0:00:02 > 0:00:04Hello, and welcome to the A To Z Of TV Gardening.
0:00:04 > 0:00:06We're on a mission to dig up the best advice and guidance
0:00:06 > 0:00:09from all your favourite programmes and presenters.
0:00:09 > 0:00:12So, join me as, letter after letter, one by one,
0:00:12 > 0:00:15we explore everything from flowers and trees
0:00:15 > 0:00:17to fruit and veg.
0:00:33 > 0:00:36Everything we're looking at today begins with the letter...
0:00:39 > 0:00:44But first, to something that provides one of the most gorgeous displays of the gardening year,
0:00:44 > 0:00:48even though it can take up to ten years for its flowers to first appear.
0:00:48 > 0:00:51And when they come into full bloom in the spring and summer,
0:00:51 > 0:00:55they just dazzle one and all with their beauty
0:00:55 > 0:00:57and they're certainly worth the wait.
0:00:57 > 0:00:59This M is for magnolias.
0:00:59 > 0:01:02And let's begin with Alys Fowler being mesmerised
0:01:02 > 0:01:05in Trewithen Gardens in Cornwall.
0:01:05 > 0:01:07This garden is remarkable
0:01:07 > 0:01:10not just for the number of magnolias it has,
0:01:10 > 0:01:12but also for their size.
0:01:14 > 0:01:17Many of the 50 varieties of magnolia in this garden
0:01:17 > 0:01:19have been here over 100 years,
0:01:19 > 0:01:23thanks to the plant-hunters who brought the seeds back
0:01:23 > 0:01:25to our shores from China in the early 1900s.
0:01:27 > 0:01:29A tree this size, how old does that make this?
0:01:29 > 0:01:33This one particularly is collected in 1928 and planted in 1929.
0:01:33 > 0:01:35It was planted here as an 18-inch seedling.
0:01:35 > 0:01:37And magnolias hate root disturbance.
0:01:37 > 0:01:40They don't like the roots being disturbed at all,
0:01:40 > 0:01:43so to plant it here and get it into perspective to the house
0:01:43 > 0:01:45is either luck or genius - we err on the side of genius.
0:01:48 > 0:01:52Sadly, just a few maps and letters remain from those expeditions.
0:01:52 > 0:01:54But the driving force behind the garden, George Johnstone,
0:01:54 > 0:01:56published in 1955
0:01:56 > 0:01:59what is still considered to be the Bible on magnolias -
0:01:59 > 0:02:02Asiatic Magnolias In Cultivation.
0:02:04 > 0:02:06I suppose it doesn't even start to touch on
0:02:06 > 0:02:08how they must have felt when they saw these things.
0:02:08 > 0:02:12It's hard to imagine trying to see one of these in the wild for the first time.
0:02:12 > 0:02:13Mature trees, sort of 80 feet tall,
0:02:13 > 0:02:16completely clothed in these pink flowers.
0:02:16 > 0:02:18And we're now beginning to see that maturity
0:02:18 > 0:02:20in the garden here, 100 years later.
0:02:22 > 0:02:24If they were alive and visiting Trewithen today,
0:02:24 > 0:02:27those intrepid plant-hunters would only now be seeing
0:02:27 > 0:02:30the impressive scale of the magnolias they discovered.
0:02:32 > 0:02:34A tree of this size - how do you maintain it?
0:02:34 > 0:02:37Luckily for me, the early maintenance had been done.
0:02:37 > 0:02:39On some of the younger plants, we do aesthetic pruning
0:02:39 > 0:02:41during the summer, when the magnolia is in full leaf.
0:02:41 > 0:02:44That way, the sap's got a chance to stop running before winter sets in,
0:02:44 > 0:02:46which could cause damage.
0:02:46 > 0:02:48It's just aesthetic pruning, taking off the whippy branches,
0:02:48 > 0:02:50the long branches, just to keep the plants tidy.
0:02:50 > 0:02:54We've been having these very cold winters. Has that been affecting them at all?
0:02:54 > 0:02:57Magnolias are very lucky, the way they develop.
0:02:57 > 0:03:00They've got these bud sheaths, which are very hairy
0:03:00 > 0:03:03and they protect the bud during winter,
0:03:03 > 0:03:06so as long as these are still enclosing the flower then it's fine.
