Through rose-tinted glasses....?

It's funny how people like to hark back to the 'good old days', when prices were cheaper, life was simpler, and generally things were better. In fact if you could go back in a time machine you would find that yes, prices were cheaper but wages were lower, life was simpler with no mobile phone/internet/digital TV, and things for most people were as hard or even harder than they are today. We love to reminisce...

A lot of things in gardening are about reminiscence; traditional techniques are making a comeback (things like planting in autumn instead of spring/summer), there is a lot of interest in old gardens and their restoration, and conservation groups are busy saving old varieties of garden plants from extinction.

Start a conversation about any TV show and sooner or later someone will say that things are being 'dumbed down', especially factual programmes, shows like Gardener's World. I'll be honest, I don't watch Gardener's World any more; for me things were much better with Geoff Hamilton, and went down hill during Alan Titchmarsh's tenure as lead presenter. The thing is that time can play tricks on you, so it's important to separate reality from impression. I recently found old episodes of Gardener's World on Youtube, and watching a couple gave me and idea- I should compare an old show with Geoff Hamilton and a new show with Monty Don and see if I can see what it is that I don't like about the new shows, if, of course, I don't find that actually the old style Gardener's World is no different from the modern show. I picked two episodes at random, one from 1991 and one from 2013.

The 1991 show, presented by Geoff Hamilton featured:

• weeding
• garden construction
• plant maintenance (pruning etc)
• lawn care
• pests and disease advice (including a feature about Japanese Knotweed
• a visit to the garden of a very uncomfortable Carol Klein (her first TV appearance!)
• gardening under glass (Integrated Pest Management (IPM), plant maintenance, Fuchsia propagation and training
   

I noted 26 plants named in the half hour show, and identified 25 hints and tips given.

By comparison the 2013 show, presented by Monty Don, featured:

• planting Clematis
• a garden visit
• planting brassicas
• a 'jobs for the weekend' section (sowing sweet peas and wallflowers, and weeding with a hoe)
• tulips in the garden
• another garden visit (this time to Holland, with more tulips!)
• sowing hardy annuals

I noted 23 plants named in the half hour show, and identified 18 hints and tips.

What struck me was that there was more packed into the 1991 show, and it covered a very wide variety of garden tasks compared to the 2013 show, which I reckon was probably filmed a little later in the year, but definitely still in spring.

The other thing that struck me was the general style of the show. The 1991 show was pretty basic, with presenters talking to the camera or shots of the plant/task in question- this might have been due to technical differences in the TV filming technology of the time. By comparison the 2013 show was much more advanced in it's filming style, and had been 'padded' in several places with clips of no real significance; let's take, for example, a 30 second clip of Monty picking up a tray of plants and walking to the place where he's going to plant them, all set to an intrusive backing tune. Why does the audience of a practical gardening programme need to see a man walk from one place to another? The camera work was excellent but the section was pointless. This 'padding' happened a few times in the show.

There was also significant chunks of show given over to presenters, not just Monty, getting all poetic and contemplative over the garden they were in. In the second garden visit, Rachel de Thame spoke at length with her mother about a trip they had made over 40 years ago to visit a garden in Holland (apologies, I forget which). Actual airtime was given over to a conversation between them about how much Rachel has grown in 40 years! Fair enough, we all have conversations like this but they are actually private conversations, not because they contain dark secrets but because they are only relevant to the people concerned.

Despite the fact that in real terms the old Gardener's World format only managed to slip in a few more plants and tips than the new format show there was a marked difference in the overall feel. Most notable was that the show now seems to be more about the relationships between the presenters and the gardens than between the viewer and what they are seeing. The presenting team on the 2013 show (including Carol Klein who has come out of her shell since the 1991 show) seemed keen to show off their own poetic interpretations of gardens and gardening than getting down to some 'nitty gritty' horticulture. In some ways Monty Don has an excuse; in his own words "I was – am – an amateur gardener and a professional writer...” (not sure which interview this quote is from).

