0:00:02 > 0:00:04Hello and welcome to The A To Z Of TV Gardening,
0:00:04 > 0:00:07where we sift through all your favourite gardening programmes
0:00:07 > 0:00:09and dig up a bumper crop of tips
0:00:09 > 0:00:11from the best experts in the business.
0:00:11 > 0:00:14Flowers, trees, fruit and veg, letter by letter,
0:00:14 > 0:00:17they're all coming up a treat.
0:00:33 > 0:00:37Everything we're looking at today begins with the letter L.
0:00:37 > 0:00:41'Here's what's coming up. Why James Wong loves lavender.'
0:00:41 > 0:00:45Absolutely beautiful. Kind of infinite rows
0:00:45 > 0:00:48of fuzzy purple caterpillars.
0:00:48 > 0:00:51'Toby Buckland on how to look after your leeks.'
0:00:51 > 0:00:57Do take care not to allow any soil to fall down into those leaf axils,
0:00:57 > 0:01:02cos if it falls in there now, believe me, it's not good for your fillings.
0:01:02 > 0:01:05'And learning about lettuces with Alice Fowler.'
0:01:05 > 0:01:09You have to start thinning. And you're aiming to have,
0:01:09 > 0:01:11on this kind of cut and come again system,
0:01:11 > 0:01:15lettuce roughly a centimetre apart.
0:01:15 > 0:01:19That's all to come. But first, we look at one of the true stars
0:01:19 > 0:01:22of the flower kingdom. Gorgeous, elegant
0:01:22 > 0:01:27and with a wonderful fragrance, it's no wonder gardeners find them so irresistible.
0:01:27 > 0:01:29'Our first L is for lilies.'
0:01:47 > 0:01:50I've been growing lilies for approximately ten years
0:01:50 > 0:01:54and I presently have approximately 2,000.
0:01:54 > 0:01:58Ten years. Ten years he's really loved lilies.
0:01:58 > 0:02:01When you grow one, you see how beautiful they are
0:02:01 > 0:02:04and you've got to have more, and that's what he does.
0:02:05 > 0:02:09I have got to the point where I'm really obsessive about lilies.
0:02:09 > 0:02:13Harry in the garden? Well, from about eight o'clock in the morning,
0:02:13 > 0:02:17five o'clock in the afternoon, with about 20 minutes for lunch.
0:02:17 > 0:02:19That's how long.
0:02:19 > 0:02:22Lilies are almost the perfect flower.
0:02:22 > 0:02:26Just what every flower should be. Six petals.
0:02:26 > 0:02:33They just look at you and they really say, "You've got to love me because I'm so beautiful."
0:02:33 > 0:02:37I can do all the hanging baskets, I can do all the boxes on the house
0:02:37 > 0:02:40and I can go and clear up the mess he makes.
0:02:40 > 0:02:44But I'm not allowed to plant.
0:02:44 > 0:02:48There's no question about it, they have a tremendous wow factor.
0:02:49 > 0:02:53Wonderful colours, they grow very, very well,
0:02:53 > 0:02:56quite tall, sturdy, they don't flop about.
0:02:56 > 0:02:59So they're just a wonderful flower to grow.
0:03:00 > 0:03:03- I can touch them, I can smell them. - SHE LAUGHS
0:03:03 > 0:03:07- But that's about as far as it goes. - SHE LAUGHS
0:03:15 > 0:03:17This lily is Conca d'Or.
0:03:17 > 0:03:21It's an oriental trumpet. Very easy to grow.
0:03:21 > 0:03:24Almost any good quality soil.
0:03:24 > 0:03:28My favourite colour for a flower, yellow.
0:03:28 > 0:03:31Looks you straight in the eye when you view it.
0:03:31 > 0:03:35And I'm also attracted by the anthers, the way they bobble about
0:03:35 > 0:03:37when the wind blows.
0:03:37 > 0:03:41He just loves the beauty of them, that they are absolutely perfect.
0:03:41 > 0:03:44And, of course, they have this wonderful perfume, as well, which helps.
0:03:44 > 0:03:48And, I mean, as soon as one comes out, it's, "Come and have a look."
0:03:48 > 0:03:52You can spend all day doing that, running and having a look at another one.
0:03:52 > 0:03:56At the peak of the hemerocallis season,
0:03:56 > 0:04:01I spend in excess of two hours every day dead-heading.
0:04:01 > 0:04:03What I love about them
0:04:03 > 0:04:06is the tremendous range of colour.
0:04:06 > 0:04:09And they are very, very easy plants to grow.
0:04:09 > 0:04:12No particular conditions.
0:04:12 > 0:04:14And they propagate very easily.
0:04:18 > 0:04:21Alstroemeria are quite easy to grow.
0:04:21 > 0:04:24They originated in South America, I think Peru.
0:04:24 > 0:04:27They like free-draining soil,
0:04:27 > 0:04:30flower continuously from late May
0:04:30 > 0:04:32right the way through August, September.
0:04:32 > 0:04:35When they've finished flowering, what you do with Alstroemeria is
0:04:35 > 0:04:38you actually pull the stem completely out of the ground.
0:04:38 > 0:04:41This encourages further shoots from underground
0:04:41 > 0:04:43and you will easily get second flushes.
0:04:45 > 0:04:47If you're very new to growing lilies,
0:04:47 > 0:04:50the one I would highly recommend is yellow star.
0:04:50 > 0:04:54It's easy to grow, looks wonderful,
0:04:54 > 0:04:56everything about it is lovely.
0:04:57 > 0:05:01The other good thing about yellow star, it is very easy to propagate
0:05:01 > 0:05:04from the bulbils which form in the leaf axils.
0:05:04 > 0:05:09And I have had plants in bloom within two years of sowing the bulbils.
0:05:10 > 0:05:15Each year, I find that my appetite for gardening is getting greater and greater.
0:05:16 > 0:05:20I'm trying to pack more plants into smaller places,
0:05:20 > 0:05:24which means eventually, of course, the lawn gets smaller, the beds get bigger.
0:05:24 > 0:05:28I just like a garden full of colour and flowers.
0:05:29 > 0:05:32His garden is his passion. He loves his garden more than me.
0:05:32 > 0:05:34SHE LAUGHS
0:05:41 > 0:05:45'Gardening's definitely a passion, as it requires attention, dedication,
0:05:45 > 0:05:48'knowledge and skill. Let Monty Don demonstrate.'
0:05:48 > 0:05:51I'm making up a mix
0:05:51 > 0:05:54for planting the lilies into pots.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58This compost mix is bark-based compost
0:05:58 > 0:06:01and I've added lots of leaf mould to it.