0:03:06 > 0:03:07It's when we get a late frost,
0:03:07 > 0:03:10which, in Cornwall, is any time past February,
0:03:10 > 0:03:11that's when any damage can occur.
0:03:14 > 0:03:17Thanks to its illustrious horticultural history,
0:03:17 > 0:03:20Trewithen has six magnolias classed as champion trees.
0:03:20 > 0:03:23That means they are the largest of their kind in the UK.
0:03:27 > 0:03:29And here is one of those champion trees.
0:03:29 > 0:03:33This is Magnolia sargentiana,
0:03:33 > 0:03:35and it's one of the Chinese species,
0:03:35 > 0:03:36and the flowers are so exquisite.
0:03:36 > 0:03:39They look like they've been cut out of silk.
0:03:39 > 0:03:40But like any of the species,
0:03:40 > 0:03:44you have to wait a very long time before you see it flower like that.
0:03:49 > 0:03:52It used to be said that if you wanted to enjoy a magnolia
0:03:52 > 0:03:56then your grandparents would have had to have planted it many years ago.
0:03:56 > 0:03:59But these days, thanks to some modern hybridising,
0:03:59 > 0:04:01there's plants like this one, Star Wars,
0:04:01 > 0:04:03which will flower in three to five years.
0:04:03 > 0:04:06So, that'll be something for you to enjoy, and your grandchildren.
0:04:10 > 0:04:14Now let's look at one of our more intriguing trees.
0:04:14 > 0:04:16This M is for monkey puzzle.
0:04:16 > 0:04:19And here's a look at how it was first introduced in Britain.
0:04:25 > 0:04:28Monkey puzzle trees have been something of a horticultural oddity
0:04:28 > 0:04:31in British gardens since the Victoria era.
0:04:35 > 0:04:38This avenue of trees in the grounds of Bicton College, Devon,
0:04:38 > 0:04:43offers an incongruous canopy to the journey up to the main house.
0:04:46 > 0:04:49More incongruous still is the story of the tree's discovery
0:04:49 > 0:04:53and subsequent journey to England from the Chilean Andes.
0:04:54 > 0:04:59Only five seeds came back to Britain with plant-hunter Archibald Menzies.
0:05:01 > 0:05:04Menzies encountered them when they were served to him as a dessert
0:05:04 > 0:05:07during a dinner party in the Chilean capital.
0:05:08 > 0:05:10Intrigued by the nut-like seeds,
0:05:10 > 0:05:13he pocketed his pudding and headed for home.
0:05:15 > 0:05:17It was decades later before William Lobb
0:05:17 > 0:05:19introduced the seeds commercially.
0:05:20 > 0:05:22They became an instant hit.
0:05:25 > 0:05:27The seeds of these particular trees
0:05:27 > 0:05:31came from that original introduction from Chile.
0:05:31 > 0:05:34When these trees were planted, of course,
0:05:34 > 0:05:35they had no English name.
0:05:35 > 0:05:38They already had a scientific name,
0:05:38 > 0:05:39Araucaria araucana,
0:05:39 > 0:05:43named after the Araucarian Indians,
0:05:43 > 0:05:46who were the Indians in the area from where the trees,
0:05:46 > 0:05:49the seed of the trees, was collected.
0:05:49 > 0:05:53The name "monkey puzzle" came from an observer
0:05:53 > 0:05:55of the trees in cultivation
0:05:55 > 0:05:59who said, "Gosh, it would puzzle a monkey to climb one of those trees."
0:05:59 > 0:06:02And so that name - monkey puzzle tree -
0:06:02 > 0:06:04has actually stuck to this day.
0:06:07 > 0:06:10These were planted out as a very early avenue,
0:06:10 > 0:06:15probably the very first avenue, of these newly introduced trees.
0:06:15 > 0:06:19I think...although we have a concept today
0:06:19 > 0:06:22of what these trees look like, where we see them in our gardens,
0:06:22 > 0:06:25remember that at that time, they were a curiosity
0:06:25 > 0:06:28and nobody had any idea, who was planting them,
0:06:28 > 0:06:30what they would actually grow into.
0:06:59 > 0:07:00In their native Chile,
0:07:00 > 0:07:02the trees date back to the Jurassic period
0:07:02 > 0:07:05and this prehistoric ancestry
0:07:05 > 0:07:09is largely responsible for the monkey puzzle's bizarre look today.