All in all I don't think my fond memories of the Geoff Hamilton era are misplaced; the very 'down to earth' presenting style, most notably with Geoff but also with the rest of the team, was in keeping with gardening itself. Likewise the only egos in the show belonged to the plants and the gardens which, through excellent camera work, and careful, accurate and never patronising explanation, were brought to life for the viewer. I still remember hearing about the sudden death of Geoff Hamilton, the man who had instilled the thrill of gardening in me. My parents and I sat in silence for Geoff's last ever show, and somehow, even then, I knew that gardening TV would never be the same for me. For many gardeners up and down the country, these words from Alan Titchmarsh's tribute at the beginning of Geoff's last episode of Gardener's World are still fresh, poignant and above all, still true.

“When Geoff Hamilton died, earlier this week, television viewers all over the country must have felt they've lost a great friend. For 17 years, on a Friday night, they'd watched him sowing and planting, often in his own garden at Barnsdale, and whether they were keen gardeners or novices they couldn't have failed to have been impressed by his easy going manner, his friendly approach, and his sheer passion for gardening.” Alan Titchmarsh, August 1996.

For those who do not actually remember...

If our grandparents' generation hadn't killed and died to fight the forces of fascism in Europe we would be living in a very different world now.

In Europe you would not have been allowed to be gay, Jewish (or probably follow any other religion), from any non-European ethnic background... it is very unlikely that those in power would allow you to vote, or let you speak out against anything you didn't approve of. Who knows where the rights of women would have ended up?

Tomorrow, as the clock reaches 11am on the 11th day of the 11th month we are asked to remember those who we don't know, who have fought battles most of us wouldn't have the nerve to fight.

Also try and imagine what our world would have been like if things hadn't gone well for the good guys? Imagine a world where genocide had been committed on British soil, and where the freedom we have to complain ceaselessly about the world around us just didn't exist.

Fancy doing this as a career...?

Horticulture is a rewarding and fun industry to work in. Wherever you are and whatever you're doing in horticulture you will be challenged and, if you like challenges and feel a great satisfaction from a job well done, you will succeed.

Horticulture is almost entirely a 'hands on' industry. Whether you are a horticultural scientist working in a lab, a nurseryman growing plants on a nursery, or a gardener tending and creating a garden, you will spend most of your time 'doing' things, and while every day will bring it's challenges every day will also bring it's successes and achievements. There is great satisfaction in leaving work each day knowing that you've achieved something!

Of course in horticulture the plants are everything. The fairway of a golf course might just look like grass, but in fact is made up of different species carefully selected and nurtured by skilled grounds-people to create a surface fit for purpose, and often maintained to impressive standards. Maintaining a golf course, or any other surface used for sports (like a football pitch) is a skilled occupation, and people working in that particular part of horticulture are constantly making new developments to improve the performance of their turf. Imagine being the person who's work helps your favourite sports team to victory! Imagine being the person who's job it is to look after some of the most iconic sports turf in the world, like the pitch at Wembley!

Not quite Wembley, but a great croquet lawn!

Gardens are made up of plants to provide shape, structure and colour in order to create the overall effect. From tiny alpines to massive trees, the plants are what makes a garden. Ensuring the health of the plants in a garden is probably the overall reason to have gardeners in the first place, and maintaining a garden brings an enormous sense of well-being. Gardens have a cycle during the year, a cycle of growth, development, fruition and decline. Being a part of nature's cycle is very rewarding, and I know it sounds a bit strange but the whole experience could almost be described as spiritual. Yes, gardening has times of mad rushing around, mowing the lawn or collecting leaves, but there are also times when the pace of life becomes more gentle, and you are given a privileged front row seat in nature's theatre. Seeing buds burst after winter dormancy, waiting for flowers to open, watching as fruits set... all of these things are familiar to gardeners, but never do they lose their magic.

Cool office! The back garden of St. Michael's Mount, Cornwall

Growing plants on a nursery also gives you first hand experience of nature in it's finery, the difference being that on a nursery you are raising plants to be bought by other gardeners. There is an immense feeling of satisfaction as a customer buys a plant you've grown on the nursery and takes it home to their garden. Nurseries are very artificial environments, so knowledge of science, technology, economics, marketing... these are all put to the test on a daily basis. Growing plants in a nursery brings a lot of challenges, and it can quite often be a fast paced environment. Being able to think on your feet is important, as is not only knowing about horticulture but also having the passion for your subject that drives you to learn more. Wherever you look in horticulture there are things happening; new plants are being bred, new products developed, new techniques mastered, new markets created. For anyone who wants to go the extra mile there is room to carve a career in production horticulture.

