0:00:02 > 0:00:04Hello and welcome to The A-Z of TV Gardening.
0:00:19 > 0:00:23Everything we're looking at today begins with the letter...
0:00:26 > 0:00:30But first, let's learn the basics of an eye-watering crop.
0:00:30 > 0:00:33'This O is for onions, and here's Monty Don.'
0:00:39 > 0:00:41(Put that to one side.)
0:00:41 > 0:00:44First of all, I think I need to rake that over.
0:00:44 > 0:00:47If you remember, we had potatoes in here which I lifted.
0:00:47 > 0:00:49These were Charlotte and they've been good,
0:00:49 > 0:00:53but when I lifted the potatoes, I added compost, forked it over
0:00:53 > 0:00:57and, although it's rather dry, that's good soil.
0:00:57 > 0:01:00Over-wintering onions are sometimes called Japanese onions
0:01:00 > 0:01:04because a lot of them have Japanese varieties.
0:01:04 > 0:01:07I've actually got a couple of varieties I've grown before,
0:01:07 > 0:01:09are reliable and I like the taste of.
0:01:09 > 0:01:13And taste is always the important thing.
0:01:13 > 0:01:17I've got two varieties. There's a white onion called Radar -
0:01:17 > 0:01:20good, really tough, but quite delicate taste,
0:01:20 > 0:01:22which I like very much -
0:01:22 > 0:01:24and also Electric Red.
0:01:24 > 0:01:26Red onions add colour,
0:01:26 > 0:01:29they add glamour and also they tend to be slightly sweeter.
0:01:29 > 0:01:32The best thing to do is just dib holes
0:01:32 > 0:01:35about four or five inches apart.
0:01:36 > 0:01:40Obviously, the wider apart they are, the bigger the bulb.
0:01:40 > 0:01:41I don't like onions too big.
0:01:41 > 0:01:44I think a tennis ball is perfectly big enough.
0:01:46 > 0:01:48Let's do a row along there.
0:01:51 > 0:01:54These will be ready for harvesting about June, early July,
0:01:54 > 0:01:58so just a month or six weeks ahead of main crop.
0:01:58 > 0:02:03But the theory is that you store your main crop now
0:02:03 > 0:02:06and they will last you through to about April or May,
0:02:06 > 0:02:08and then these follow on in succession.
0:02:08 > 0:02:12There's very little else to do but do you need to keep an eye on them
0:02:12 > 0:02:13because birds tend to come along,
0:02:13 > 0:02:16they see this thing wiggling up and they pull at it.
0:02:16 > 0:02:20It's quite common to come down in the morning and find them
0:02:20 > 0:02:22scattered around, and that is birds.
0:02:22 > 0:02:25The best way to counter that is to cover them with fleece
0:02:25 > 0:02:29and weigh them down until you see good green shoots,
0:02:29 > 0:02:32which means the roots have grown and anchored into the soil.
0:02:32 > 0:02:36It doesn't always happen, so I'm not going to fleece them straight away.
0:02:36 > 0:02:38Now you dib a hole to put it in
0:02:38 > 0:02:41because there is a basswood plate that the roots grow from
0:02:41 > 0:02:45and if you just ram it into the soil and almost screw it into the ground,
0:02:45 > 0:02:47there's a real danger of damaging that
0:02:47 > 0:02:49and therefore affecting root growth.
0:02:49 > 0:02:52I actually quite often use my finger instead of a dib.
0:02:52 > 0:02:55Although you could argue my fingers were made for dibbing.
0:02:56 > 0:03:01Now I'm watering these in, just to make sure that the soil,
0:03:01 > 0:03:05which is very dry, firms around the bulbs.
0:03:05 > 0:03:08So I'm using a rose, rather than a direct jet,
0:03:08 > 0:03:11which would just knock the bulbs out of the holes.
0:03:15 > 0:03:16Right, that's a job done.
0:03:19 > 0:03:22Next we look at a flower that is so common these days
0:03:22 > 0:03:26that you wouldn't dream it was once on the brink of extinction.
0:03:26 > 0:03:27O is for orchids.
