Taken from Lynne’s weekly column ‘Green Scene’ for the Western Mail
16th May 2020
Chelsea Flower (no) Show
This time of year I am normally preparing for my annual pilgrimage to Chelsea Flower Show. I have been covering it for BBC Radio Wales for the last 8 years and feel very fortunate to be able to do so.
Being ‘Press’ means that I go on the Monday before the show opens to the public, and get to chat to the celebrities and the great and good. And not so good – David Walliams has refused to talk to me for the last five years.
Obviously this year is very different. The RHS are running the virtual show online from Tuesday 19th to Saturday 23rd May, to ‘unite people around the joy of gardening from the comfort of their own home’. Monty Don and Alex Jones will also be judging viewers gardens on The One Show.
I did a lot of charity work with Alex before she sat on The One Show sofa and she is great, although not the most successful gardener. When her dad was planting some new shrubs in Alex’s garden a few years ago, he asked her to pass him the Broom. Ten minutes later she was still looking for a brush.
Celebrity Chat
I think my favourite Chelsea interview was with Stephen Fry who revealed, “If I had my time again I would be a gardener. It’s so rewarding.”
He then, very theatrically, told the story of when he hung a dozen old CD’s on string in his veg patch to deter the pigeons. Several weeks later he invited a famous classical music composer friend of his to have a walk around the garden. Yup – you’ve guessed it, the CD’s hanging in the veg garden were his friends classical renditions. He commented rather dryly that he was glad that Stephen had enjoyed them and expected to share the harvest by way of recompense.
My biggest heart-missing-a beat moments were induced by Ringo Starr tapping me on the shoulder, nodding at my flowery footwear and growling, “Cool boots, Man,” and Dermot O Leary recognising me three years after I had shown him how to container garden on the Paul O’Grady Show. He cheerfully shared that he still grows herbs in an old zinc watering can.
I’ll miss my coffee with Ron Brydon and my chat with Bill Bailey and Chris Biggins – all Chelsea Flower Show regulars and all very happy to stop and chat about the show gardens and their own gardening aspirations.
You can hear lots of my celebrity interviews, with favourite faces sharing their own ‘green thoughts’ on my website and also in Celebrity Chit-Chat available from Amazon.
Facebook Favourite
My favourite Chelsea Show garden was actually from last year. The Facebook Garden: Beyond the Screen, was designed to celebrate the positive impact of spending meaningful time on social media and how it can enrich our lives. Doubting this concept totally, I had rather cynically decided not to like the garden whilst reading reviews on the train to Paddington. And then I read the last line, “The garden is designed to start a conversation around much maligned aspects of social media and how it can be used as a powerful force for positive change in the real world.”
Live and learn.
It was not only a clever concept and interpretation but was the most beautiful usable space. It would be the perfect place to sit and watch my Westie Yogi paddle about in the water, something she loves to do. I still have plans to recreate it in my own garden somehow.
Home Sweet Home
On the bright side, missing my ‘annual away-days’ gives me even more time to catch up with jobs in my own garden. There is never a shortage of things to do.
Lots of people have been getting overwhelmed with their gardens recently. They started lockdown by enjoying pottering in the garden when it was all very placid and well behaved, but, in the last week or so, everything is growing like mad, as it does. Brambles stick out of hedges, nettles are higher than herbaceous plants, sprawling shrubs hide paths, and you can almost hear the grass growing.
Despite having been gardening for over 35 years, this time of year still knocks the wind out of my enthusiastic sails as the garden shows me a clean pair of heels and I can barely keep up with clipping, mowing, weeding and staking. But I’ve learned not to panic, it will all slow down in a month or two and we’ll all be able to catch up again.
As much as I enjoy Gardener’s World and regard Monty Don highly, I am conscious that you never see him having to ‘winkle’ weeds out of his patio or rip out handfuls of ground elder as it tries to choke your perennials! Mind you I haven’t seen him hit a stone when he digs a hole either – the joys of gardening in front of the cameras. I remember it well. With the apparent thirst for reality TV, perhaps it’s time to get back in front of the camera for some reality gardening.
Security Blankets
Don’t forget to spend time enjoying your outdoor space too. Create a little ‘cwtch’, place a bench to enjoy the view, hang a swing (an old trampoline can be recycled into the most comfortable swing bed). A fire pit or chiminea will help you enjoy the space into the evening, and solar lights for even longer.
And of course you don’t need fancy furniture, a dedicated deck or perfect patio – I am lucky enough to have all those things and I still lie on the grass with Yogi. When we were kids, Nan used to throw an old blanket on the lawn and that’s where we would play, have picnics, play cards and just chill out. Old blankets are great – they can be made into portable picnic areas, hammocks, dens and then used to cwtch up in next to a fire pit.
Remember: Life is like a blanket – often too short – use it wisely.
Great article as always, who is Ron Brydon?