An interactive LEGO® garden, spectacular orchids, never-seen-before plants, and exclusive new ‘audience with’ events are just some of the latest highlights to be announced ahead of next month’s BBC Gardeners’ World Live (12-15 June). It’s just one week until the annual gardening extravaganza opens at the NEC in Birmingham, with more than 90,000 visitors expected.
Designed to inspire young gardeners of the future, the Gardeners of Tomorrow Project is the brainchild of The LEGO® Group and Callum Corrie, a two-time Gold Medal-winning RHS Young Designer from the northwest. Bursting with floral inspiration, the garden’s playful design incorporates LEGO® bricks and imaginative spaces for all generations to get involved, with bold, bright, bee-friendly Geums and Echinacea Miss Scarlet.
It’s set to be another glorious year for the sensory sensation that is the BBC Gardeners’ World Live Floral Marquee, sponsored by L&G. Specialist plant breeders, growers and nurseries have been meticulously nurturing the stars of the Marquee’s Hot Off The Potting Bench gallery. This fabulous floral fashion show will feature more than 75 brand new plants and varieties, all competing for the coveted Peter Seabrook Award for Best New Plant at BBC Gardeners’ World Live. Among entries to watch are a new striped-skin apple, a pure white Thunbergia and a red Clematis.
Members of theYoung People in Horticulture Association will launch a brand-new Begonia at BBC Gardeners’ World Live. Supported by the event, British Garden Centres and Beekenkamp Plants, the YPHA Launch Success Challenge supports the next generation of horticultural talent. Teams gain extensive business and marketing training, honing their skills to bring an unreleased plant to market. British Garden Centres will be selling the new YPHA Begonia at its on-site plant shop.
The UK International Orchid Show returns to the Floral Marquee bigger and better this year. This ‘show within a show’ features eye-popping displays by orchid growers, societies and nurseries from across the UK, Ecuador, Taiwan and Thailand. There are daily talks by leading orchid experts at the Let’s Talk Plants Stage, sponsored by Hillier, and an orchid growing competition for local schools. A new Orchid Conservation Project will promote sustainable orchid collection, conservation in the wild, and the re-introduction of endangered orchid species to their natural habitats.
This year’s BBC Gardeners’ World campaign is Make a Metre Matter, designed to encourage people to transform one metre of outdoor space for the good of the planet. More than 10,340 metres have already been pledged at GardenersWorld.com. Supporting wildlife, saving water and reducing food miles are just some of the eco-friendly benefits these collective metres will have.
BBC Gardeners’ World presenter and designer, Nick Bailey, has created this year’s headline Show Garden, The Plant-Based Garden. Inspired by Nick’s passion for sustainable gardening, it eschews man-made materials for natural alternatives, bringing the Make a Metre Matter campaign ethos to life. With a homestead feel, the garden features wildlife-rich spaces, meadow planting and rustic buildings, with one-metre moments throughout. Nicki Chapman joins Nick on his garden for daily chats about Make a Metre Matter, and he’ll be sharing tips for sustainable gardening at the BBC Gardeners’ World Live Theatre. At the Let’s Talk Plants Stage, the garden’s plant supplier and stage sponsor, Hillier, will have tips and advice for how to recreate the Plant-Based Garden’s look at home.
Visitors can get an even closer look at The Plant-Based Garden by booking a limited-edition ticket for ‘An audience with Nick Bailey’. Hosted by Nicki Chapman, these exclusive, newly released events take place on the garden on Thursday 12th June at 10.30am and Sunday 15th June at 2.30pm. BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine editor, Kevin Smith, will be hosting ‘An audience with Rachel de Thame’ at Midlands Air Ambulance Charity’s The Medicinal Garden on Sunday 15th June at 12.30pm.
Lucy Tremlett, Event Director at Immediate Live, organisers of BBC Gardeners’ World Live, said: “This is a really special time of year for us and we can’t wait to welcome visitors to this year’s event. With exciting new features, garden inspiration everywhere you look, and new plants and ideas to take home, it’s a great day out whether you’re a first-time gardener or hardy horticulturalist.”
BBC Gardeners’ World Live is a four-day festival of summer gardening. There are more than 40 inspiring Show Gardens, Showcase Gardens and Beautiful Borders by award-winning designers and landscaping teams, member companies from the Association of Professional Landscapers, and first-time garden designers too. Tickets are available at www.bbcgardenersworldlive.com and include entry to Good Food Show Summer, featuring top chefs and food personalities, delicious food and drink to taste and buy, live cookery demonstrations, tastings and workshops.
Source Julie Parmenter, Brampton PR on behalf of BBC Gardeners’ World events
