https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/flowershows/ en Copyright 2011 Sun, 27 Jul 2008 11:28:55 +0000 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/?v=4.33-en http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss The back to back gardens are very good for hard landscaping ideas and I spotted a brick edged path in-filled with pebbles stuck into concrete, much like a mosaic. Or, there's a stone path with grass instead of mortar and something more contemporary, a metal grid suspended over a bog garden - almost like a bridge. However, the one that I'm going to copy at home is the path in 'The Garden for Bees'. It's a gravel path planted with an informal drift of thyme, which smells as good as it looks. The good news for me is that I've already got a gravel path, all I have to do is add the 'thyme' and once the flower show is over, I'll have the 'time' to do it. ]]> Alison Leslie https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/flowershows/2008/07/thyme_to_go.html https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/flowershows/2008/07/thyme_to_go.html Alison Leslie Sun, 27 Jul 2008 11:28:55 +0000 Not to be outdone however, many garden designers have used art in their show gardens. The Moorcroft Natural Woman Garden incorporates a handcrafted Moorcroft tile featuring the garden's plants, bees and butterflies. There's even more artwork from designers who are showcasing their work here. One of my favourites is by an artist who has created leaping hares from twisted, plastic-coated wire - he's really managed to inject movement into his pieces. I'd love to take one home but I can't afford the price tag. ]]> Alison Leslie https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/flowershows/2008/07/art_in_the_garden.html https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/flowershows/2008/07/art_in_the_garden.html Alison Leslie Sat, 26 Jul 2008 14:38:18 +0000 Claire 'Minty' Minter did her travel reports from the flower show for Tony Snell's Breakfast programme, as well as chatting to anyone else she could find at that time in the morning - it felt like we were the only people about but she did manage to track down one or two stalwarts, including Show Manager, Kris Hulewicz. Later, we were joined by BBC Radio Lancashire's, John 'Gilly' Gilmore. Gilly was on air all afternoon and boy, was it hot! Luckily for Gilly, he'd brought his producer, Sue Hendey, who ensured he was covered in Factor 50 and had plenty of water. However, there's not much shade and they were both wilting by 4 o'clock. So, if Minty's early starts and Gilly's sunstroke haven't put you off and you think you can give Wogan a run for his money, get yourself a nickname...]]> Alison Leslie https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/flowershows/2008/07/an_early_start.html https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/flowershows/2008/07/an_early_start.html Alison Leslie Fri, 25 Jul 2008 11:20:47 +0000 We started broadcasting on Wednesday with reporters and presenters from BBC Radio Stoke, Coventry and Warwickshire and Manchester. Luckily they managed to find us. You can see the aerials on the top of the 'OB' van, you can't really miss them, they're 20 foot tall - you just can't work out how to get in to them. We also did '2-ways' for BBC Radio Wiltshire, Oxford, Lancashire, Hereford and Worcester, Sheffield, Tees, Gloucestershire and Jersey. What's an 'OB' or a '2-way'? Like many organisations the BBC is full of jargon and acronyms...I'll share the secrets with you another time.]]> Alison Leslie https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/flowershows/2008/07/broadcasts_begin.html https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/flowershows/2008/07/broadcasts_begin.html Alison Leslie Thu, 24 Jul 2008 08:30:00 +0000 'Go With the Flow' last night by the designers of a show garden of the same name. I spent an idle 10 minutes or so, reclining on a steamer chair, mulling over the merits of the garden. Harry Levy and Geoff Carter have put a lot of work into getting it just right. They have created a garden full of interest with cascading water, a pool and colourful, mediterranean planting, as well as providing somewhere to relax and entertain. All I needed was a bottle of Barolo and a couple of glasses and I would have been there a lot longer. ]]> Alison Leslie https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/flowershows/2008/07/a_brief_chance_to_relax.html https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/flowershows/2008/07/a_brief_chance_to_relax.html Alison Leslie Wed, 23 Jul 2008 09:53:18 +0000 It's the Flower Show at Tatton Park