Welcome to June and Betty my newest plant friends. Both are here because of Our Plant Stories and I am very excited to meet them along with a Mentha x piperita f. citrata ‘Lime’. If you have been following the series you will recognise the mint as Dr Jean Levy’s top recommendation to go with Gin & Tonic. Betty Myles Young is named after Myles Stewart Irvine’s mum and is a Passion flower. And this week Vicky Meads recommends June as a Hosta that will go anywhere, in the shade, in a bit of sun, in a pot or in the ground.

I found all of them in what must be one of the most scenic flower shows I have ever been to. As well as finding the plants discussed on the podcast, I had lots of wonderful conversations with growers. As always their passion for their plant is infectious. I met someone from the Iris society who has 2000 iris growing on his allotment. I met a man weaving willow sourced from Coates Old English willow in Somerset - they featured in last weeks episode. It was such a friendly show. I gave out lots of podcast postcards - so if you are reading this blog because I gave you a postcard - welcome!

This week’s episode features Hostas. I first met the grower Vicky Meads on a trip to the Chelsea Flower show and I remembered her enthusiasm for her plants. When I was first contacting her this time last year, I always seemed to call just as she was loading the van with hostas or unloading the van of hostas! Now I have had more time to talk to growers I understand why. The shows are wonderful but so much work! So I was delighted to walk into the Floral marquee at Malvern on Thursday and see that she had won a GOLD.

Vicky gave me June, if you listen to this week’s podcast you’ll hear about June and I am very excited with my new friend. I really hope that these podcasts will encourage you to look for some of these plants too. Do let me know if they have - its lovely to have feedback in the comments.