0:07:09 > 0:07:12The tress are like they are
0:07:12 > 0:07:15because they've evolved a dinosaur-deterrent habit.
0:07:15 > 0:07:18They've got this enormously prickly foliage.
0:07:18 > 0:07:20They've got these every tall trunks.
0:07:20 > 0:07:23They evolve these tall trunks to move that foliage up
0:07:23 > 0:07:27above a height which the dinosaurs could possibly eat them.
0:07:27 > 0:07:30Of course, this is a case, actually, of co-evolution,
0:07:30 > 0:07:34because as the monkey puzzle trees produce their canopies
0:07:34 > 0:07:37ever higher and higher above the herbivorous dinosaurs,
0:07:37 > 0:07:40so, of course, the herbivorous dinosaurs
0:07:40 > 0:07:42evolved longer and longer necks
0:07:42 > 0:07:47to try and actually eat the foliage, which was becoming up above them.
0:07:47 > 0:07:52And so what we've got here is a mutual Cold War, if you like.
0:07:52 > 0:07:54The trees trying to avoid the dinosaurs,
0:07:54 > 0:07:57the dinosaurs evolving necks to go up.
0:07:57 > 0:08:00But, of course, the dinosaurs became extinct,
0:08:00 > 0:08:05but here, in cultivation, we still see the residue of that inherence.
0:08:05 > 0:08:08But the great height of these trees,
0:08:08 > 0:08:10coupled with a relatively small root ball,
0:08:10 > 0:08:13do make it susceptible to high winds
0:08:13 > 0:08:17and this showcase avenue was all but destroyed in the 1920s
0:08:17 > 0:08:20by a storm that is still remembered today.
0:08:21 > 0:08:23In 1928,
0:08:23 > 0:08:26when that great gale was,
0:08:26 > 0:08:30it blew down around 30 trees in this avenue.
0:08:30 > 0:08:34I mean to say...really ripped the heart out of the avenue,
0:08:34 > 0:08:37if you can understand what I mean.
0:08:38 > 0:08:41You couldn't believe that nature could be so cruel,
0:08:41 > 0:08:42really, in one way.
0:08:44 > 0:08:49Luckily, the fallen trees had been planted with male and female seeds,
0:08:49 > 0:08:53so it was possible to propagate replacements still standing today.
0:08:55 > 0:08:56Now we've come to our final M
0:08:56 > 0:09:00and it's a flower that adds a real zing of colour to your garden
0:09:00 > 0:09:03in spring, through summer and even autumn.
0:09:03 > 0:09:06This M is for marigolds.
0:09:06 > 0:09:09Also known as calendula.
0:09:09 > 0:09:11Let's finish with Christine Walkden,
0:09:11 > 0:09:15who says there is more to these flowers than meets the eye.
0:09:21 > 0:09:25Marigolds - are they gorgeous or gaudy?
0:09:27 > 0:09:31For some people, the marigold is a vibrant vision of summer,
0:09:31 > 0:09:33a must-have for your border.
0:09:33 > 0:09:37For others, well... it's the Jordan of the plant world -
0:09:37 > 0:09:41bright and colourful, but a bit in your face.
0:09:44 > 0:09:47But if you ever see them in their thousands,
0:09:47 > 0:09:49they completely transform a British landscape
0:09:49 > 0:09:52into something utterly Mediterranean.
0:09:52 > 0:09:56This rare sight is a field full of pot marigolds,
0:09:56 > 0:10:00or Calendula officinalis, being grown as a crop.
0:10:00 > 0:10:04It's thought that their oil will replace the poison in paint
0:10:04 > 0:10:07and reduce the dangerous pollution given off by paint fumes.
0:10:07 > 0:10:10We're using the oil from the pot marigold as an alternative
0:10:10 > 0:10:12to volatile organic compounds,
0:10:12 > 0:10:15which are used in paints and varnishes and suchlike.
0:10:15 > 0:10:17We're also using it as a wood preservative.
0:10:17 > 0:10:21So, the colour is totally insignificant? It's just the oil from the seed?
0:10:21 > 0:10:24The colour is very nice, but we're only after the oil.