next week, with the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show behind us there's no time to stop and smell the roses...including the ones I purchased in the Rose Marquee! I'll be at Tatton with my engineer, John Reynolds, providing more broadcasting facilities for BBC local radio stations across England. There's been a real surge of interest in the show this year with more stations than ever coming along to broadcast their programmes from the two thousand acre deer park, near Knutsford. It's not surprising though as Tatton Park is a really great show with lots to offer and a friendly atmosphere too. Chris Beardshaw has designed a specially commissioned show garden to celebrate Cheshire's Year of Gardens '08 and he's kindly freed up some space in his diary to talk to BBC local radio stations on Wednesday. One of my highlights will be meeting him again. Ooops! Do excuse me, I seem to have dropped a name... Alison Leslie https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/flowershows/2008/07/do_excuse_me_i_seem_to_have_dr.html https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/flowershows/2008/07/do_excuse_me_i_seem_to_have_dr.html Alison Leslie Thu, 17 Jul 2008 12:00:45 +0000 It's not glamorous being a radio producer either though - it's all about being dry, warm and comfortable and for me that means sturdy boots, old jeans and a T-shirt but more importantly this week, a waterproof jacket and hat. Lots of visitors to the shows like to dress up for the occasion and around every corner is a gentleman in a cream linen suit or a woman in a floral dress. I've even seen handbags in the shape of watering cans! I'm certainly not going to win any prizes for sartorial elegance...]]> Alison Leslie https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/flowershows/2008/07/the_elegance_of_radio.html https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/flowershows/2008/07/the_elegance_of_radio.html Alison Leslie Sat, 12 Jul 2008 11:27:43 +0000 Floral Marquees almost to ourselves as we made our way to the local radio OB vans. The scents, as you walk through, are absolutely wonderful, no more so than when we walked past an exhibit of lilies. There wasn't much time to stop and admire them though as we had to get ready for our first broadcast. It had started raining before we had even left the hotel...and it didn't stop. It wasn't like the heavy deluges that we had had on Monday - at least the sun had come out occasionally then. This was a ceaseless downpour and it was grey and overcast all day. We were due to talk to BBC Southern Counties Radio's Fred Marden at 7.50am and I went along to the show garden to meet the exhibitor there. Unfortunately he was stuck in traffic and wasn't going to make it so with two minutes to spare I turned around and spotted Neil Lucas of Knoll Gardens. Neil is an expert in ornamental grasses, from Wimborne in Dorset, and a seasoned broadcaster, so I trotted over (...you don't run anywhere when you're on the radio or you end up sounding like you're having an asthma attack!) and stuck a pair of headphones on his head, telling him I needed an 'emergency' guest. Good old Neil took it all in his stride. ]]> Alison Leslie https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/flowershows/2008/07/radio_reflections.html https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/flowershows/2008/07/radio_reflections.html Alison Leslie Fri, 11 Jul 2008 10:49:43 +0000 Chelsea Flower Show and used everyone's left overs to build his show garden. ]]> Alison Leslie https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/flowershows/2008/07/no_time_to_relax.html https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/flowershows/2008/07/no_time_to_relax.html Alison Leslie Wed, 09 Jul 2008 17:48:51 +0000 Saturday turned out better than predicted - I even got a little sunburnt and was worried that I'd pack the wrong clothes entirely. Fear not though, today it rained...and it rained...and it rained. We borrow one of the OB vans from BBC Radio Northampton and their Engineer, Richard Hunt, very kindly delivers it, helps rig it and then does the same in reverse at the end of our stay. John Reynolds, a freelance engineer, is here for the duration and gets BBC local radio stations on air - and keeps them there as long as they need to be. Once he's ensconced in the van, he generally stays there for the rest of the day and one of my jobs is to keep him fed and watered. He is often monitoring several outside broadcasts at once and makes it look easier than it actually is - that's because he's been an engineer for over 30 years and has been engineering the RHS flower shows for 