exactly right, but we are using different shades
:17:13. > :17:18.of lobelia to represent the sea around the edge of the flower bed.
:17:18. > :17:23.We have also got these dwarf marigolds in shades of yellow and
:17:23. > :17:27.gold, and they are representing the sound. Another feature of the
:17:27. > :17:34.garden will be rocks, and we are going to recreate them at Tatton
:17:34. > :17:39.Park using sound, we will plant it up using this black snake grass.
:17:39. > :17:45.The idea is that we mixed these two plants together and it will give
:17:45. > :17:49.the look of rocks that have been colonised by animals and plants. It
:17:49. > :17:56.is a nervous time leading up to the competition but we are hoping we
:17:56. > :18:01.will do well. Now you are here, you have been judged, it is all over,
:18:01. > :18:07.how do you feel about this? We are over the moon. Considering we
:18:07. > :18:12.haven't done this before, normally we build wild and natural gardens,
:18:12. > :18:20.so the discipline has been fun and amazing. We have had a fabulous
:18:20. > :18:27.week and we have really enjoyed it. Do you feel you have brought fun to
:18:27. > :18:30.the show? Definitely. These beach huts were used so we feel we have
:18:31. > :18:36.brought a bit of Flinton up to Tatton Park. Would you do this
:18:36. > :18:40.again? Definitely. The there are 14 of these flower bed displays and
:18:40. > :18:46.they come from as far north as Dumfries and right down to Jersey
:18:46. > :18:56.in the self. Each one is loaded with civic pride. Joe has been out
:18:56. > :19:00.and about visiting them to find out some of the stories behind them.
:19:00. > :19:07.really love the bedding displays here, they are just so much fun and
:19:07. > :19:13.have a different story to tell. We start off in St Helier as in Jersey,
:19:13. > :19:18.and we are celebrating the potato, of course. They produce 40,000 tons
:19:18. > :19:27.of potatoes and have been growing them for-one hundred and 30 years.
:19:27. > :19:37.We have potatoes growing here, and a backdrop of Tennessee to -- of
:19:37. > :19:43.these purple plants. Heading off to Bournemouth, and this is a great
:19:43. > :19:49.garden. It got gold, but also Best In Show in the bedding displays. It
:19:49. > :19:53.is all about the Victorian writers who lived in and around the
:19:53. > :19:58.Bournemouth area. Robert Louis Stevenson was one of the most
:19:58. > :20:04.famous, who wrote Jekyll and Hyde, so we have the silver planting over
:20:04. > :20:09.there and the Red Hot orange colours on this side. This is an
:20:09. > :20:15.open book, and the detail in there is beautiful. Hundreds of plants
:20:15. > :20:21.used, and all of these planting schemes are about detail. This one
:20:21. > :20:29.has a bowling seemed I really like, Partington parish council, and it
:20:29. > :20:33.is called Arthur's Waterloo. This man won the Cup three times, the
:20:33. > :20:39.only person to do it, and we have this lovely picture of the bowling
:20:39. > :20:43.balls going through on a double parsley. Beautiful. This one is
:20:43. > :20:49.about as local as it gets, Cheshire East Council, and it is celebrating
:20:49. > :20:55.the redevelopment of Queens Park. They put �6.5 million in, so well
:20:55. > :21:00.done to them because Parks are really important. This shows the
:21:00. > :21:07.park itself with the clock tower and the fantastic planting. There
:21:07. > :21:14.is one garden that did not get cold, but I still want to show you.
:21:14. > :21:19.Birmingham City Council have come up with this, a car covered in
:21:19. > :21:26.flowers. I have always wanted one of these! These bedding schemes are
:21:26. > :21:36.fantastic this year, a really good fun. Don't you reckon? A spin in
:21:36. > :21:37.
:21:37. > :21:43.the car, maybe? Maybe not. It is 100 years since Frances Hodgson
:21:43. > :21:47.Burnett, classical children's story was published. It tells the story
:21:47. > :21:51.of a little girl who comes to live in an austere Edwardian household.
:21:51. > :21:57.The garden is regimented and manicured, but she constantly
:21:57. > :22:02.wonders what is behind this ivy- clad walls. One day she opens the
:22:02. > :22:07.gate to find out, and inside she finds this secret garden. It is
:22:07. > :22:12.this book that has inspired students to get together and we
:22:12. > :22:17.create this wonderful garden. The students are from Reaseheath
:22:17. > :22:23.College. It tells the story of how the children took it over, and
:22:23. > :22:31.loved it. I really like the attention to detail. There is mast
:22:31. > :22:35.in between the cobblestones, and a path. Perhaps the RHS judges, who
:22:35. > :22:38.awarded this garden a silver medal, didn't approve of the holes in
:22:38. > :22:43.these plants but you can imagine the children sitting there watching
:22:43. > :22:49.these snails munching their way through the great giant leaves.
