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GQT at ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ: Euryops and Euonymus

Kathy Clugston hosts the horticultural programme featuring a group of gardening experts.

Kathy Clugston hosts the horticultural programme featuring a group of gardening experts. This week's panellists are the ever-knowledgeable Chris Thorogood, Bob Flowerdew, and Bunny Guinness.

On this week's programme, the panel answer the question of whether it's possible to grow your own cup of tea. Keeping it in the kitchen, they also assess whether a passionfruit plant grown from seed will ever fruit, and explain what is going on with a confused ginger plant.

Away from the questions, Matt Biggs heads to Special Plants nursery in Bath to ask Derry Watkins for her best seed harvesting tips, and Advolly Richmond sings the praises of an often overlooked plant, common ivy.

Producer - Hannah Newton
Assistant Producer - Aniya Das

A Somethin' Else production for ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Radio 4

Available now

42 minutes

Plant List

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

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Q – Is it possible to grow a tea plant to make a cuppa in the UK, and if so, how?

(1 minute 20 seconds)

Ìý

Chris –

Camellia sinensis

Ìý

Q – How do you plant more and more bulbs in a border, without damaging the bulbs already in the ground?

(5 minutes 15 seconds)

Ìý

Q – What would be the most fool proof, fastest growing fern to grow for a wedding in the UK?

(7 minutes 45 seconds)

Ìý

Chris –

PolystichumÌýsetiferum, Soft shield fern

Dryopteris, Wood fern
AspleniumÌýscolopendrium, Hart’s tongue fern

Ìý

Bob –

SambucusÌýnigraÌý‘Black Lace’

SambucusÌýnigraÌý‘´¡³Ü°ù±ð²¹â€™

Ìý

Q – Four years ago my son planted some passionfruit seeds. It’s growing well, but it’s getting a bit bare at the base. Will we ever get fruit from it?

(10 minutes 50 seconds)

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Feature – Matt Biggs asks Derry Watkins in Bath for her best seed harvesting tips.

(13 minutes 20 seconds)

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Q – We have recently had a north facing slope in our garden terraced, using sleepers. I’d like suggestions for low growing plants to hang over both raised beds on the terraces.

Ìý(19 minutes 5 seconds)

Ìý

Chris –

Aubrieta ‘Chianti’

Aubrieta ‘G±ô´Ç°ù¾±²¹â€™

AlyssumÌýmontanumÌý'Mountain Gold'

Euphorbia myrsinites

Ìý

Bunny –

Rosa ‘Grouse 2000’

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Bob –

Strawberries

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Q – As an experiment I planted some supermarket ginger which has grown successfully. Every year in spring it does the same thing from now until mid-summer; the ends of the leaves brown and the whole plant dies back. Then in the summer new shoots appear and it starts again. Why does it do this?

(24 minutes 25 seconds)

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Q – I planted a Euonymus europaeus 'Red Cascade' a few years ago which grows well and fruits. By the end of June the berries have all fallen off. What can I do to encourage it to fruit properly?

(28 minutes 22 seconds)

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Feature – Plant historian Advolly Richmond sings the praises of an often overlooked plant, common ivy.

(33 minutes)

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Q – I have lots of Euryops, both varieties, on top of a bank. When should I prune them, and when can I thin them out?
(36 minutes 20 seconds)

Ìý

Chris –

Euryops pectinatus
Euryops chrysanthemoides

Brachyglottis ‘S³Ü²Ô²õ³ó¾±²Ô±ð’

Ìý

Q – If I want to let off steam, I find stirring my compost bin very satisfying. What gardening jobs help the panel in troubled times?

(39 minutes 25 seconds)

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