8 years. We're using the second OB van as a studio but it's also my office and very cosy it is indeed. Despite Saturday being a rig day, we still managed to get Bob Sweet, RHS Shows Director on air, talking to BBC Three Counties Radio's, Gill Gauntlett. However, our 'studio' wasn't quite ready so Bob had to stand at the back of the OB van instead - nowhere near glamorous enough for a man of his stature. It's a good job that Bob is happy to 'muck in'. Sunday was much busier. We arrived on site at 6.30am in time for John Marshall, Designer of the Back to the Future - Lessons from Africa for the survival of the British Garden and Helen Kongai, an organic farmer from Africa, to talk to 12 different stations, one after the other, about their garden. At the same time Trevor Tooth, award-winning Chelsea garden designer and one of BBC Radio Kent's gardening experts was co-hosting their Sunday morning gardening show with Martin Buchanan, who was in the Kent studio. Then, just before 9am, Joe Talbot arrived in time for BBC Southern Counties Radio's Dig It gardening show. Joe was helped by experts Jean Griffin and Nigel Boardman. Nigel is one of the designers of Hope - The Way Forward, one of the show garden's. Whilst Joe was out and about around the showground, Jim Wheble from BBC London arrived to do a report for Christopher Biggins and Lesley Joseph. Jim had had a puncture on his push bike so he'd only just made it. I met him, close to the Thai Floating Market, and being the professional he is, he was on air within seconds of arriving. Tim Hubbard of BBC Radio Cornwall got in on the act just before 10 to talk to James Stewart about this years show. James is Editor of the BBC's Special Features Unit, which is responsible for the RHS project. He's also my boss, however the tables are turned during the show when he becomes my reporter and I get to tell him what to do... The sun actually came out for a while on Sunday morning, in between the downpours, and Jekka McVicar of Jekka's Herb Farm and Mary Payne, one of the designers of the Winchester Growers Garden in the Daily Mail Pavilion, sat outside talking to BBC Radio Bristol's Trevor Fry. Their timing couldn't have been better, it started to rain again just as they said goodbye to Trevor. Soon after, Geoff Hodge, gardening expert for BBC Radio Cambridgeshire turned up to talk to Sue Dougan for Dougan Does Gardening. Geoff spent the first hour in our 'studio' but between 11am and 12pm we gave him a backpack which allowed him to talk to Sue whilst roaming around the showground. Our final broadcasting for the day was with BBC Radio Solent's Georgina Windsor and her producer, Garry Green. Georgina presents The Good Life, an interesting mix of gardening and green issues - both subjects adequately covered at show. Georgina is a keen gardener herself and was like a kid in a sweetshop - she didn't seem to notice the rain at all in her excitement. It may still be 'build up' at the flower show but there's a great atmosphere here and everyone you meet is friendly and always willing to chat, in spite of any last minute pressures to finish show gardens and exhibits. Alison Leslie https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/flowershows/2008/07/busy_times_for_the_team.html https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/flowershows/2008/07/busy_times_for_the_team.html Alison Leslie Mon, 07 Jul 2008 10:49:27 +0000 Hampton Court Palace Flower Show - maybe I should replace my shorts and sun cream with Wellingtons and waterproofs... I am heading to the showground tomorrow morning and meeting up with my two engineers, Richard Hunt and John Reynolds, stalwarts of the flower show season. They are delivering two local radio outside broadcast vehicles (OB vans), which we will be using over the next week to bring the show to life for local radio listeners. Well, they do say that the best pictures are on the radio! Richard and John will spend most of the day rigging the vans ready for broadcasting on Sunday morning - not a pleasant job when it's pouring down with rain. Note to self: remember to pack some biscuits for their tea break. There are 40 local radio stations across England and myself, John and a rotating team of three (more of them later) will be on site to ensure they have everything they need to broadcast - whether it's a 3 hour programme or a five minute interview with an exhibitor. ]]> Alison Leslie https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/flowershows/2008/07/setting_up_the_airwaves.html https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/flowershows/2008/07/setting_up_the_airwaves.html Alison Leslie Fri, 04 Jul 2008 18:47:03 +0000