Joe Swift
| 12:39 UK time, Tuesday, 20 May 2008
I think the show is brilliant this year; I'm impressed by the weather! It makes a massive difference to everyone.
The urban gardens are amazing, five golds out of 12, really well deserved. The show gardens are great, contemporary gardens are a staple of the show, there are no traditional gardens at Chelsea anymore, just good design applied to different styles of gardens.
I'm looking around for any tips for my Gardeners' World allotment...
The urban gardens are amazing, five golds out of 12, really well deserved. The show gardens are great, contemporary gardens are a staple of the show, there are no traditional gardens at Chelsea anymore, just good design applied to different styles of gardens.
I'm looking around for any tips for my Gardeners' World allotment...
Comment number 1.
At 20th May 2008, boundoriginals wrote:Can I just ask what has happened to Alan's sideburns?
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Comment number 2.
At 20th May 2008, carmentothegarden wrote:Yesterday we saw lots about the lovely ladies of Jamaica in their thirteenth year at Chelsea. Today nothing! What happened to them? Even if they didn't win we want to know.
PS Alan's sideburns give him a strangely oriental look
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Comment number 3.
At 20th May 2008, Cuppa Tea wrote:Alan, pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease sort your sideburns out! They are a funny shape!
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Comment number 4.
At 20th May 2008, Kindlygeorgina wrote:When I put the telvision on this evening I thought I was going to see much of the Chelsea Flower Show. What transpired was conversations and chats by the commentators and insufficient time spent looking at the floral displays etc. at the show. For me it would be far more enjoyable if we saw more than the gardens i.e. the floral marquee, with the variety of flowers and plants and only sporadic words in the background.
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Comment number 5.
At 20th May 2008, cherifitz wrote:I am enjoying the Show, but someone please cut Alan's sideburns thay are very distracting. Everytime i see him i check if someone has brushed past with the shears and errradicated the hairy problem.
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Comment number 6.
At 21st May 2008, jayneharrison wrote:Alan's sideburns are mesmerising but i am sure someone will create a work of art out of them and plonk them in a garden for next year! What happened to the ladies of Kent? They did a wonderful floral dispaly and then nothing! Did they win anything?
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Comment number 7.
At 23rd May 2008, bluebell19 wrote:The gardens have all been lovely and Alan is looking as suave as ever - talking of which, it's nice to see Lawrence Llewellyn-Bowen back on our screens. Maybe he could join the presenting team next year!
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Comment number 8.
At 1st Apr 2009, crispsmith wrote:Joe Swift mentioned he was going to change to 'Legend' climbing french bean with juicier pods. Where can the seeds/plants be bought? Who supplies them?
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Comment number 9.
At 18th May 2009, mspaulap wrote:I was appalled by Alan Titchmarsh's sneering report on the plasticine garden - much of which was created by children. If the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ couldn't find someone who could be more impartial, then it would be better not to report it all. The garden celebrates flowers, vegetables, colour and creativity. Is he really pretending that most of the show gardens are not mere artifice? Would those gardens really survive in their beautiful perfection for more than a week? The flowers that have been preened, kept under artificial light and heat for weeks to produce blooms out of season are no less artificial than the plasticine cauliflowers or roses.
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Comment number 10.
At 18th May 2009, itb1970 wrote:Nice to see all the celebraties getting another freebie. Why do they get a day to themselves while us paying public struggle to then get tickets. Get rid of the celebs & open it up to the paying public. So we can all have a look. Thanks
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Comment number 11.
At 19th May 2009, clearposhann wrote:I have to say I've been disappointed with the coverage of the show so far.
I expected to see lots of plants and information about buying and growing them etc.
Instead, far too much time is being spent on pointless presenter chatter.
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Comment number 12.
At 19th May 2009, Ann_N_Thusiast wrote:Gardening as nostalgia, comedy, celebrity and fashion but not much about plants or environment as far as I can see.
After all the hand wringing about the environment and biodiversity, the UK(yes the UK, not just the Amazon) is losing plants, orchards, bees, mammals etc at a worrying pace. A garden is the only piece of land that one can personally have influence over, increase indigenous biodiversity and make a difference. And with the many gardens and gardeners there are, that can cumulatively be a big difference.
There seems to be a disconnect between those on telly and people watching it and doing your bit in the garden. Sure, have some fun, but you guys could help a bit more by showing us more of horticultural merit!
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Comment number 13.
At 19th May 2009, lucas-german wrote:Could we have more plants and gardens and less presenters. Perhaps just voiceovers?
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Comment number 14.
At 19th May 2009, Ramscliff wrote:Now, I like a good TV presenter as much as the next person. Indeed the good ones even enhance my viewing pleasure. I can even tolerate the ones that don't add anything enjoyable to a programme. So, why is it that I have to turn the volume down whenever Joe Swift appears on TV. I wish I could simply accept him as a less favourite presenter because his over loud, slack jawed vocals coupled with an uncomfortable screen presence and faux mateyness on the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's gardening programmes are spoiling my enjoyment of one of lifes greatest pleasures - gardening. On gardening programmes there should be no need for more than 10% "presenter time" and even then they should be in garden settings - not perched uncomfortably on balconies or inside a "shed"!
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Comment number 15.
At 19th May 2009, ralebag wrote:Am glad I'm not the only person who thinks coverage this year is being bogged down with presentation over-kill. I'm not an experienced gardener and it's off putting hearing terms that sound like the presenters are giving high-brow (and dull) fine art reviews; what the heck does a garden "narrative" mean???
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Comment number 16.
At 20th May 2009, internetnell wrote:it would be nice if we could see much more of the other show gardens, and not keep going back to the same ones all the time, and please more of Carol talking about the plants :)
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Comment number 17.
At 20th May 2009, Stuart6903 wrote:Whilst I am enjoying the coverage of Chelsea last night's offering was memorable for poetry as much as the results of the judges. Is there any chance of it being published in full so we can enjoy it again? Oh I think the plasticine garden was great - if it persuades anyone to look more closely at real plants then it will have proved to be just as relevant as the other exhibits - and the fact that the RHS awarded it an appropriate medal shows that they are human after all.
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Comment number 18.
At 20th May 2009, greenlearner wrote:I would like propose a new category for Chelsea show gardens next year, reflecting what we, Jo and Joanna public can achieve: on a limited budget, plants and flowers all to be grown in an 'average' sized urban/suburban garden with only an 'average' sized greenhouse [sizes to be specified], there could therefore be very few 'hot house', giant poly-tunnel, or 'deep-freeze' exotics and out-of-season miracles; and no expensive sculptures or professional designers' grandiose ideas.
Like other bloggers, I loved James May's original plasticine garden and would like to see more of it. The 'expert' ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ presenters and the medal winners could take a leaf out of James' book on talking about his exhibit with humility and humour.
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Comment number 19.
At 20th May 2009, robertonedin wrote:I have to agree with many of the comments on the presentation of "The Chelsea FLOWER Show" there must be thousand of gardeners like myself, who are not able to spend Thousands of pounds on "SHOW GARDENS" but would like a bit more time on the floral pavillion or the smaller gardens, who put in just as much hard work and effort into making the show a success.
And please producer and presenters a little less chatting among yourselves, as we the viewers sit patiantly waiting for more pictures of the wonderful flowers on display. Do any of our comments ever make any difference I wonder? here's hoping, but I won't hold my breath.
PS More Carol & Christine Please
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