0:06:02 > 0:06:05They prefer an ericaceous soil or compost.
0:06:05 > 0:06:09That leaf mould will be fine. Neutral is OK.
0:06:09 > 0:06:14And if you don't use peat, which I don't, then leaf mould is a really good substitute.
0:06:14 > 0:06:18And if you haven't got any leaf mould, add some vermiculite to a bark-based compost.
0:06:18 > 0:06:24Right, that's perfect. And the lily I'm going to put in pots is this.
0:06:24 > 0:06:28Isn't that magnificent? This is lilium regale,
0:06:28 > 0:06:30which has huge great white trumpets
0:06:30 > 0:06:32with a sort of bruised interior.
0:06:32 > 0:06:35Now, that's quite expensive. That's about a fiver.
0:06:35 > 0:06:38We want to look after it and make sure that we grow it as well as possible.
0:06:38 > 0:06:41But it will last a long time, so it's a good investment.
0:06:41 > 0:06:44So I've put crocks in the bottom of these pots.
0:06:44 > 0:06:48I'll just put some compost in the bottom.
0:06:48 > 0:06:52And I can't over-emphasise the importance
0:06:52 > 0:06:54of having light, loose compost.
0:06:54 > 0:06:57Lilies are woodland plants
0:06:57 > 0:07:00and they like a cool root run.
0:07:00 > 0:07:03So place these carefully in, not damaging them.
0:07:03 > 0:07:09You can see, quite deep in the pot. And not more than three in a pot that size, I don't think.
0:07:10 > 0:07:13And these will grow through and they'll flower at their best in July.
0:07:14 > 0:07:17One of my favourite summer-flowering bulbs
0:07:17 > 0:07:20are foxtail lilies, or eremurus.
0:07:20 > 0:07:24They don't look like bulbs at all, but like mad spiders or octopus.
0:07:24 > 0:07:29They come from high grassland in the mountainous areas of South Africa
0:07:29 > 0:07:33and what they love is really good drainage and lots of summer sunshine.
0:07:33 > 0:07:38So I'm adding plenty of horticultural grit to my compost mix.
0:07:38 > 0:07:43Doesn't matter what compost you use as long as it's really well drained.
0:07:43 > 0:07:46I've got plenty of crocks in the bottom of a big pot,
0:07:46 > 0:07:50a layer of compost and then carefully spread these roots out.
0:07:50 > 0:07:55Cover it with more grit and then put it somewhere where it can quietly grow
0:07:55 > 0:07:58and then I will place it in bright sunshine
0:07:58 > 0:08:01to get the maximum effect of the flowers.
0:08:03 > 0:08:07Finally, I've got another South African bulb. This is eucomis,
0:08:07 > 0:08:11which has got a spectacular green pineapple-like flower.
0:08:11 > 0:08:14And it's a bit tender. Not quite as tender as we used to think.
0:08:14 > 0:08:18But it won't take a really cold, wet spring spell.
0:08:18 > 0:08:23So I'm going to bring it on in a pot and then plant it out probably in June.
0:08:23 > 0:08:26I'm using a potting mix with plenty of vermiculite in it,
0:08:26 > 0:08:29but if you're going to grow them in pots permanently,
0:08:29 > 0:08:32use the same mix as you have for eremurus.
0:08:33 > 0:08:35'We'll come back to lilies later in the programme,
0:08:35 > 0:08:38'but now we're moving onto a real grower,
0:08:38 > 0:08:42'because our next L is for leylandii,
0:08:42 > 0:08:45'a plant that's been at the root of some serious hedge rage,
0:08:45 > 0:08:47'as John Sargent's been finding out.'
0:08:47 > 0:08:51This is a war story set in peaceful Britain.
0:08:51 > 0:08:54It's a battle over hedges.
0:08:54 > 0:08:56Small hedges are one thing.
0:08:56 > 0:09:01But big hedges, really big hedges, can cause conflict.
0:09:01 > 0:09:05And the bigger the hedge, the bigger the battle.
0:09:05 > 0:09:09'The leylandii are the nuclear weapons of the hedge wars.
0:09:09 > 0:09:12'They were first bred here in 1888
0:09:12 > 0:09:15'at Leighton Hall in North Wales.
0:09:15 > 0:09:18'John Naylor imported rare plants from all over the world.
0:09:18 > 0:09:20'Cross-pollination took place
0:09:20 > 0:09:24'and the very first leylandii were born here.'
0:09:24 > 0:09:28- And that's from the original tree, isn't it?- Yes.
0:09:28 > 0:09:30So how old is it?
0:09:30 > 0:09:33That's roughly 50 to 60 years old.
0:09:33 > 0:09:36Now, tell me how it started, the leylandii, here.
0:09:36 > 0:09:39They were put together by accident
0:09:39 > 0:09:41in gardens such as this in large country houses,
0:09:41 > 0:09:47- and so you had hybridisation, which would never have occurred in the wild.- So what were the trees?
0:09:47 > 0:09:50That's Monterey cypress from mid California
0:09:50 > 0:09:57and then this is Nootka cypress, and that's from south Alaska down to north California.
0:09:57 > 0:10:00But they don't get any nearer than 400 miles in nature.
0:10:00 > 0:10:03They grew so fast with this hybrid vigour
0:10:03 > 0:10:08that they had an obvious potential in terms of timber production.
0:10:08 > 0:10:11- But then the garden centres got in on the act, didn't they?- Well, yes,
0:10:11 > 0:10:15because Mr and Mrs Smith come along to the garden centre and say,
0:10:15 > 0:10:18"We want something that will give us a hedge in two or three years."
0:10:18 > 0:10:23Prior to Leyland cypress, that wasn't possible.
0:10:23 > 0:10:27And hey presto, the monster is born. HE LAUGHS
0:10:27 > 0:10:31'Once they were accidentally invented, they couldn't be stopped.
0:10:31 > 0:10:33'From a blessing to gardeners in need of a quick hedge,
0:10:33 > 0:10:36'they soon became a curse to many.
0:10:36 > 0:10:38'In the 1990s, legal action was taken
0:10:38 > 0:10:43'and the first big case was won by Michael Jones,
0:10:43 > 0:10:45'a retired school teacher living in Selly Oak.'
0:10:45 > 0:10:48- Right, so this is the famous hedge. - This is the famous hedge
0:10:48 > 0:10:51which all the fuss was about.
0:10:51 > 0:10:53Tell me how it started and where it got to.