0:03:27 > 0:03:30Here's Mike Dilger, who's in Kent
0:03:30 > 0:03:33looking for Britain's rarest wild specimens.
0:03:36 > 0:03:38Alison Wright of the Kent Wildlife Trust,
0:03:38 > 0:03:40what is it about orchids that people love so much?
0:03:40 > 0:03:43- They're wonderful, aren't they? - They're amazing.
0:03:43 > 0:03:45I think it's just they're rare, they're usual,
0:03:45 > 0:03:47they have fascinating habits.
0:03:47 > 0:03:49They're just like the plant equivalent of diamonds.
0:03:49 > 0:03:51- A girl's best friend.- Oh, yes.
0:03:51 > 0:03:53A guy's best friend, too, cos I like them.
0:03:53 > 0:03:56And they're just diverse. Look how many species we've got here.
0:03:56 > 0:03:59We have Fragrant orchids, just over there we have a Pyramidal.
0:03:59 > 0:04:01Just starting to come into flower,
0:04:01 > 0:04:03so it's showing its pyramid shape that gives it its name.
0:04:03 > 0:04:05Because they can flower anything from late spring,
0:04:05 > 0:04:07right the way through to late summer,
0:04:07 > 0:04:11so it's a good time now - in the middle of June is great, isn't it?
0:04:11 > 0:04:13The best time is now, when you have so many out in the flower.
0:04:13 > 0:04:15But you can see them right the way through
0:04:15 > 0:04:17- the spring and summer season. - Wonderful.
0:04:21 > 0:04:27Now, I reckon this orchid is at the top of everybody's must-see list.
0:04:27 > 0:04:30It's the Bee orchid, of course,
0:04:30 > 0:04:35and you can see how the lip perfectly resembles a bee.
0:04:35 > 0:04:38It also smells like a female bee, so it attract bees to come in
0:04:38 > 0:04:41to take away these little pollen sacs.
0:04:41 > 0:04:46But this one's a virgin, because the pollen sacs are still stuck there.
0:04:48 > 0:04:52'Ironically, it doesn't even need to attract a bee,
0:04:52 > 0:04:55'as the orchid is perfectly capable of self-pollination.'
0:04:57 > 0:05:03'Now this one isn't so colourful but believe me, it's a real treasure.'
0:05:03 > 0:05:06Alison, what a cracking little orchid.
0:05:06 > 0:05:08I know, they're amazing, aren't they?
0:05:08 > 0:05:09It's the Man orchid,
0:05:09 > 0:05:12and it's called the Man orchid for a very obvious reason, isn't it?
0:05:12 > 0:05:15Yeah, if you take a close look at each one, you can
0:05:15 > 0:05:18see that right at the very top, you've a little bonnet, like a head
0:05:18 > 0:05:20and below that, two arms and two legs
0:05:20 > 0:05:21just like a little stick person.
0:05:21 > 0:05:23How rare is this orchid?
0:05:23 > 0:05:25This is an extremely rare orchid.
0:05:25 > 0:05:28It's really restricted to the Southeast.
0:05:28 > 0:05:29Wow, why has declined so much?
0:05:29 > 0:05:33- It was always quite uncommon, but now it's rare, isn't it?- Yes, it is.
0:05:33 > 0:05:35It needs chalk. We've had so much loss of chalk downland
0:05:35 > 0:05:37since the Second World War,
0:05:37 > 0:05:39- they think up to 90% has been lost. - Really?
0:05:39 > 0:05:43Added to that, it doesn't just like normal chalk downland,
0:05:43 > 0:05:44it likes a little bit of scrub.
0:05:44 > 0:05:47You can see all the long grass that we're in here,
0:05:47 > 0:05:49just to keep it a little bit damper than most.
0:05:49 > 0:05:51So it has really specific needs.
0:05:51 > 0:05:53The thing I love most of all is,
0:05:53 > 0:05:55you look up and they're like men here.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58But you look right at the top they're like little boys coming out.
0:05:58 > 0:06:01This should be called "man-and-boy orchid."
