SPEAKER_00 0:00

So another month and another season in September. And that means the twenty twenty six BBC Gardeners World auto almost upon us it's held at a fabulous at Audley End House and Garden in South and Warden in Essex. From Friday the eleventh of September to Sunday the thirteenth. And it has on offer this year as always. Well, joining me now to see what's planned is editor of BBC Gardeners World magazine, Kevin Smith. Hello, Kevin. How are you?

SPEAKER_01 0:27

I'm very well, thank you. And I'm looking forward to our Autumn Fair. That's how I am.

SPEAKER_00 0:32

It's it's brilliant. The countdown is officially on with it being September. So a fabulous time of year. Just just sum up for me first. How much do you love this season and this fair?

SPEAKER_01 0:43

Well, I really like this fair, not least because it's not far from me at home. I garden in Essex. So Audley End is sort of my stomping ground. So it's always nice for me that it's my local gardeners world event. And it's just wonderful. It has a sense of the new season, of starting afresh, of you know having lots of opportunity and possibility. And there's loads of plants to buy, delicious food to eat, all within the gorgeous grounds of Audley End, as you say. And you can go and have a look in the house. There's only some live music, dogs are allowed. It's just a lovely, lovely day out. There's nothing not to like, in all honesty.

SPEAKER_00 1:19

You've just said that you you garden not far from here. This is your stomping ground. Tell me, give me a little glimpse of what you're growing at the moment.

SPEAKER_01 1:28

Um, well, um I I um have a very drought tolerant garden, so I've got lots of things that cope really well with very little rain, which is of course what we've had over this summer. So lots of very convenient, Kevin. Yes, lots of grasses, um, lots of beaner, lots of alliums, that sort of stuff. But I also grow veg and I've got shady areas, um, so a bit of everything really, but uh the the good thing is it is starting to rain, it is perfect for um for planting and planting new things and and getting new stuff into the ground. And I'm always, always tempted by the shopping at the autumn fair because they're the nursery people that are there, they really are marvellous, they know their stuff so well. If you're after you know, either a really good bargain or a particularly special plant, it's bound to be there, and they're only too willing to give you all the advice you need for for growing it as well. So um I'm sure I'll be going home with a boot full of things to plant once autumn arrives proper.

SPEAKER_00 2:23

Well, you've sort of just uh just answered the question that I was just going to ask you next. I mean, having worked with Gardener's World, well, for some years now, you're a bit of a veteran, aren't you? What what still excites you about gardening? Is it, you know, you've said those new bits and shopping and you know keeping your inspiration going, but what what particularly excites you about it?

SPEAKER_01 2:43

Well, there's a few things really. I mean, firstly, I I love the creativity of the whole thing. Um, creating a garden and watching something grow, watching plants and flowers bloom is just so beautiful, it really is. And I just enjoy creating something that that just looks so gorgeous and is in harmony with the natural world. But I think the best thing about gardening is there's always next year. So if things don't quite go to plan, truly doesn't matter because you've got you know, you've got another year that you can have another go or try something different. And there's just all that optimism really surrounding it. You know, it's always really forward-thinking and forward-looking, and it's um that's what I love about it. It's it's constantly evolving, it's never done, and if things don't go to plan, you can always have another try.

SPEAKER_00 3:28

That is really quite inspirational and um and it gives me a little bit of hope that I think I'm a dreadful gardener. I can I can do orchids, which somebody was very, very surprised that I can sort orchids. It's only because I put them in my bathroom and they look after themselves. But that that advice is going to carry me through always the next year. You should put that on a on a on a pin or something and sell it. What talking about trends, what what's going on at the moment? What what trend do you secretly love?

SPEAKER_01 3:58

Well, it's actually linked really to our weather and our climate, and that that might sound quite worthy, and I don't mean it to be, but what's happening, you're finding people are popping up all over the place um really working out how to grow in these very challenging and changeable conditions that we have. So I know Frances Tophoo, who is one of the guests that uh is going to be on the Gardeners World stage, she really, really is all about how we can grow plants in the most sustainable way possible and uh have things that are really going to be resilient um in the face of climate change. So I love that. That's what I love, is that us gardeners, we're an adaptive bunch. Um we are the trend, I guess, is learning how to adapt, learning how to cope with weather extremes. And actually, it just goes to show how clever plants are. You know, there are some things that are difficult to go, perhaps in in the weather and conditions that we have at the moment, but there is always something that will uh rise to the service and do us proud. So um, yeah, it's just the versatility of gardening, I think.

SPEAKER_00 4:59

Yeah, I mean you've mentioned one of the the guests there. I guess uh we'll get on. I'd just like to ask you about you know who else who else is going to pop up in some of those um conversations on the stage. But I guess some of those conversations are going to be dominated by the recent drought and the water shortages and all that, and then then we might have, you know, very heavy rain and things. Do you are you expecting that to be a bit of a theme at Audley End for people asking advice?

SPEAKER_01 5:23

I'm sure it will be, yeah, absolutely. And many people that we will be visiting the show will of course still be in a hose pipe ban. Um so we'll be talking about that a great deal, I imagine. And yeah, it's the extremes. It's been very dry, but then we're we're possibly likely to get big deluges of rain. So how do you then cope with that? And I'm sure, I'm sure we'll be discussing that on the stages, yeah. I'm I'm quite sure.

