Our Gardening Gurus

Ingredients: 2 garlic bulbs

Something is happening that I hoped would happen but didn’t foresee in quite this way. One of reasons I wanted to make this podcast - Our Plant Stories, was to continue to learn and there is no better way to learn than from someone who is really passionate about something and wants to share that passion. Stories are also a really good way to learn, linking information to people and places; painting pictures for us.

So then apply this to individual plants - find a story that helps you to understand a bit more about the plant and then an expert or grower - ‘guru’, who is passionate and incredibly knowledgeable about that plant; be it peonies or passionflowers, corokias or camellias and the learning just seems to happen.

Let me explain a bit more. I got a message from a gardening friend, Laura, this week. Do check out her website called Meadowlark Journal - celebrating ‘Urban gardens that are full of life’.  Her message said: “Totally random question for you. I am helping a friend with their garden, where they had a jasmine that blew over in a wind storm and they are looking to replace it with another climber. I was thinking a passion flower would be a good option, but don’t have experience growing one. I remember your episode on passion flowers from the first season. Do you know the pros and cons of growing passion flowers? Trying to decide if it is worth recommending.’

I am not going to pretend that I am now an expert on passion flowers but I was immediately able to send her the link to this page where there is loads of information from Myles Steward Irvine, who has been growning passion flowers for over 30 years - so is I think, a bit of a guru and lots of first hand experience from Bridget who has been growing them ever since she was introduced to them as a child, by her glamorous and slightly mysterious grandma. (There’s a great photo of grandma posing on a tree branch on that page, she was an expert at taking cuttings wherever she went!) On the episode page there is, as there is for every plant story, a ‘How to Grow’ section, along with lots of varieties of passion flowers, suggested by Myles.

You may have wondered at the picture of the garlic on this blogpost but again this is more learning from the first series. When I was first in contact with Vicky Meads of New Forest Hostas, I always seemed to call when she was either loading or unloading her van with hostas, on her way to or from a show! But we did manage to make contact and if you haven’t heard her lovely conversation with Alison about growing hostas do take a listen here. I think my favourite moment is when Alison asks if you can eat the leaves! I think Vicky has enough of a battle keeping the snails and slugs from eating them, so she certainly won’t be letting Alison anywhere near her prize hostas! But I remembered that Vicky had mentioned Valentine’s Day was the day to make your garlic concentrate and start to water it onto your emerging hostas to protect those first delicate, tasty leaves from hungry snails who apparently don’t like garlic. Last year I kept meaning to do this and never did and my hostas (including June for those of you who have heard the episode) got munched. And a confession somehow once half the leaves had been munched, I slightly lost heart.

So I went back to the episode page, checked the recipe and headed out to buy 2 garlic bulbs and for most of the evening the kitchen did smell of garlic but I now have my garlic concentrate and will be drenching the hostas, especially after it has rained. It is so easy to make. Remember put it in a plastic not a glass bottle!

I think the podcast is also about deepening my knowledge about specific plants. As I look out of my window now, I have a view of the most spectacular pink camellia in my neighbour’s garden. My own small camellia bush is full of bud. I think last years wet summer helped but I did heed Marion and Geraldine’s advice not to let it dry out during the summer months if I wanted to have blooms the following Spring. That episode bought together two Camellia gurus - one in Australia and one in the UK. I am also hoping that we may catch up with Marion in Australia, to hear how she is getting on with that new Camellia bed that she has been building in the Blue Mountain Botanical Gardens.

The wonderful thing about gardening for me, is that you do make mistakes but the year turns and you get another chance to try again. I hope that as we build up episodes, we will, with the help of these gardening gurus who are passionate and knowledgeable and generous with that knowledge, all learn and become better at growing those plants, be we newbies or experienced, one plant at a time.