Amateur Gardening – 13 July 2019

10 AMATEUR GARDENING 13 JULY 2019

Horticulture, not hot air

A

MATEUR gardeners are not

happy with TV coverage of

garden shows, if the comments

I receive at shows and events

are any guide. The number of presenters

grow, while the content diminishes.

When viewers watch football, they

do not see the commentator – and at the

interval, very successful former players

make comment from considerable

experience. Gardening presenters just

get in the way and block the views of

plants, areas of garden and flower show

displays. All that most of them seem able

to do is describe what we can already

see on screen, rather than adding

depth with unseen information.

Take, for example, the flower show

last month at the NEC in Birmingham,

where over 50 schools had mini gardens

Garden shows are about plants – not presenters, says Peter

“They only describe

what we can already

see on the screen”

planted in wheelbarrows to the

theme of travel. There were some

excellent entries, with well-grown

plants on some, plus imaginative ideas

and clever designs.

None of this was seen on the one-

hour BBC programme, when time was

wasted with footage of walkers and

cyclists travelling along a canal towpath.

If we want to encourage youngsters to

get out in the fresh air growing things,

surely their excellent efforts should

have been seen on screen?

Then there was a florist competition

and demonstration by a world floral artist

winner on the Westland pyramid stage.

What have the editor, producers and

directors got against flower arrangers,

florists and floral artists?

School children harvested potatoes

from pots as part of the Potato Council’s

‘Grow your own potato’ competition

involving 15,000 schools – why was this

not shown? The young scholars were

an absolute delight as they went on a

treasure hunt looking for lovely new

potatoes in the damp compost – an

inspiration for us all. Let’s focus on

promoting horticulture, not presenters.

Peter’s top tips

All photography Peter Seabrook, unless otherwise credited

with Peter Seabrook, AG’s classic gardening expert

Listen to

Peter’s free

podcast every

Thursday. Search for

‘This Week In The

Garden with Peter

Seabrook’ on

with Peter Seabrook, AG’s classic gardening expert iTunes

Peter Seabrook’s amazing pyramids

at the recent NEC fl ower show

Thompson & Morgan

Does TV focus too much on

presenters, and not enough

on the plants?

4

Garden cut flower pinks from

Whetmans, including Dianthus

plumarius ‘Red Carpet’, unlike their

scentless sister spray carnations,

have delicious fragrance – something

presenters should be describing.

2

Gerbera Garvinea Sweet

Series require the flower

stems to be twisted through 90°

and plucked out cleanly. The age

of each flower is easily seen as the

centre mounds with opening florets

on the central disc.

3

The recently introduced

Helianthus SunBelievable is

easily propagated by cuttings; even

a piece broken off and pushed into

compost will root quite quickly.

Inset: Alamy

Alamy

1

Garden alstroemerias need

stems plucked (not cut, leaving

a stump) for use as cut flowers (trim

off the white piece before putting in

water) and to remove dead heads.