0:10:53 > 0:10:56When we came into the house, there was a fence and a beech,
0:10:56 > 0:10:59tiny beech saplings.
0:10:59 > 0:11:03And I didn't even notice my neighbour
0:11:03 > 0:11:05had planted these ten leylandii.
0:11:05 > 0:11:10- OK, so they started like that. - Ooh, down here.
0:11:10 > 0:11:13Right, they started like that. How many years was it before they were right up there?
0:11:13 > 0:11:16That would be about nine years.
0:11:16 > 0:11:20- And it's now about ten feet. - Ten feet, yes.
0:11:20 > 0:11:24And it was, at the time of the action,
0:11:24 > 0:11:27up to 40 feet.
0:11:27 > 0:11:31'The long, drawn-out legal battle cost tens of thousands of pounds.
0:11:31 > 0:11:35'But Michael triumphed and won the right to cut his neighbour's hedge.
0:11:35 > 0:11:37'He turned campaigner, creating Hedgeline,
0:11:37 > 0:11:40'a support group for thousands of victims of hedge wars.
0:11:40 > 0:11:45'Eventually, the government introduced a law to control high hedges.'
0:11:45 > 0:11:49It must've been an amazing, long, drawn-out row, this.
0:11:49 > 0:11:53Yes, it dominated our family for years,
0:11:53 > 0:11:56you know, 20 years,
0:11:56 > 0:12:00and the memory of it still rocks us when we think about it.
0:12:00 > 0:12:02The trees themselves dominated our lives.
0:12:02 > 0:12:08We tried so hard to come to some compromise.
0:12:08 > 0:12:12When I cut the hedge, he took me to court.
0:12:12 > 0:12:15- So we all have the right to complain. - Yes.
0:12:15 > 0:12:18But it still can be quite a business, can't it?
0:12:18 > 0:12:22The position is now that if you suffer from nuisance,
0:12:22 > 0:12:24you can complain to the council.
0:12:24 > 0:12:29It's that right that gives the impetus
0:12:29 > 0:12:32for the neighbour to take the trees down.
0:12:33 > 0:12:36The most significant hedge battle of our time
0:12:36 > 0:12:39was fought here and won.
0:12:39 > 0:12:43But the battle with the leylandii is never completely over.
0:12:43 > 0:12:48Unless you cut it back, it'll grow and grow and grow.
0:12:49 > 0:12:52Thanks, John. Still to come,
0:12:52 > 0:12:55lavender, lilacs and some home-grown leeks.
0:12:55 > 0:12:59But now let's join Alice Fowler for some salad green tips.
0:12:59 > 0:13:01We're at L for lettuces.
0:13:01 > 0:13:04'And let's see how Alice grows them.'
0:13:04 > 0:13:08'Lettuces are crucial in my beautiful edible garden.
0:13:08 > 0:13:12'I'm starting to sow them in wine boxes salvaged from an off-licence
0:13:12 > 0:13:14'and filled with compost from the garden centre.
0:13:14 > 0:13:19'For my patio, I've chosen to sow cut and come again salad leaves.
0:13:19 > 0:13:22'You don't pull them up, roots and all, like big lettuces.
0:13:22 > 0:13:26'You simply trim off the leaves, which then regrow for another couple of servings.'
0:13:26 > 0:13:29Now, you never want to sow out of the packet
0:13:29 > 0:13:32cos you have very little control if you do it that way
0:13:32 > 0:13:35and you'll sow the best part of the packet in one go.
0:13:35 > 0:13:37So you take out a small amount.
0:13:37 > 0:13:41And I'm just scattering it across the top of the wine box.
0:13:41 > 0:13:47But you just need to slightly tease the seed into the soil.
0:13:47 > 0:13:52And then firm it down just so the seed's in contact with the soil.
0:13:57 > 0:14:00'And the trick to watering tiny seeds
0:14:00 > 0:14:02'is to give them a long but gentle soaking,
0:14:02 > 0:14:05'because anything heavier than a sprinkle will wash them away.
0:14:12 > 0:14:16'I've also been growing lettuce seedlings in trays of compost
0:14:16 > 0:14:18'on my window ledges since February.
0:14:18 > 0:14:22'With the arrival of milder weather, those seedlings move to the patio
0:14:22 > 0:14:25'for a week or so to adjust to an outdoor life.
0:14:25 > 0:14:28'And mid April means they're now big enough to handle
0:14:28 > 0:14:31'and so fine for planting into the borders.'
0:14:31 > 0:14:35This soil it just so soft from all the spring rain as it heats up.
0:14:35 > 0:14:38Come summer, this will be as hard as a piece of china,
0:14:38 > 0:14:44but right now, it's so soft and crumbly and ready to give life.
0:14:44 > 0:14:47I've got two very beautiful lettuce.
0:14:47 > 0:14:51They're both oak leaf type of lettuce. This one's called emerald green
0:14:51 > 0:14:55and it's a very big, beautiful, really vivid green
0:14:55 > 0:14:58and then the centre's kind of acid green.
0:14:58 > 0:15:00The other one is flashy butter oak,
0:15:00 > 0:15:04which is a very pretty marbled burgundy lettuce.
0:15:04 > 0:15:08They're good enough in their own right just to be there.
0:15:08 > 0:15:12That you then get to put them on your plate is genius, really.
0:15:14 > 0:15:18'And I'll keep sowing and planting out continually over the next six months
0:15:18 > 0:15:22'to guarantee that I have home-grown salad right into the winter.
0:15:25 > 0:15:28'Three weeks after sowing, there are baby leaves sprouting.
0:15:28 > 0:15:33'However, they are growing too close together, threatening to strangle each other.'
0:15:34 > 0:15:38So you have to start thinning. And you're aiming to have,
0:15:38 > 0:15:40on this kind of cut and come again system,
0:15:40 > 0:15:43lettuce roughly a centimetre apart.
0:15:43 > 0:15:48Now, you don't want to waste any of these. You could chop off the roots,
0:15:48 > 0:15:50have them for tea,
0:15:50 > 0:15:55or allow these to become bigger, maturer lettuce
0:15:55 > 0:16:00to grow somewhere else. There's no need to ever waste your thinnings.
0:16:01 > 0:16:06And I'm just putting my finger underneath the plant
0:16:06 > 0:16:09and then easing it up.
0:16:12 > 0:16:16And again. They don't want to come.
0:16:17 > 0:16:20'And we stay with greens but move from salads to veg.
0:16:20 > 0:16:23'Our next L is for leeks
0:16:23 > 0:16:26'and Toby Buckland is showing us one of the best ways of planting them.'