0:06:05 > 0:06:09'Next stop is Park Gate Down, a diminutive reserve
0:06:09 > 0:06:12'south of Canterbury that's jam-packed with orchids.'
0:06:12 > 0:06:16Ian Rickards, reserve warden of this site,
0:06:16 > 0:06:19I have never seen so many orchids.
0:06:19 > 0:06:21The Kent Wildlife Trust must be very proud.
0:06:21 > 0:06:24It's one of our real key sites, it's absolutely fantastic.
0:06:24 > 0:06:27We've got tens of thousands of orchids on here.
0:06:27 > 0:06:32I reckon I'm within three or four metres of about 200 orchid spikes.
0:06:32 > 0:06:34Flipping sensational.
0:06:34 > 0:06:37The density is wonderful, isn't it? And also the variety,
0:06:37 > 0:06:40the number of different orchid species is just stunning.
0:06:40 > 0:06:42Why is the site so good?
0:06:42 > 0:06:44It's a combination of lots of different things. One,
0:06:44 > 0:06:47it's an ancient, unimproved grass. It's never been farmed intensively.
0:06:47 > 0:06:49The only farming that's gone on here is grazing
0:06:49 > 0:06:51and that's happened for hundreds and hundreds of years.
0:06:51 > 0:06:54- It's never been ploughed, has never been fertilised?- No.
0:06:54 > 0:06:56On most orchid sites, grazing is crucial.
0:06:56 > 0:06:58When do you do it and what do you use?
0:06:58 > 0:07:01We do it generally from as soon as the flowers have all finished,
0:07:01 > 0:07:03which is kind of September/October,
0:07:03 > 0:07:05then we bring on our livestock grazers,
0:07:05 > 0:07:07which are Konik ponies or Highland cattle,
0:07:07 > 0:07:09these old, really tough breeds, which can come in
0:07:09 > 0:07:11and graze this site hard for three or four months.
0:07:11 > 0:07:14And that's it, that's the management done for the year.
0:07:14 > 0:07:15It's pretty straightforward.
0:07:15 > 0:07:18It's a botanical ticker's paradise.
0:07:18 > 0:07:20Let's wander off and see what we can see.
0:07:26 > 0:07:28Check out this beautiful show-off.
0:07:29 > 0:07:33This is the Greater Butterfly orchid.
0:07:33 > 0:07:35Now, this usually smells...
0:07:35 > 0:07:39but only in the evening. It has a lovely smell.
0:07:39 > 0:07:43And that's because this is pollinated by moths,
0:07:43 > 0:07:46so that's why it smells strongly in the evening.
0:07:46 > 0:07:48So I think the Greater Butterfly or Lesser Butterfly
0:07:48 > 0:07:50is a bit of rubbish name, really.
0:07:50 > 0:07:53This should be called the "greater moth orchid."
0:07:55 > 0:07:58'Now here's the real star that I've come to see.
0:07:58 > 0:08:03'Once again, close up, the individual flowers have a quirky
0:08:03 > 0:08:05'resemblance to something else.'
0:08:06 > 0:08:11This is the creme de la creme of orchids.
0:08:11 > 0:08:14It's a Monkey orchid and it's incredibly rare, isn't it, Ian?
0:08:14 > 0:08:16It's a real spectacle,
0:08:16 > 0:08:18cos there's only three sites in the country where it exists.
0:08:18 > 0:08:21But if you look at the individual flowers themselves,
0:08:21 > 0:08:23that's where they get the name "monkey" from, isn't it?
0:08:23 > 0:08:26Yeah, they've got arms, legs, they've even got a little tail.
0:08:26 > 0:08:28A little hooded head.
0:08:28 > 0:08:30They're perfectly named, really. Absolutely perfect.
0:08:30 > 0:08:33But I have to say, the star attraction.
0:08:33 > 0:08:35Yes, yes. Definitely.
0:08:36 > 0:08:39I couldn't agree more. A real gem there.
0:08:39 > 0:08:42Well, that's all from us for today.
0:08:42 > 0:08:45Hope you join us next time on The A-Z of TV Gardening. Goodbye.
0:09:10 > 0:09:13Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd