麻豆约拍

I was on home turf this week as we recorded this week鈥檚 programme in St Mary鈥檚 Parish Church in Comber.

We were out and about with the Roadshow and Neil Porteous and Keith Crawford came too 鈥� where would we be without them to dispense all the ideas and the know-how and to inspire us with planting suggestions and recommendations?

There is always much scribbling going on as roadshow recordings get under way with scraps of paper, backs of envelopes and for the organised, notebooks put to good use.

Before we heard from our 鈥渢en good people and true鈥� who were all armed with great questions, we recorded a short interview for the top of the programme with the rector of St Mary鈥檚, Canon Jonathan Barry.

There has been a church on the same site for hundreds of years, possibly dating back to the days of Saint Patrick and it was founded by the Cistercians who lived, farmed, distilled, taught and preached there from the late 12th Century.

The name of the town comes from the Irish, 鈥淐omar鈥� which means the meeting of the two rivers and they are the River Glen and River Enler which in turn run harmoniously into the Comber river and on out into the Lough.

No wonder Comber grows such great potatoes.

Perhaps that鈥檚 why there were no potato questions on the night. The only vegetables to put in an appearance were carrots with the question, how can I achieve larger carrots and a better crop?

A five-year-old vine 鈥� Black Homburg鈥� was also proving a challenge, as was a Camellia 鈥淒onation鈥� which like the vine, has never flowered.

Daffodils with lots of leaves, but no fat buds were out in sympathy, or maybe that should be 鈥渘ot鈥� out in sympathy.

Roses needing pruned, skimmia leaves looking jaundiced, a dry sunny bank needing plants and a lawn needing re-invigorated were among the rest of the questions to feature.

Heaths and heathers were also in the frame, with a question about how they differ and where to plant them well and advice on growing the exotic 鈥滲ird of Paradise鈥� made us all think of warmer, sunnier weather and tropical places.

But a nippy night in Comber, County Down, was where we were and with a very welcome cuppa and a lovely supper after the recording we all headed out into the night and home and what鈥檚 more, bearing gifts.

So from Gardeners' Corner鈥檚 long suffering producer Julie Brown and myself, thank you to St Mary鈥檚 for Easter Eggs, lovely flowers and a warm welcome.

You can of course hear all the answers to the questions above on this week鈥檚 programme which you can also download as a podcast. Just go to the 麻豆约拍 Radio Ulster homepage and follow the links.