0:16:28 > 0:16:32As you harvest your summer crops and dig them from the ground,
0:16:32 > 0:16:35that leaves space for vegetables that will come into fruition
0:16:35 > 0:16:38during the winter. And one of the best are leeks.
0:16:38 > 0:16:43Now, you'll read in books that leeks are members of the onion family,
0:16:43 > 0:16:47but unlike their bulbous cousins, they don't need so much attention.
0:16:47 > 0:16:49However, if you give them a bit of TLC,
0:16:49 > 0:16:51it does make all the difference to how well they grow
0:16:51 > 0:16:55and how disease-free the foliage stays.
0:16:55 > 0:16:59So I've got a good bucket of garden compost
0:16:59 > 0:17:01onto the soil there,
0:17:01 > 0:17:07plus... some chicken manure pellets at half strength.
0:17:07 > 0:17:12Now, it's getting late in the year to be using a high-nitrogen feed like this,
0:17:12 > 0:17:15but because this is new ground
0:17:15 > 0:17:18and I only dug these beds over back in the spring,
0:17:18 > 0:17:23this'll do my leeks the world of good, give them a boost right towards the end of the growing season.
0:17:23 > 0:17:25A quick fork in.
0:17:26 > 0:17:30Just to open up the ground. But not too deep.
0:17:30 > 0:17:33And you'll see why in a minute.
0:17:33 > 0:17:37Now, there's a time-honoured way to plant leeks.
0:17:38 > 0:17:41You don't use a trowel, you don't use a spade.
0:17:41 > 0:17:45The tool for the job... is a dibber,
0:17:45 > 0:17:50made from an old handle from a fork or a spade that's broken,
0:17:50 > 0:17:52it's been sharpened to have an end on it.
0:17:52 > 0:17:57All you do is use the dibber to make holes down into your prepared ground.
0:17:57 > 0:18:02Six inches deep. 15cm between your holes
0:18:02 > 0:18:08and 30cm, one foot, between the rows is just about right for average-size leeks.
0:18:08 > 0:18:11And more importantly, enough of a gap between the holes
0:18:11 > 0:18:15so the soil doesn't keep falling back into the ones you've made.
0:18:16 > 0:18:21Now, the reason leeks are planted this way
0:18:21 > 0:18:24is that they have very delicate roots.
0:18:24 > 0:18:28What I do is try and keep as much of that root in place as possible
0:18:28 > 0:18:34by twisting the plant as a drop it down into its planting hole.
0:18:34 > 0:18:40And that ensures that the roots are all below the little swollen base.
0:18:40 > 0:18:44In she goes. Lovely.
0:18:44 > 0:18:47Now, I'm dropping them right to the base of the hole.
0:18:47 > 0:18:53The reason for doing this is that if leeks are left just growing in rows that they're sown in,
0:18:53 > 0:18:56they don't get very white bases to them.
0:18:56 > 0:19:00And it's that lovely white, blanched base of the stem
0:19:00 > 0:19:04that tastes so succulent and sweet during the winter.
0:19:04 > 0:19:09There is nothing like a boiled bit of leek
0:19:09 > 0:19:11cut in half, allowed to cool
0:19:11 > 0:19:13and covered with cheese
0:19:13 > 0:19:16and cooked under the grill.
0:19:16 > 0:19:19It's probably the best way there is of keeping the cold off.
0:19:21 > 0:19:27Now, the final thing is a quick watering in.
0:19:27 > 0:19:30The art of this
0:19:30 > 0:19:34is to water just into the hole
0:19:34 > 0:19:38and then as the water drains away,
0:19:38 > 0:19:41it just drags down a bit of earth over those roots
0:19:41 > 0:19:44that have been carefully twisted into the bottom.
0:19:44 > 0:19:48Don't fill over the holes, cos that might be too much for the buried stem to cope with.
0:19:48 > 0:19:52Just leave the rain and the elements to fill the holes for you.
0:19:52 > 0:19:56And one word of warning - do take care not to allow any soil
0:19:56 > 0:19:59to fall down into those leaf axils.
0:19:59 > 0:20:03Cos if it falls in there now, believe me,
0:20:03 > 0:20:07it will still be there when you're crunching on your grilled sliced leek
0:20:07 > 0:20:11with the cheese on. And believe me, it's not good for your fillings.
0:20:12 > 0:20:14Lovely.
0:20:16 > 0:20:20Thanks, Toby. Now a plant that loves the heat
0:20:20 > 0:20:23but adapts very well to the British weather,
0:20:23 > 0:20:28a scent to die for, lovely indigo colour. L is for lavender.
0:20:28 > 0:20:31'Let's join James Wong to learn a little more.'
0:20:38 > 0:20:41Lavender. What does it make you think of?
0:20:41 > 0:20:44'Perhaps the beautiful colour.
0:20:45 > 0:20:48'Or maybe the unmistakeable smell.
0:20:51 > 0:20:55'But there's a lot more to this iconic plant than meets the eye.'
0:20:59 > 0:21:02The essential oil found in these little fellows
0:21:02 > 0:21:05has been used in all sorts of lotions and potions.
0:21:05 > 0:21:08In fact, archaeologists have even found lavender
0:21:08 > 0:21:10in the kit bags of Roman soldiers
0:21:10 > 0:21:13as part of a very early first-aid kit.
0:21:13 > 0:21:17'These days, it's increasingly used for aromatherapy oils
0:21:17 > 0:21:20'as well as shampoos and even decoration for cakes.
0:21:22 > 0:21:24'Peter Morton is the site manager here
0:21:24 > 0:21:26'at the biggest lavender farm in the UK,
0:21:26 > 0:21:29'which has been here since 1932.'
0:21:29 > 0:21:33Peter, this is absolutely beautiful.
0:21:33 > 0:21:38Kind of infinite rows of fuzzy purple caterpillars.
0:21:38 > 0:21:40It is a bit like that. It's such a spectacular sight,
0:21:40 > 0:21:43I don't think you ever cease to be amazed by it.
0:21:43 > 0:21:46Every time you drive into the field in the morning, you just go, "Wow".
0:21:46 > 0:21:49- How do you go about harvesting these guys?- In the olden days,
0:21:49 > 0:21:52you had crowds of people out here harvesting it by hand.
0:21:52 > 0:21:56- I'll show you one of my weapons of torture that I've got here.- Wow.