:22:50. > :22:54.This garden was inspired by this classic book, but in the RHS front
:22:54. > :22:59.to front competition, Cheshire children have been inspired by
:22:59. > :23:09.gardens from all around the world. 26 different locations, in fact.
:23:09. > :23:33.
:23:34. > :23:43.We designed a Russian garden and it won Best in Show, and I am
:23:44. > :23:44.
:23:44. > :23:48.extremely pleased with it. Away from the Showground, but still on
:23:48. > :23:54.the estate, lies a stunning Japanese garden. Built one century
:23:54. > :24:00.ago by the former owners. It is there that I am meeting head
:24:00. > :24:05.gardener to learn more about its ethos and origins. Sam, what is the
:24:06. > :24:11.history of this garden? The history of this garden was that in 1910 we
:24:11. > :24:15.have the Anglo-Japanese exhibition in London when anybody who was
:24:15. > :24:18.anybody went there and saw what they were offering. The gardens
:24:18. > :24:25.were the main feature and people who could afford them just ordered
:24:25. > :24:33.one. So there was a big influx of Japanese gardens? Indeed, across
:24:33. > :24:37.the country. Anybody who knows anything about Japanese gardens
:24:38. > :24:44.knows there are a lot of different styles. What style is this? He it
:24:44. > :24:49.is a collection of styles but it is designed on the tea garden. That
:24:49. > :24:57.was the idea behind be told. there anything of the original
:24:57. > :25:01.garden still here? Yes, some of the lanterns here, the Shinto shrine,
:25:01. > :25:05.and some of the planting. When you are working this and having to
:25:05. > :25:12.maintain it, what is the essence of having to be true to the Japanese
:25:12. > :25:20.style? The essence is that, unlike us, we fill the space. A Japanese
:25:20. > :25:27.garden is only complete when you can't take anything else out.
:25:27. > :25:34.that meant to be Mount Fuji? It is, the sacred mountain. Complete with
:25:34. > :25:39.snow on the top. This seat somehow does not ring true to me. No, this
:25:39. > :25:44.was one of the family's favourite seats, a little concession. I like
:25:44. > :25:50.the way the garden could be modified to suit Western tastes, it
:25:50. > :25:57.was not meant to be pure. No, we do not have a concept for purity, we
:25:57. > :26:02.just modernise them. But if anybody understands the Japanese garden, it
:26:02. > :26:07.is Sam. He has used his knowledge in this show garden, as Andy
:26:07. > :26:11.Sturgeon has been discovering. Sam has done a tremendous job of
:26:11. > :26:17.distilling down that magical garden into this tiny space. I have been a
:26:17. > :26:21.fan of Japanese gardens for years, and the symbolism intrigues me.
:26:21. > :26:25.This bridge represents, in the Japanese gardens when birds used to
:26:25. > :26:30.come down they would fire bows and arrows at them hundreds of years
:26:30. > :26:34.ago for target practice, and there was one particular bird that had a
:26:34. > :26:39.staggered flight pattern. That is represented here in the bridge.
:26:39. > :26:45.Also practical things, things like this lantern. It is very beautiful
:26:46. > :26:50.but it is here just to light this bridge. The stone which rises up
:26:50. > :26:56.out of the pool, that points the way, leading the eye to paradise
:26:56. > :27:06.which is found at the back of the garden. One of the iconic plants in
:27:06. > :27:07.
:27:07. > :27:11.this garden is this tree, and it is literally clipped into the shape of
:27:11. > :27:17.clouds because it is bringing nature down from the sky into the
:27:17. > :27:22.garden. As far as I am concerned, great gardens must have meticulous
:27:22. > :27:27.attention to detail, and this garden tics that box for me.
:27:27. > :27:32.Everything has been thought about, even the spacing on these stepping-
:27:33. > :27:39.stones. A Japanese lady, if she were to walk around the garden, she
:27:39. > :27:46.could not take big strides so the stones are close together. This
:27:46. > :27:53.fence is called a four I friends because it Frame's four views, but
:27:53. > :27:58.the detail I really like is the stone wrapped and tied with black
:27:58. > :28:03.string plaister at the entrance. To Japanese people, that means no
:28:04. > :28:11.entry. Fortunately there are not too many Japanese people round here
:28:11. > :28:15.so not many people will get that. I'm afraid that is all we have got
:28:15. > :28:18.time for tonight, but we will be back here tomorrow night on BBC Two
:28:18. > :28:23.at 8 o'clock, and we will be looking at edible plants and