BBC Gardeners’ World Live – A Horticultural Feast for 2006

This year’s BBC Gardeners’ World Live will showcase its horticultural excellence with a raft of show gardens that unite the country’s best designers showcasing their works and inspiring visitors.

RHS Judging
Every year a select panel of RHS judges tour the show to assess the gardens and bestow coveted RHS medals on deserving creations. Such is the quality of gardens at the show, BBC Gardeners’ World Live 2005 saw 3 gold medal plus 23 other medals awarded. The judges also keep a keen eye on the 100 nurseries in the RHS Floral Marquee and last year 31 displays were of such quality that they were awarded an RHS medal.

Joe Swift from Gardener’s World says: “We are really excited about the standard of Show Gardens and Small Gardens for the show this year and with many of the garden designers incorporating some stunning displays of creativity, we may have an increase in the number of RHS Awards given this year. The horticultural standard of the gardens at BBC Gardeners’ World Live is always very high and this year will be no exception. The Floral Marquee is incredibly popular with visitors and with a great mix of old favourites and exciting new nurseries visitors will be spoilt for choice.”

Feature Garden Snapshot
The show will feature over 40 show gardens for visitors to enjoy. The breadth of gardens at the show will bring to life the scope of possibility in gardening.

Kate Barr, of Solihull, will demonstrate that rising temperatures in the UK do not spell the end of the traditional cottage garden with her Cottage Garden for Climate Change. Using plants that thrive in dryer and hotter environments than are traditionally expected in the UK, this garden will deliver all the colour and beauty expected from a traditional cottage garden. Kate will also demonstrate how to protect the environment by conserving water in the garden.

Other highlights include the Grow Wild! garden from UK conservation charity Plantlife. The garden will feature native flower varieties in a modern garden design, to highlight how home-grown flowers can be both cutting edge and beautiful at the same time. The garden is the culmination of the BBC Gardeners’ World Live and Plantlife campaign to encourage gardeners’ to plant 10% native flowers in their gardens and help stem the threat of extinction that threatens many of the UK’s flower species.

In contrast Alan Gardener, of Sutton Coldfield, will prove that contemporary gardens can be as much about art as horticulture, with his garden Upon Reflection. This garden will focus on a striking black water pond. The totally reflective surface will emphasise the sparingly placed aquatic plants that surround the pond – one not to be missed!

The horticultural excellence of BBC Gardeners’ World Live 2006 will also be demonstrated in the Royal Horticultural Society Floral Marquee. This year the Floral Marquee will feature over 100 nurseries from across the country.

Floral Marquee
A first for 2006 is the attendance of Waterside Nurseries who will build a pond in the Floral Marquee featuring a range of water lilies and aquatic plants, reflecting the increasing popularity of water features in gardens.

New features will be matched by old favourites as the very popular David Austin Roses will return with six new roses including the Litchfield Angel a creamy white classic rose dedicated to the West Midlands. Founding presenter of Gardeners’ World, Jeff Hamilton, will be honoured by his daughter and the rest of the team at Barnsdale Gardens, with a special stand that marks what is the ten-year anniversary of Jeff’s death – the stand will reflect the old-fashioned style of gardening Jeff became famous for. The RHS Floral Marquee will also provide visitors to get their hands on Penhow Nursery’s Diacias and Nemesias – Penhow is the only nursery in the world to breed them!