0:21:56 > 0:21:59- That's back-breaking. How do you do it? - You're trying to do a nice stroke,
0:21:59 > 0:22:02trying to get a good handful in your fingers to start with,
0:22:02 > 0:22:05and then it's an even stroke towards you.
0:22:05 > 0:22:07A lot of people just pussyfoot around dead-heading.
0:22:07 > 0:22:10- They might just take off the stem like that.- Yep.
0:22:10 > 0:22:15That's not what a lavender needs. You have to get really right into the foliage
0:22:15 > 0:22:17- to keep it nice and bushy for next year.- Right.
0:22:17 > 0:22:21Which is part of the problem, really, with the lavenders in people's gardens.
0:22:21 > 0:22:25They look stunning for so long and then people get disappointed cos it's gone straggly and spread out.
0:22:25 > 0:22:28So I take it this isn't all done by hand now.
0:22:28 > 0:22:31We've brought out a new harvester which mechanises it almost completely
0:22:31 > 0:22:34to a degree where we've got three people in the field.
0:22:35 > 0:22:38'Now it's time to move on to something slightly bigger,
0:22:38 > 0:22:43'about 75 grand's worth of state-of-the-art, custom-made kit.'
0:22:43 > 0:22:45- Does this mean I get to ride in one of these?- You do!
0:22:45 > 0:22:48- It's a wonderful big toy we have here.- Yeah, talk about boys' toys.
0:22:48 > 0:22:50I've wanted to do this since I was five years old.
0:22:50 > 0:22:55Now, I've never driven anything other than a golf buggy,
0:22:55 > 0:22:57- and that was once. - I think you should be OK.
0:22:57 > 0:23:00I'm maybe slightly more nervous than I was here now, but no, we should be OK.
0:23:00 > 0:23:05'So, with a quick lesson on the controls, we're off and running.'
0:23:05 > 0:23:08- And that's it. And your steering wheel.- OK!
0:23:10 > 0:23:12ENGINE REVS
0:23:12 > 0:23:16- OK?- So what's the difference between this and a regular combine harvester?
0:23:16 > 0:23:19The main difference really is the crop that we're actually cutting.
0:23:19 > 0:23:23Lavenders, because they have flowers going all the way around the side of the plant,
0:23:23 > 0:23:27we have to come up with some device that cuts the side of the plant, as well.
0:23:27 > 0:23:31Of course. It's like a fan shape. It's a bit like a lavender Mohican,
0:23:31 > 0:23:34- it pulls it all up.- You're getting the right thing on there.
0:23:34 > 0:23:37We're going back to our 80s with our flat tops. JAMES LAUGHS
0:23:37 > 0:23:40But we're getting short back and sides at the same time.
0:23:40 > 0:23:43We do leave some flowers behind. If you looks behind, you'll see a few flowers.
0:23:43 > 0:23:46- A little bit left on there. - I'm not bothered about that,
0:23:46 > 0:23:48because you've seen all the bees that we've got the field,
0:23:48 > 0:23:51if we managed to cut every single flower head,
0:23:51 > 0:23:56we'd just suddenly take away the source of food for the bees and the wildlife within our crop.
0:24:03 > 0:24:08- That's a nice load we've got there, James.- I've never seen so much lavender in one big space.
0:24:08 > 0:24:13It seems very harsh when you think of actually cutting this for cut flowers in floristry.
0:24:13 > 0:24:16- Yeah.- And see how harsh and cruel we are to this stuff,
0:24:16 > 0:24:20- you know, hurling it around.- How much oil would you get out of this?
0:24:20 > 0:24:23- You wouldn't get much out of this. - You wouldn't get much out of this? - No.
0:24:23 > 0:24:28- A truck full?- We might get about half a pint or a pint out of this, that's all.
0:24:29 > 0:24:32'The farm harvests 400 kilos of oil a year.
0:24:32 > 0:24:35'We're taking this load back to the distillery
0:24:35 > 0:24:37'as Peter is testing for quality.
0:24:37 > 0:24:42'This has to be done pretty quickly, however, otherwise all the vital essential oil is lost.'
0:24:43 > 0:24:47So how do you go from this to a bottle of essential oil
0:24:47 > 0:24:50that you pick up in the shops? Well, I'm going to find out
0:24:50 > 0:24:54and I hear there's some pretty cool bits of kit involved.
0:24:54 > 0:24:56'Now, time for a quick science lesson.'
0:24:56 > 0:24:59To me, this looks like a big boiler that you'd get in a kitchen.
0:24:59 > 0:25:01Very, very similar to kitchen technology.
0:25:01 > 0:25:05In the centre here, we've got a boiler, almost like a giant kettle,
0:25:05 > 0:25:08that's producing steam for us to try to get the oil out of the flower heads.
0:25:08 > 0:25:12And it surges steam out of the back pipe, down there behind us,
0:25:12 > 0:25:16comes in through the bottom, surges up through the flower heads
0:25:16 > 0:25:18and what it's doing really, as it comes through,
0:25:18 > 0:25:23it's bringing the oil, which is in the flower head, out of the liquid and making an oil vapour.
0:25:23 > 0:25:27And coming out of the top, we actually come into our condenser.
0:25:27 > 0:25:31If you feel this, it's nice and cool. A lot cooler than everything else around us.
0:25:31 > 0:25:35- So all of that hot gas basically gets turned back into a liquid? - That's it.
0:25:35 > 0:25:38By the time we get down to the end here, we've got the separator at the bottom.
0:25:38 > 0:25:43The oil comes into the separator and one of the beauties about all oil
0:25:43 > 0:25:45is oil floats on water.
0:25:45 > 0:25:48- Whoa!- That's it.- OK.
0:25:50 > 0:25:52- Yep.- There we go.
0:25:52 > 0:25:56- It's a good old heavy lid on that. - I was about to say, it's like a manhole.
0:25:56 > 0:25:59It's on a whole different scale.
0:26:00 > 0:26:03- How long does this take to cook away? - It's just like a big old kettle.
0:26:03 > 0:26:07We wait and it doesn't seem like it's doing anything for the first 15 or 20 minutes,
0:26:07 > 0:26:10just building up the temperature, before we get steam.
0:26:12 > 0:26:17'And while the kettle is boiling, I've got time to find out more about this plant and its uses.
0:26:17 > 0:26:21'Dr Tim Upson has been all over the world researching lavender
0:26:21 > 0:26:23'and its curious qualities.'
0:26:25 > 0:26:31- And as if by magic, you've got a whole botanic garden collection. - Absolutely.- Look at that!
0:26:31 > 0:26:34- That doesn't look anything like a lavender.- It doesn't at all,
0:26:34 > 0:26:37but I love this one. It's only found on the Canary Islands.
