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GQT at Home: Sowing Roots and Hanging Fruit

Peter Gibbs hosts the horticultural programme featuring a group of gardening experts.

Peter Gibbs hosts the horticultural programme featuring the ever-knowledgable Kirsty Wilson, Matt Biggs, and Anne Swithinbank fielding questions from listeners across the country.

This week, the panellists share their ideas on nature-based solutions to flooding, bestow tips on splitting dahlia tubers and offer some inspiration for growing in hanging baskets and containers, with sustainability in-mind.

Beyond the questions, Claire Ratinon visits the Sowing Roots: Caribbean Garden Heritage in London exhibition at the Garden Museum and talks to one of the curators, Dr Ekua McMorris, and contributor Ras Prince Morgan, about the important gardening practices brought to Britain with the Windrush generation.

And, Dr Chris Thorogood transports us to a remote tract of dunes on La Graciosa island in Spain, as he hunts for a rare botanical marvel, the cynomorium coccineum.

Producer - Dan Cocker
Assistant Producer - Bethany Hocken

A Somethin' Else production for Â鶹Éç Radio 4

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42 minutes

Plant List

Questions and timecodes are below. Where applicable, plant names have been provided.

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Q – Our gunnera plant is showing signs of new growth. Should we cover it with some dried leaves, to mulch it and protect it from the frost?

(1 minutes 49 seconds)Ìý

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Q – My lawn gets extremely soggy after rain. I think putting in land drains is the only solution. Do the panellists have any suggestions?

(4 minutes 5 seconds)Ìý

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Q – I grow dahlias in pots and lift every year to store the tubers every year through winter. Some tubers are now very large and are four years old. Should I split them to create more plants? If so, how small should the tubers be, and will they flower this year, after splitting them? If I don’t split them, will they lose vigour?

(7 minutes 48 seconds)

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Q – I have planted daffodil bulbs in one of my raised beds. Is it ok to grow vegetables in the same bed?

(11 minutes 12 seconds)

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Allium

Tulip

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Feature – Claire Ratinon visits the ‘Sowing Roots: Caribbean Garden Heritage in London’ exhibition at the Garden Museum and talks to Curator Dr Ekua McMorris and Contributor Ras Prince Morgan.

(15 minutes 37 seconds)

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Q – Last year I neglected to cut down the stem on my lupin. Can you tell me what’s happened?

(19 minutes 36 seconds)

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Q – I wonder if you can offer some inspiration for growing in hanging baskets and small containers. We’re trying to be more sustainable and regenerative in our approach to gardening. Can you please provide some suggestions for plants which we can grow, either as perennials or else as annuals, from which seeds or cuttings could be taken, so that we’re not bringing in new annuals, every year.

(22 minutes 54 seconds)

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Kirsty –

Ivy

Erigeron, ‘Fleabane’

Erigeron, ‘Lavender Lady’

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Matt –

Bay

Oregano

Rosemary, ‘Blue rain’

Tumbler tomatoe

Beetroot

Carrot

Bean (runner)

Chives

Strawberry

Oakleaf lettuce

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Anne –

Calendula

Marigold

Forget-me-not

Cerinthe

Felicia amelloides, Kingfisher daisy

Begonia 'Glowing Embers'

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Q – Is it usual for this plant of mine to flower?Ìý

(28 minutes 23 seconds)

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Dracaena fragrans (Deremensis Group) 'Lemon Lime'

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Feature – Dr. Chris Thorogood transports us to a remote tract of dunes on La Graciosa island in Spain, as he hunts for a rare botanical marvel, the cynomorium coccineum

(32 minutes 30 seconds)

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Q – I have a ficus elastica, rubber plant in my kitchen, near my cooker. It’s leaves have developed a thin build-up of grease and general cooking fall off. How can I clean it off?

(36 minutes 46 seconds)

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