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Episode 15

Rachel de Thame joins Monty Don in Longmeadow and adds more medicinal planting to the herb garden, especially those that the bees love.

Rachel de Thame joins Monty Don in Longmeadow and adds more medicinal planting to the herb garden, especially those that the bees love. Rachel also investigates ways to aid honey bee conservation and protect the nation's favourite pollinators.

Monty visits a local garden in Herefordshire to see a national collection of Siberian iris, which inspires him to create a new iris patch, adding warmth and splash of colour into his dry garden. We also discover a garden containing a stunning collection of clematis montana.

Carol Klein is in Somerset visiting the home of one of her horticultural heroes, Margery Fish. And Nick Bailey shows how to plan, design and build a brilliant border fit for any garden.

1 hour

Iris garden

Iris garden

Alun and Jill Whitehead have over 150 different varieties of Siberian iris in their National Collection which they enjoy sharing with fellow iris enthusiasts in late May and June. Visitors are also welcome by appointment at other times of the year, and they'll be opening for the National Garden Scheme on Sunday 6 August. If you’d like to arrange a visit, by all means get in touch.

Aulden Farm
Aulden
Leominster
Herefordshire
HR6 0JT
Tel. 01568 720129

(www.auldenfarm.co.uk)

Clematis garden

Clematis garden

When Clematis montana is allowed to romp, there’s nothing it likes more than to clamber up a tree. Clothed in masses of flowers, many varieties are scented too, pervading the air with the most delicious scent. Val Le May Neville-Parry has fallen in love with them and her National Collection is the only one of its kind in the country. May is the best time to visit, although appointments can be made at other times of the year.

By The Way
Lodge Drove
Woodfalls
Salisbury
SP5 2NH
Tel. 01725 511931

(www.clematismontana.co.uk)

Margery Fish

Margery Fish

Margery Fish was, without a doubt, an eccentric woman who loved to garden in her own unique way. Her relaxed, cottage garden style of planting certainly wasn’t the norm in the 1940s, yet today, she is considered to be one of the most influential horticulturalists of her time. Past and present owners have worked hard to keep her legacy going at East Lambrook Manor and in 2000, a huge project was undertaken to restore the garden to its former glory. If you would like to visit, please check the link below for more details.

East Lambrook Manor
South Petherton
Somerset
TA13 5HH
Tel. 01460 240 328

(www.eastlambrook.com)

Honey survey

Honey survey

The research being carried out at the National Botanic Garden of Wales is absolutely fascinating, and it’ll be interesting to see what Monty’s honey bees have been feeding on this spring. If you keep bees and would like to take part in this year’s survey, Laura Jones would love to hear from you. Full details on how to do this are given in the link below.

(botanicgarden.wales)

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Monty Don
Presenter Carol Klein
Presenter Rachel de Thame
Presenter Nick Bailey
Production Manager Mandy Knight
Series Producer Sharon Fisher
Executive Producer Paolo Proto

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