0:26:37 > 0:26:40And is this used by people there?
0:26:40 > 0:26:43Yeah, they use it in a tea to treat stomach problems.
0:26:43 > 0:26:46This one comes from a lot further away, from Somalia.
0:26:46 > 0:26:49- And is this used by people there? - Absolutely.
0:26:49 > 0:26:53A lot of the local people use them for gastric problems.
0:26:53 > 0:26:58That's interesting. Different species of lavender used all over the world for similar conditions.
0:26:58 > 0:27:03So this isn't just mumbo-jumbo. There's actually genuine scientific plausibility
0:27:03 > 0:27:05- behind how some of these things work.- Absolutely.
0:27:05 > 0:27:07It's taking a lot of the folklore ideas,
0:27:07 > 0:27:10and some of them have very much been shown in practice
0:27:10 > 0:27:15from the First World War, when they used lavender oil to treat wounds,
0:27:15 > 0:27:19to actually now realising that again they can be very effective
0:27:19 > 0:27:24against particularly skin wounds where a lot of normal medicines just aren't effective.
0:27:24 > 0:27:27'Back at the distillery, the kettle has boiled
0:27:27 > 0:27:30'and it's time to separate the oil from the water.'
0:27:30 > 0:27:34If I bring this up a little bit, you should hopefully start to see the water. There we go.
0:27:34 > 0:27:37- Oh, look at that!- That's the water at the bottom with the oil on top.
0:27:37 > 0:27:41- So we're tapping it into there now. - When it goes into that little pipe,
0:27:41 > 0:27:44you're basically just skimming it off like you would skim milk?
0:27:44 > 0:27:48Yes. So if we turn that up, did I get some? Yeah.
0:27:48 > 0:27:51- Look at that!- And we're talking thimble-fulls there, really.
0:27:51 > 0:27:57'Now it's my turn. Coordination and a steady hand needed here, James.'
0:27:57 > 0:28:00- Push. Push the lever away from you. - Away from me?
0:28:00 > 0:28:04Yeah. Bring it up towards the silver pot.
0:28:04 > 0:28:07And gently, gently now. Raising it up just so it goes up to the top.
0:28:07 > 0:28:11- Yay! Look at that!- Just the oil, not the water, so drop it. That's it.
0:28:11 > 0:28:16- This is actually looking a lot clearer now.- Yeah.- This is really the way that the oil should be looking.
0:28:16 > 0:28:19- So it's all in here, I've just got to release it?- Yep, hopefully.
0:28:19 > 0:28:22- OK.- Let's see if you managed to catch it.- Let's have a look at that.
0:28:22 > 0:28:25- Is it? Yeah, you did. Look at that. - Gosh.
0:28:25 > 0:28:29- And that's your pure...- That's amazing. And that's the flowers we picked not more than an hour ago.
0:28:29 > 0:28:32That's it. Straight from the field into the distillery.
0:28:32 > 0:28:34I think I've found a hidden talent.
0:28:34 > 0:28:38- You can always come out here for the weekend.- A lavender alchemist!
0:28:38 > 0:28:44'And this essential oil could end up in medicine, soap or perfume. Who knows?'
0:28:44 > 0:28:47You know, lavender might be beautiful, it might be traditional,
0:28:47 > 0:28:51but it's when you look at its uses that you suddenly realise
0:28:51 > 0:28:55that it's only just beginning to show us what it can really do.
0:29:01 > 0:29:07'Thanks, James. And we're back with Monty Don again with advice on growing lavender in pots.'
0:29:07 > 0:29:11Now, lavender actually is a true Mediterranean plant
0:29:11 > 0:29:15which comes from right round the Mediterranean area.
0:29:15 > 0:29:18This is Munstead and this is a particularly nice example.
0:29:18 > 0:29:22Now, lavender likes really good drainage.
0:29:22 > 0:29:26Bright sunshine, poor soil, and it's happy as Larry.
0:29:26 > 0:29:31Now, I've made a separate potting mix for the lavender
0:29:31 > 0:29:34because I've added extra grit
0:29:34 > 0:29:37and no garden compost.
0:29:37 > 0:29:40So it's poorer and much better drainage.
0:29:40 > 0:29:43And it is important with lavender especially
0:29:43 > 0:29:47to use a peat-free compost, because they like alkalinity.
0:29:55 > 0:29:59I want to leave some room for water, because although they need really good drainage,
0:29:59 > 0:30:02you can actually kill a lavender with drought.
0:30:02 > 0:30:06So good drainage but regular watering.
0:30:09 > 0:30:13Now, I've got pinnata here.
0:30:13 > 0:30:18And you can see, the reason why it's called pinnata is the leaf shape is pinnate.
0:30:18 > 0:30:21This comes from the Canary Islands and Madeira.
0:30:21 > 0:30:26Very beautiful. And it's got this slightly grey, milky texture
0:30:26 > 0:30:28and these long stems.
0:30:38 > 0:30:40Right, that's pinnata.
0:30:40 > 0:30:45And there's a third lavender and this is stoechas.
0:30:45 > 0:30:50Lavandula stoechas. And, in fact, this is a variety called Regal Splendour.
0:30:50 > 0:30:54And the thing about stoechas is that not only does it have these rabbit's ears
0:30:54 > 0:30:56at the top that stick out
0:30:56 > 0:31:00and they look very distinctive and you get these really rich colours,
0:31:00 > 0:31:02but also they grow more upright
0:31:02 > 0:31:05and they will tolerate a little bit of acidity.
0:31:05 > 0:31:08So if you don't garden on chalk or limestone
0:31:08 > 0:31:12but you do have good drainage, this will grow well outside.
0:31:25 > 0:31:31'Now we move on to a plant that in spring gives a show of colour like no other.
0:31:31 > 0:31:34'Our next L is for lilac.
0:31:34 > 0:31:36'And this is lilac-lover Colin Chapman.'
0:31:37 > 0:31:43Why lilacs? Like the rose, they're part of our cultural being.
0:31:43 > 0:31:46You see, they've got a literature of their own,
0:31:46 > 0:31:49they've got a poetry of their own,
0:31:49 > 0:31:51they've got an art form of their own.
0:31:51 > 0:31:55They remind us of our parents, they take us back to our grandparents.
0:31:55 > 0:31:58When we came here 23 years ago,
0:31:58 > 0:32:00we found that we had
0:32:00 > 0:32:03a stream running the entire length of the garden.
0:32:03 > 0:32:07So I decided to construct a lilac walk.