Horticulture can bring you into contact with rare species; Grewia occidentalis

Production horticulture also needs people to sell the products, whether on the same site as the plants are being produced or in a retail only environment like a garden centre. As with any industry the key is to make sure that the product stands out, either by being displayed well or by appropriate marketing, or more than likely both! Retail in general is ever changing, and horticultural retail is no exception. Every customer through the door is different, and the skill in horticultural retail is to match your customer with the appropriate plant. You'll need a sound knowledge of horticulture as well as the passion to keep learning just to keep ahead with your customers! One might need a plant for a particular purpose, another might be worried about a pest or disease, and it's your guidance that will make sure that your customer continues to enjoy their garden for years to come. The retail environment is the perfect place to apply your knowledge and benefit others.

Garden and landscape design is a great way to make your way in horticulture. From a tiny little back garden for a private client all the way up to a major project, design and careful implementation is key. Designers painstakingly survey the site and produce often breathtaking results, all with the help of competent landscapers who actually build the project. The sheer variety of projects suits people who enjoy the challenge of being creative and implementing a design to a high standard, so a career as a designer or a landscaper will suit people who enjoy a new challenge with each site to work on.

Of course horticulture needs science and technology to succeed. Plants are living things and must be cared for or they will die. Horticultural scientists work hard to identify, monitor and deal with pests and diseases, they develop growing practices to improve productivity and plant health, they create new products to make the whole business of growing plants easier. Behind the scenes scientists are busy in their labs or trial beds creating and developing the future of horticulture, and if your leaning is towards science then you could well be part of something big!

New plants are often the result of complex breeding; Digitalis Illumination Pink

Of course as with any career there are downsides; the vagaries of the weather can make your day's work more challenging, there are economic difficulties around, and there is a shortage of skilled staff in most (if not all) sectors of horticulture. To be good at horticulture you need to be keen, willing to be passionate about what you do, interested in why and how things happen, and most of all willing to get stuck in!

A Twit without Twitter...

Gardening is a combination of three things: materials, technique and information. The materials are the structures we build and the plants we use to make a garden, while technique is how ideas and materials are brought together to create a garden. Information in gardening is both inspiration and science, brought together to guide the hand of the gardener.

Take someone who knows nothing at all about gardening; deliver a whole truckload of plants and they might have a stab at 'doing something' with them. Give them information and technique and they are able to create a garden. Communication is key to transferring knowledge from one gardener to another. Working on a nursery I have to communicate a lot with customers, some of whom are experts needing a little specific information while others are novice gardeners who seek the knowledge and confidence to achieve what they want, whether it be the conquering of a trouble spot in their garden or wanting to know how to grow a plant that's caught their eye. Without communication everybody is left floundering.

How communication is achieved can vary; information is everywhere, in books, in magazines, on the internet (including the blog that you're reading!), on the radio and on the TV. To be entirely honest I think we're almost at the point of being overloaded with information, some of it good, some of it... dubious. Several times now I've had customers ring and ask about things because their books disagree on a topic, or they've spent an hour wading through website after website looking for advice relevant to their problem but to no avail; in the end they'd like to speak to someone and get a hopefully definitive and specific answer to their question. This is why BBC Radio 4's Gardener's Question Time is still going strong despite the strong presence of the internet and freely available information- people don't want to know if a plant is hardy, they want to know if it's hardy in their area, for example. An opportunity to ask an expert is an opportunity not to be missed.

Nice plant, but how do I grow it?

Technology plays a key part in gardening, as it always has done. Today's technology allows free and ready transfer of information from one person to another, and this means that today's gardeners can ask their question easily and know that someone, somewhere, knows the answer- the trick is just to find that someone. Twitter can seem daunting to anyone over the age of 12 (the average age of a Justin Bieber fan, and believe me there's enough of them on Twitter) but is actually a digital platform for an enormous number of gardeners from around the world. In Monty Don's article in Gardener's World Magazine he says (so I'm told, I've heard about his article but I'm not rushing out to buy a copy of the magazine just to read it) that there aren't any gardeners on Twitter because gardeners are over 50 and don't really understand technology.