0:10:24 > 0:10:26It has been used in the past as a colorant
0:10:26 > 0:10:29in things like butter and cheese, and as a fabric dye.
0:10:29 > 0:10:31But that's all taken from the petal,
0:10:31 > 0:10:34which is hand-harvested and extremely expensive.
0:10:34 > 0:10:37Here we're just looking at the seed, which we harvest mechanically.
0:10:37 > 0:10:40So, when will we be able to see this fantastic oil used in paint?
0:10:40 > 0:10:43We've still got quite a bit of development work to do,
0:10:43 > 0:10:46both in shelf life and pigment, but hopefully, fairly soon.
0:10:46 > 0:10:49So, let's be clear about these marigolds.
0:10:49 > 0:10:52We've got the French marigold that's commonly used in our gardens
0:10:52 > 0:10:56and often popped inside greenhouses to keep whitefly away.
0:10:56 > 0:10:58It's a large single flower,
0:10:58 > 0:11:03dark green foliage that's aromatic and the leaf is divided.
0:11:03 > 0:11:04Whereas the pot marigold,
0:11:04 > 0:11:08grown in pots historically as a beautiful, hardy pot plant,
0:11:08 > 0:11:11well, the differences are that it's got a flat head,
0:11:11 > 0:11:15matt green foliage that doesn't smell.
0:11:16 > 0:11:19It's this marigold, the calendula, that's amazingly versatile.
0:11:19 > 0:11:24You can eat the flowers in salad, turn them into tea,
0:11:24 > 0:11:28dye your clothes with them or make a healthy mouthwash.
0:11:28 > 0:11:32In 2007, the calendula helped win gold at Chelsea
0:11:32 > 0:11:36as part of Sarah Eberle's Mars Garden -
0:11:36 > 0:11:40a garden made up of plants specially chosen to keep astronauts safe
0:11:40 > 0:11:42and healthy on the Red Planet.
0:11:42 > 0:11:45The marigold is well known in medicine.
0:11:45 > 0:11:49Recently, after intense research, the European Medicines Agency
0:11:49 > 0:11:54officially recognised the plant's soothing, antiseptic properties,
0:11:54 > 0:11:58something that herbalists have believed for centuries.
0:12:00 > 0:12:04It was always used in the house when we didn't have antiseptic creams.
0:12:04 > 0:12:07- Right. - You would use the marigold flower.
0:12:07 > 0:12:10If you were now stung by the bee,
0:12:10 > 0:12:12you could just rub it onto your skin
0:12:12 > 0:12:14and the inflammation would go down.
0:12:17 > 0:12:23It is used in almost 90% of our creams, ointments, toiletries.
0:12:23 > 0:12:27How do you capture that in a solution?
0:12:27 > 0:12:30Well, there are many ways of extracting marigold flowers.
0:12:30 > 0:12:32This is the traditional way.
0:12:32 > 0:12:35You just put them in the jar, cover with a little bit of oil.
0:12:35 > 0:12:39- I'm going to do it with organic sunflower oil.- Yes.
0:12:39 > 0:12:43It's light oil and it will extract beautiful colour
0:12:43 > 0:12:46and all the resinous material out of the flowers.
0:12:46 > 0:12:50And now I have to, of course...
0:12:50 > 0:12:53close it down, because we don't want anything else coming in.
0:12:53 > 0:12:56And this will be left in the sunshine to infuse,
0:12:56 > 0:13:01ten days or so, and then strained through a sieve
0:13:01 > 0:13:03- and this is what you get.- Wow!
0:13:03 > 0:13:05- Beautiful colour oil. - Isn't that beautiful?
0:13:05 > 0:13:07And what would you use this for?
0:13:07 > 0:13:15Small cuts, burns...anything that needs antiseptic quality to it.
0:13:15 > 0:13:17So, instead of using French marigolds in our garden,
0:13:17 > 0:13:21we should really be putting pot marigolds in and enjoy them?
0:13:21 > 0:13:24Ah, they should be celebrated, definitely.
0:13:25 > 0:13:27Thanks, Christine.
0:13:27 > 0:13:31And as marigolds like full sun, they're probably loving it today.
0:13:31 > 0:13:32That's all for now.
0:13:32 > 0:13:36Do join us next time for another A To Z Of TV Gardening.