0:32:09 > 0:32:13Dense and full of foliage in the summer when I didn't want to see the stream,
0:32:13 > 0:32:17but which was an open tracery of branches in the winter
0:32:17 > 0:32:19when the stream was looking magnificent.
0:32:19 > 0:32:23And so found I needed about 40 lilacs
0:32:23 > 0:32:26and I've got the kind of mind that must have 40 different ones,
0:32:26 > 0:32:28not 40 all the same.
0:32:28 > 0:32:30And it was then that I started looking
0:32:30 > 0:32:33and found that there were not 40 lilacs available
0:32:33 > 0:32:38and that I would have to search elsewhere
0:32:38 > 0:32:41to fulfil the little quest.
0:32:41 > 0:32:44So I joined the International Lilac Society to find out.
0:32:44 > 0:32:47And so now, 23 years later,
0:32:47 > 0:32:53we now have somewhere between 500 and 600 different lilac
0:32:53 > 0:32:55in this collection.
0:32:55 > 0:32:58And they range worldwide.
0:33:10 > 0:33:14If you move away from the common garden lilac,
0:33:14 > 0:33:16I would say the ones to look out for
0:33:16 > 0:33:20are the incredible lilac called Massena
0:33:20 > 0:33:23which has flower heads that are so big,
0:33:23 > 0:33:26they look like cheerleaders' pom-poms.
0:33:26 > 0:33:28It's a magnificent, wonderful thing.
0:33:29 > 0:33:32There's another lovely old one called Paul Thirion
0:33:32 > 0:33:35which has brilliant red buds
0:33:35 > 0:33:40and those red buds open to give pale lilac double florets
0:33:40 > 0:33:44so that the contrast between the two colours is absolutely exquisite.
0:33:44 > 0:33:47And it flowers much, much later than most other lilacs.
0:33:47 > 0:33:52So if you have two lilacs side by side like Massena and Paul Thirion,
0:33:52 > 0:33:57you get the equivalent of six weeks' flowering out of the two of them together.
0:34:01 > 0:34:03'Thanks, Colin.
0:34:03 > 0:34:06'We're returning to the subject of lilies.
0:34:06 > 0:34:08'If you want to get the most out of yours,
0:34:08 > 0:34:12'pay close attention to Carol Klein.'
0:34:12 > 0:34:15As a species, lilies, you can grow them from seed,
0:34:15 > 0:34:17sometimes you can use bulbils,
0:34:17 > 0:34:21but by far the best way and the most fun is to grown them from scales.
0:34:23 > 0:34:25'Now's the best time to do this.
0:34:25 > 0:34:29'Choose a really good, strong plant, and dig it up carefully,
0:34:29 > 0:34:33'making sure that you don't slice the bulb in half with your spade.
0:34:33 > 0:34:37'Remove any excess soil so you can really see what you're doing.'
0:34:37 > 0:34:41So this is a really beautiful, big, fat bulb.
0:34:41 > 0:34:45And you can see all these scales quite distinctly.
0:34:45 > 0:34:48They're almost fully off of their own volition.
0:34:48 > 0:34:50So we're just going to detach these
0:34:50 > 0:34:54as close to the base plate as we possibly can
0:34:54 > 0:34:56and put them into this bowl of vermiculite.
0:34:58 > 0:35:03We can take really quite a number off here without doing this bulb any harm at all.
0:35:03 > 0:35:06You can do this with new bulbs that you've bought, too.
0:35:06 > 0:35:10So we'll put that one down and just mix this together.
0:35:10 > 0:35:14And the idea of the vermiculite is just to make sure that
0:35:14 > 0:35:17it keeps all these bulbs separate from one another.
0:35:17 > 0:35:19And it's just a sort of neutral medium.
0:35:19 > 0:35:24Now, to do this, the best way is to create a sort of mini greenhouse.
0:35:24 > 0:35:29So I'm getting handfuls of this mixture and putting them into there.
0:35:32 > 0:35:34And then I'm hopefully going to seal this up
0:35:34 > 0:35:39and when we get close to the other side,
0:35:39 > 0:35:43I'm going to blow the whole thing up with a straw,
0:35:43 > 0:35:45cos you want plenty of air in there.
0:35:45 > 0:35:48Just put that into there...
0:35:52 > 0:35:55And you're just creating a sort of mini greenhouse.
0:35:55 > 0:35:58Now, you want to put the bag, as soon as you've done this,
0:35:58 > 0:36:00into the airing cupboard, that's the best place,
0:36:00 > 0:36:03anywhere where it's warm and very, very dark.
0:36:03 > 0:36:06And in a couple of months, each of these scales
0:36:06 > 0:36:09will have produced its own little bulbil at the base.
0:36:09 > 0:36:12You'll have lots of them. And then you can line them all out,
0:36:12 > 0:36:15either into a piece of open ground in a cold frame,
0:36:15 > 0:36:17or better still, into a tray of compost.
0:36:18 > 0:36:23'Now, there's a particular type of beetle that loves the lily so much
0:36:23 > 0:36:25'it devours it from top to bottom.
0:36:25 > 0:36:29'Here's Dr Ian Bedford with tips on how to avoid it.'
0:36:33 > 0:36:38Lilioceris lilii, commonly known as the red or the scarlet lily beetle,
0:36:38 > 0:36:43originated from southern Europe/Asia, but we're not exactly sure where.
0:36:43 > 0:36:45But it first appeared in the UK
0:36:45 > 0:36:48prior to the Second World War.
0:36:48 > 0:36:50But that colony kept a very low profile
0:36:50 > 0:36:55and it wasn't until almost 50 years later that the lily beetle numbers started to take off.
0:36:55 > 0:36:59Over the past decade, they have spread at a tremendous rate.
0:37:02 > 0:37:06Lily beetles are now found in every county in England.
0:37:06 > 0:37:10They've recently been recorded in Scotland,
0:37:10 > 0:37:12Ireland and Wales.
0:37:13 > 0:37:16Lily beetles are extremely good flyers.
0:37:16 > 0:37:21Studies have shown that they can detect a lily plant at 30 yards
0:37:21 > 0:37:24without actually having any visual contact.
0:37:24 > 0:37:28We're finding that it's the chemicals given off by the plant
0:37:28 > 0:37:31when it is first starting to produce new growth.
0:37:31 > 0:37:33This is what the lily beetles appear to home in onto.
0:37:36 > 0:37:39The adult lily beetle spends the winter underground.