Let's tackle ages first- I'm not over 50 and I've been gardening for many years, and I am (I believe) fairly good at it. The horticulture industry employs plenty of people under 50, many of whom are experts in their field. Many of my customers at work are under 50, and many of them are accomplished gardeners. There is also an ever increasing number of people in their late 20s and early 30s who are gardening for the first time, often when they move into their first house.

One of the great appeals about gardening is that it is not exclusive; you can be a gardener in a window box or a huge estate, you can be rich or poor, upper class or working class, male or female, young or old.

Technology is a simple matter... if you engage someone with a technology they will learn to use it. Before the invention of hormone rooting powders nurseries used all sorts of ways to propagate plants, and when the powder arrived it brought new techniques that needed to be embraced. These new techniques are fairly ordinary now, and in fact it is the old techniques of grafting and layering that is a mystery to many gardeners! Likewise technology doesn't differentiate between age groups; if you are nine or 90 you might need to be shown the basics of a technology, and once you've got the basics you are on your way. Likewise if you're a gardener tempted by Twitter sign up, go to the 'search' box and search for whatever topics interest you, find the people you share interests in common with and before you know it you've joined a community of gardeners.

It's as easy as sowing seeds.

Opinion: The rise of the Tomtato

Unless you've been on Mars for the last week or so you must have heard about the latest development from UK nursery/seedsmen Thompson and Morgan, the 'Tomtato'. It's even on the BBC you know?!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-24281192

The pictures show T&M's New Product Development Manager, Michael Perry, holding a plant that looks like a prop from a science fiction film, a tomato plant on top and a clump of large potatoes underneath. There's no sticky tape here, this is no cheap prop for a corny film, this is a new development for the 21^st century vegetable grower!

I say new but the idea behind this new product is nothing new; tomatoes and potatoes are incredibly closely related and can be grafted together, but the Tomtato is the result of 15 years of development and research... my guess is that much of this time has been spent finding tomato and potato varieties that grow well together, grow at a compatible pace, and don't 'pollute' each other's flavours (a problem with early attempts- apparently the tomatoes were vile!). This is a triumph of horticulture.

My horticultural sensibilities were outraged! Here a respectable company has taken a fairly run-of-the-mill (albeit fiddly) process, the art of grafting, and the science of how plants are related to each other and turned it into what... a gimmick? Certainly the young starter plants don't come cheap, and despite T&M pointing out that this is a great space saving plant, suitable for a pot on the patio or in the ground, you can get heavy crops from three seed potatoes in a potato bag (about the size of a dustbin) and delicious and reliable crops of tomatoes from the grafted tomato plants coming onto the market- more expensive than a packet of seeds but the rootstock gives improved performance and disease resistance, and just how many tomato plants do you really need?!

The problem is that I'm missing the point; I'm getting bogged down in gardener's wisdom and not seeing this new plant for what it is, a new and exciting product that has brought a lot of publicity not only to T&M as developers but also to the science of horticulture. Here's something new, different, accessible to the home gardener and the result of good solid horticultural research. The Tomtato won't solve the world's hunger but, along with the development of grafted tomatoes, does draw attention to possibilities for the future of food production both commercially and at home; great work T&M!

Gardeners are already familiar and comfortable with grafted fruit trees on different rootstocks (chosen to alter how the tree behaves) and it does beg the question of what else can be grafted to great use? While plant breeders dabble with their paint brushes to create better yields and disease resistance, will the science of rootstocks spread from the orchards and into other areas of the edibles market?

In the words of the character Fallowfield (played by Kenneth Williams) from the classic 1960s radio comedy Beyond Our Ken, “I think the answer lies in the soil!”

You can follow Michael Perry on Twitter:  @gardening_greek

Ode to the untidy garden

Garden, garden, why don't you grow?

These are things I'll never know.

Your lawn is rough and full of weeds,

Despite me tending all your needs.

Your shrubs continually expand and balloon,

Despite my best efforts to trim and to prune.

Perennials die with monotonous ease,

Leaving labels behind to bait and to tease.

Bulbs and seeds go in but then die,

My drawer-full of packets proves it's no lie.

The pond is brown and choked with weed,

And the hole in the liner more stress than I need.

The tree at the back is probably dead,

But lends some height to the rest of the bed.

