Episode 8 – Friday 25th April 2014

Rachel de Thame is learning more about Alpine plants at the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh. These plants do not like wet and damp weather and at the Royal Botanic garden they have developed protected houses for the hundreds of varieties of Alpine plants on display. Some rare varieties from Afghanistan and Central Asia can be viewed.

Carol is discovering the wonders of erithroniums with Keith Wiley in Devon. They are a perfect pick me up for your garden in spring. Most of these are from Pacific North West of USA. Keith has been to Oregon to bring some species back for his own garden.

Monty continues to work on replacing his hedges which were devastated by box blight and he has chosen to plant yew. In time (4-5 years) these will reach 3 feet in height.

Jobs to get on with this week for allotmenteers and gardeners

• Now is the time to sow courgettes and keep them warm. However they are not ready for planting out until the nights are warmer.
• Purple sprouting broccoli has been fantastic this year but will very soon be flowering. If you have sufficient space you can leave them to flower and these will attract bees to your patch.
• Root crops such as carrots and parsnips are on Monty Don’s list for this week. You can sow radish in the same drill as the parsnips as parsnips take quite a lot longer to germinate.

Here’s the link on BBC iPlayer if you have time to watch the Gardeners World episode 8 >>