0:37:39 > 0:37:45They emerge in late spring to coincide with the new growth from their food plants,
0:37:45 > 0:37:49which is just the lilium species and their hybrids and fritillaria.
0:37:49 > 0:37:51So unless the lily beetles are controlled at an early stage,
0:37:51 > 0:37:55that plant will not grow to produce decent flower buds and flower.
0:37:55 > 0:37:57If they are left unattended, they'll defoliate it.
0:37:57 > 0:38:00They'll then move onto the developing flower buds.
0:38:00 > 0:38:06They'll even eat the petals on plants that have actually gone into bloom.
0:38:06 > 0:38:09So they are a major pest of lilies.
0:38:09 > 0:38:11But the fact that they are so specialist
0:38:11 > 0:38:15means that they're no danger to any other plants in your garden.
0:38:15 > 0:38:20Some of you who've tried to remove the red lily beetles by hand
0:38:20 > 0:38:25may have noticed a strange noise that they emit. It's actually a chirp.
0:38:25 > 0:38:28BEETLE CHIRPS
0:38:28 > 0:38:32And it is quite amazing for such a little beetle to make such a loud chirping noise.
0:38:32 > 0:38:35Erm, we're not really sure why it does it.
0:38:35 > 0:38:41It's probably a way of putting off predators that may have decided to pick up a beetle.
0:38:41 > 0:38:46The other very interesting phenomenon that the red lily beetle has
0:38:46 > 0:38:49is that it can send out these alarm pheromones.
0:38:49 > 0:38:52You spot a lily beetle on one plant, you go to collect it,
0:38:52 > 0:38:56as soon as you get near it, it sends out the alarm pheromones to other beetles,
0:38:56 > 0:39:00and out of the corner of your eye, you see all these little things dropping down onto the floor.
0:39:00 > 0:39:03And you go to look round and try and find out where these beetles are
0:39:03 > 0:39:08and they've completely vanished because they're no longer the bright red things that you see on the leaves
0:39:08 > 0:39:12because as they fall down, they twist, land on their backs
0:39:12 > 0:39:17and all you can see then is the black lower sides of them,
0:39:17 > 0:39:20which is camouflaged against the soil.
0:39:24 > 0:39:26So if you happen to go out in your garden
0:39:26 > 0:39:29and you spot a red lily beetle on your plants,
0:39:29 > 0:39:31you need to remove it as soon as possible.
0:39:31 > 0:39:35Then search the plant for little tiny orangey-red eggs
0:39:35 > 0:39:38that will be laid on the underside of the leaves,
0:39:38 > 0:39:42and look for those horrible, slimy grubs that might be under the leaves, as well.
0:39:42 > 0:39:44And remove those either by cutting the leaves off
0:39:44 > 0:39:47or just running your finger down and making sure you squash them.
0:39:47 > 0:39:49However, they have a rather disgusting habit,
0:39:49 > 0:39:53cos as they feed, they cover themselves with their own excrement.
0:39:53 > 0:39:58And for people who know about controlling lily beetles by hand,
0:39:58 > 0:40:03this makes the task of squashing these things extremely distasteful.
0:40:03 > 0:40:05The other thing you can do is grow them in pot,
0:40:05 > 0:40:09because at the end of each year, you can actually dig up the bulbs,
0:40:09 > 0:40:12throw away the soil that those lilies have grown in
0:40:12 > 0:40:16which may have, over winter, adults in,
0:40:16 > 0:40:19and re-pot them into fresh stuff for the next year.
0:40:19 > 0:40:21The other option that you have is to use a chemical option,
0:40:21 > 0:40:26and there are a couple of active ingredients that do work on lily beetles.
0:40:26 > 0:40:30Products that are bifenthrin-based or thiacloprid-based are very effective.
0:40:30 > 0:40:34My recommendation, and I do grow lilies in the garden,
0:40:34 > 0:40:39is not to grow too many and to keep a very good eye on them.
0:40:39 > 0:40:42And, particularly in the spring, daily go out
0:40:42 > 0:40:46and see if you can find any of the adults that have emerged from the ground
0:40:46 > 0:40:50and are sitting there mating or laying eggs.
0:40:50 > 0:40:56Just inspect those plants as much as you can and remove whatever you find on them.
0:40:56 > 0:40:59And that way, you should be able to get the plants through to producing flower buds
0:40:59 > 0:41:02and have a lovely display of lilies.
0:41:08 > 0:41:12'And we finish today with a gem from a 1981 programme
0:41:12 > 0:41:16'called The Sexual Encounters Of The Floral Kinds.'
0:41:18 > 0:41:22'The African water lily. On the second day of its life,
0:41:22 > 0:41:24'quite, quite harmless.
0:41:29 > 0:41:31'And what a feast.
0:41:31 > 0:41:35'Hundreds of stamens, all capped with pollen
0:41:35 > 0:41:37'like giant lollipops.
0:41:45 > 0:41:47'And away he flies.
0:41:49 > 0:41:53'But what a difference on the first day of its life.
0:41:53 > 0:41:57'For only then does the lily have that awful need to kill,
0:41:57 > 0:42:02'does it have that inviting pool of crystal-clear liquid in the centre.
0:42:14 > 0:42:18'What looks like nectar is not nectar at all.
0:42:18 > 0:42:22'It is a deadly poison, and what is more,
0:42:22 > 0:42:27'the overhanging stamens at this moment are smooth as silk.
0:42:34 > 0:42:36'Dead.
0:42:36 > 0:42:40'Just a few last nervous twitches.
0:42:43 > 0:42:46'Night falls.
0:42:46 > 0:42:52'And the reason for what seemed a pointless death is now revealed.
0:42:53 > 0:42:55'Inside the floral tomb,
0:42:55 > 0:43:00'the lethal liquid washes the pollen grains from the victim's body.
0:43:00 > 0:43:03'Souvenirs of older, kinder lilies,
0:43:03 > 0:43:06'they sink to fertilise the eggs below.'
0:43:11 > 0:43:14'So remember, if you're going to drop in on a lily,
0:43:14 > 0:43:16'be sure to get your timing right.
0:43:16 > 0:43:18'It can be more than your life is worth
0:43:18 > 0:43:21'to visit a virgin flower,
0:43:21 > 0:43:24'as our little hoverfly did.'
0:43:27 > 0:43:31A very dramatic end to today's show, but that's Mother Nature for you.
0:43:31 > 0:43:35Do join us again for the next A To Z Of TV Gardening.
0:43:35 > 0:43:37Until then, goodbye.
0:43:39 > 0:43:44Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:43:44 > 0:43:44.