How My Garden Grows

Columbine Hall is the home of newspaper publisher Hew Stevenson. He and his late wife first saw a very different sight in November 1992: a concrete farmyard covered in mud, but the moat was breached and the couple embarked on a lifelong transformation. They gradually demolished grain silos, buried overhead wires and removed asbestos. View were enhanced by planting 1,000 English native woodland trees, and a garden of vistas emerged …

Although many gardens we visit merit a second look, we couldn’t wait to go back and see how Andrew Salter’s garden was growing this summer. He bravely welcomed us in darkest November to see his collection of conifers, and of course they’re still there this time round, standing tall, but they’re almost overwhelmed by a vast selection of vivid, sweet-smelling summer blooms in a moat of plants surrounding his small black barn. So, what has been growing while we were away?

Once museum curator and now textile artist, Jane-Ann Walton has a particular passion for auriculas. Originally tiny alpine mountain plants, auriculas made their way to this country via Huguenot weavers arriving in Norwich and Spitalfields in the 16th century. Jane-Ann grows over 500 of these delicate, heart-stopping flowers which she displays in "auricula theatres." Each frilly nosegay of flowers is held on a straight stem above a rosette of often farina-covered leaves in its own terracotta pot. Join us on a tour of Jane-Ann's four-acre plot in deepest Norfolk to discover the unique history of these plants and learn from the mistakes of a committed expert.

Great Dixter’s garden has got to be one the most famous in the country, so it was with great difficulty that the podcast team dragged itself away from its stunning borders, flower-filled meadows and iconic features to focus on its less trumpeted achievements: its scholarship, its compost and its success in increasing biodiversity.