SPEAKER_00 5:46

You'll be hosting the BBC Gardener's World magazine stage. You've mentioned Francis, you've got Adam Frost there on the Saturday as well, and Sue Kent and Ashley Edwards. Lots of lots of advice on all sorts of different topics. There's really, I mean, there is so much on offer, isn't there, throughout this show. What give me a give me a flavour. You've mentioned the shopping there as well. What else should visitors make that make time to look at?

SPEAKER_01 6:09

Well, there are the beautiful borders, which are one of my most favourite things. They pop up at all Gardeners World shows, and they're like little mini show gardens, really, so full of inspiration, so planting combinations and little simple landscaping hacks. And the thing I love about these borders is that they're often created by amateur gardeners, so not professionals or professional designers or landscapers, but people that just are passionate about gardening and want to give uh something a go, you know, want to have their first toe in the water of creating something at a show. And they're usually so beautiful, um, full of inspiration. So I love those. But then I also love the bigger show gardens, which are created by professional landscapers and designers, because they show often what you can do in a small space, give you a few ideas to create in your garden at home, and um just lovely to see a garden all in one piece. Um there, they're being created for the show. It's just brilliant.

SPEAKER_00 7:06

And there's also things to uh to uh get your taste buds going as well, isn't there? The autumn table tastings. I mean, they sound and look fabulous.

SPEAKER_01 7:15

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, there are plenty of other things that you can get involved with. So, as you say, there's the autumn table, which is um, you know, harvest themed food and drink, and um there are daily tasting sessions there, and then there are lots of workshops you can get involved with, so wreath making from dried, dried sort of flowers and materials and and yeah, the food, as you say, is a highlight. I mean, even if you don't get a chance to go onto the the autumn table, um just the uh the sort of the artisan uh street food trucks that are there and everything, I always look forward to lunch a great deal.

SPEAKER_00 7:48

I bet. Yeah, there's a a great, a great array. But uh what I love particularly the autumn table tasting, the taste of a variety of the um apples and pears that are grown at Audley End, which which is part of it as well, because the tickets, don't they, they include entry to the Audley End house and garden, which is very special.

SPEAKER_01 8:05

Yeah, it is. And I mean, you know, that's a day out in itself, even if you didn't know even if you didn't have the wonderful affair. So yes, you're quite right, you get the chance to uh use your ticket to have a really good tour around the house and the grounds themselves are beautiful. Their walled kitchen garden is one of the best examples of of a wall kitchen garden I think I've ever seen. And, you know, usually the the Audley End gardening team are all on hand for a chat and only two willing to to share their wisdom and uh and advice. So so look out for them, you know, in their English heritage uniforms because they'll be delighted to chat to you, I'm sure.

SPEAKER_00 8:39

I mean the team behind this uh it'd give me a bit of an idea about behind the scenes and and how I mean it must be a hugely enjoyable um job to have if you you know, if you're garden, if you're anything to do with gardening, I mean this must be absolute joy. It's not really a job, is it? But give me a little bit of a glimpse behind the scenes about what goes into the planning and how you keep on top of the trends and and all that kind of stuff. I mean, it it's it it must be uh an immense task.

SPEAKER_01 9:07

It is. I mean, and we plan months and months in advance. So we're already planning our 2027 shows. Um so so yes, lots and lots goes into it, and then there's you know a core team of really skilled event organisers which uh look after all the nuts and bolts or the things that are important, so the parking and the loos and the wi-fi and all of that stuff, but then I I look after the the content side of things. So, you know, what are we going to actually uh bring to the visitors? What are the the theatre sessions going to cover? Uh, what themes and topics do we want to include? Um, is there anything that we'd like to mark or celebrate? So, for example, next year it's the 60th anniversary of Gardeners World television program. So, we're already discussing how we can bring that to life at our live events as well. So, yes, it's it's there's a big team, and the the the lovely thing is that many of us here from the magazine um get involved and take part and you know, host stages like I am. And and the really lovely thing is that it's like seeing old friends as well. You know, we often see um people that we work with, but we don't really see them that often in real life. So actually that's it's really nice just to connect with people, to swap stories, to uh to discuss our our successes and failures in the gardening world, and um yes, just have a chat and catch up. So that's all part of it for us as well.

SPEAKER_00 10:25

It really feels like that when you're at your events. I mean, they're they're incredibly there's the atmosphere there is it's so friendly, so laid back. There's clearly a lot going on, it's clearly meticulously organised, but it's got that it's got that homely family feel as well. And there's nothing ever too much trouble. You can chat to anybody, can't you? And and everybody's willing to have a conversation and and uh and mooch around. And it's just so it's it's just a fabulous atmosphere.

SPEAKER_01 10:52

I completely agree, and I always say that gardeners are some of the friendliest people you'll ever you'll ever meet. And we love sharing our our knowledge and our well, our our things that have gone well and things that haven't gone well, you know. Having a chat with a gardener is always a useful and enjoyable thing, I think.

SPEAKER_00 11:09

Well, like we say, the Audley End House and Garden at Saffron Walden in Essex, BBC Gardeners World Friday the 11th to Sunday the 13th of September. We're well in the countdown for the Autumn Fair, BBC Gardeners World Autumn Fair. Tickets include entry to the House and Garden, which is absolutely fabulous. And Kevin, you'll be at the show all weekend hosting the Gardeners World magazine stage and the subs lounge talks. So um you can find out more, can't you, at BBC Gardenersworld Fair.com.

SPEAKER_01 11:40

You certainly can, and um I would love to see anybody that would like to come along. It really is one of my favourite things of the whole year. So um come and experience it with me for sure.