But as I gaze from the kitchen inside

I can't help feeling a sense of great pride.

And although my garden isn't that fine,

It's all that I've got, and mine, all mine.

Beyond Lucifer

If you're lucky enough to live anywhere in the South West west of Exeter the chances are that you will recognise the orange patches of wild montbretia in the hedgerows. Although not native it has naturalised to become a familiar part of the local flora through late summer and well into autumn, and while some groups see it as a wild and destructive pest for most people it's a fairly innocuous plant. But how did a South African plant come to be so widespread in the mild western parts of the United Kingdom?

Weed? Crocosmia x crocosmiiflora

Montbretia is the common name given mainly to the hybrid between two species of Crocosmia, C. aurea and C. pottsii, which were crossed by eminent French nurseryman Victor Lemoine in 1880. It is well worth researching Victor Lemoine and his contributions to horticulture... The hybrid was a triumph, providing gardeners with a freely clumping plant with attractive orange flowers, and a hybrid that would produce different varieties that could be named and grown as garden plants in their own right. The only downside of this hybrid is that it can set copious quantities of viable seeds (a trick picked up from C. aurea) and these seeds could escape into the natural environment.

The horticultural world was nonetheless taken by storm, and Lemoine's legacy was to give gardeners a hardy, bright and colourful plant for the drab days of autumn. WWI saw a decline in Crocosmia cultivation and breeding as many gardeners were taken away from the gardens of the wealthy landowners to serve their countries. Many varieties were lost as plants died, labels were lost or clumps become overwhelmed by seedlings, and the arrival of WWII certainly didn't help things for the humble Crocosmia.

Crocosmias languished for many years until, in 1963, Alan Bloom and Percy Piper crossed C. masoniorum with C. paniculata (what is believed by some to be what is now named C. paniculata 'Natal Red' in cultivation) to raise the most iconic of these late summer plants. Love it or loathe it, Crocosmia 'Lucifer' is quite a plant; standing 4ft (120cm) tall, the devil-red tubular flowers are well presented on a branched inflorescence, and held above sword-like leaves. 'Lucifer' has picked up two bad habits from it's parents, the habit of flopping in late summer (which I think comes from C. masoniorum) and the habit of setting seed. Given some support and a good deadheading after the flowers have finished and it will be fairly well behaved. One good feature about C. 'Lucifer' is that it bulks up well, so a large and impressive clump is easy to achieve (but give it space!). C. 'Lucifer' is so well known in cultivation that I don't really need to provide a picture...!

Now the breeding and selection of Crocosmia varieties is enjoying a resurgence of interest.

I recently visited Crocosmia expert Mark Wash at his nursery in Cornwall. On paper Trecanna nursery isn't such a good idea; grow and sell Crocosmias in an area where nearly every hedgerow is peppered with them! Thankfully Mark's customers are discerning gardeners and enjoy the cultivars on offer. I visited in the very last few weeks of the Crocosmia flowering season, but there was still plenty to see.

Crocosmia 'Hellfire', an unbelievably intense red!

Crocosmia 'Anna Marie', a charming new cultivar for 2013

As the flowers of Crocosmia 'Limpopo' age they take on peachy tones

Crocosmia 'Tamar New Dawn', bred by Mark Wash in the Tamar Valley

Crocosmia 'Tamer Glow', also bred by Mark Wash. Lovely colour!

Small but bright flowers of Crocosmia 'Prince of Orange'

Trecanna nursery isn't just about Crocosmias though; Mark Wash also grows Eucomis ('Pineapple Lilies'), which grow well in the same conditions as Crocosmias.

Eucomis comosa in all it's glory

Although popular South African plants Mark doesn't grow Agapanthus in large numbers as these are covered excellently by other nurseries. However in any small nursery you will find the occasional plant that is grown 'for the hell of it', like this Agapanthus 'Queen Mum', a new and desirable variety.

Bicoloured flowers fading on Agapanthus 'Queen Mum'

Trecanna nursery is not open to the public, but plants can be bought by mail order or from the shows/fairs the Mark attends. As well as South African plants Trecanna Nursery also sells dry bulbs (in season). If you live in Devon or Cornwall Mark does talks to gardening clubs etc., contact him via his website for more information.

You can follow Trecanna Nursery on Twitter: @TrecannaNursery