We’re past the solstice, so it’s time to both revel in the present and prepare for what's to come as the days get longer and warmer. So, in this week’s show, we’re doing exactly that, taking note of winter wins – like winter-flowering camellias and snowdrops– and addressing RHS members’ questions as we look ahead to the growing season to come.

Presenter: Guy Barter

Contributors: Jack Aldridge, Naomi Slade, James Lawrence, Becky Mealey, Michaela Freed

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Autumn and winter-flowering camellias

RHS The Winter Garden 

Wisteria: pruning

Snowdrops

To start off the new year right, we decided to begin with a practical and sustainable guide on what you can get up to outdoors this year – it’s what we’re calling a sustainability health check for the garden. We’ll be chatting about the state of play on peat-free growing, hearing from a range of RHS experts for some top garden sustainability tips, and exploring the future of grow-your-own in our ever-changing climate.

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Peat-free gardening

Peat- free nurseries

10 ways to be more sustainable in your garden

Edible: 70 Sustainable Plants That Are Changing How We Eat

For our final episode of 2023, we’re taking a look back at some of our favourite moments on the podcast and across the RHS from the year, exploring emerging trends, new beginnings, and time-honoured advice. Stay tuned for highlights from Director General Clare Matterson, Head of Editorial Tom Howard, Head of Libraries and Exhibitions Fiona Davison, and more. 

Presenters: Gareth Richards & Guy Barter

Contributors: Clare Matterson, Tom Howard, Fiona Davison, Jenny Laville, and Jenny Bowden

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Rewilding Small Spaces

The Winter Garden

Maximising Minimal Space

As we approach the most festive time of year, we’ve decided to share a recipe for a plant-filled Christmas. In this episode, we’ll be returning to Bristol with Naomi Slade to hear how she decks her halls with things from the garden. We’ll then be making our way to the Frenchay Christmas Tree Farm to get a feel for life at the busiest point in their calendar. And finally, we’re exploring the curious world of parasitic plants, including a festive favourite: mistletoe.

Presenter: Guy Barter

Contributors: Naomi Slade, Simon Maughan, Alex Summers

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RHS The Winter Garden

Frenchay Christmas Tree Farm

How to grow your own mistletoe

Christmas with the RHS

This week, we’re wrapping up warm and heading out into our gardens to take a moment to really appreciate our garden birds. Wildlife sound recordist Gary Moore gives us a masterclass on recognising the calls of common birds at this time of year. Writer and wildlife gardening guru Kate Bradbury shares her top tips for making a bird-friendly garden. And finally, we delve into the story behind the remarkable number of American songbirds that made it across the Atlantic this autumn. 

Presenter: Guy Barter

Contributors: Gary Moore, Kate Bradbury, and Rob Jaques

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Birds in your garden

Plants for birds

RHS Wildlife Gardening for everyone and everything, 

RHS How to Create a Wildlife Pond

Garden BirdWatch

BTO’s BirdTrack Migration Blog

Weeds have many faces. They feed birds, butterflies, bees, and the like. They spread like wildfire, but are resilient. They compete with crops, yet can add colour and beauty at times when our gardens feel lacklustre. They’re complicated – and the way we regard them, even more so. So, in today's show, we’re taking a holistic look at the weeds in our gardens – discussing what constitutes a weed, how to deal with them safely, and how we can see them as more than the enemy. Chief horticulturist Guy Barter chats about this upcoming book What’s That Weed?, the students who brought together Wisley’s ‘What is a Weed?’ exhibition share their perspectives on these rapid spreaders, and finally, author Ann Treneman gives her advice on creating weed containers. 

Presenter: Gareth Richards

Contributors: Guy Barter, Ann Treneman, Students from St John the Baptist School

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RHS Weeds: The beauty and uses of 50 vagabond plants

Identify common weeds

Controlling Weeds

Exhibition: What is a weed?

With the first cold snap hitting the UK this past week, it’s really starting to feel like winter. It’s a time of structural beauty, of evergreen supremacy, of frosty seedheads, and of low but magical light. So this week, we’re focusing in on all the mystery and enchantment of a winter garden. We’re chatting with author Naomi Slade about designing and revamping gardens in the colder months, leaning into year-round grow-your-own with garden manager Sheila Das, and exploring how to bring a bit of the winter charm inside with what’s available now to pick. 

Presenter: Guy Barter

Contributors: Naomi Slade, Sheila Das, Gareth Richards, Hazel Gardiner, and Shane Connolly

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RHS The Winter Garden

Vegetables: growing for winter

Winter Flowers Week

It’s that time of year again… Our annual book special is here! Today, Helen Griffin, RHS Book Publishing Manager, chats with Fiona Davidson, Guy Barter, and Arthur Parkinson about their top gardening book picks of 2023. Tune in for a discussion on the future of GYO and resilient planting, the relevance of gardening history, and wildcard topics like cut flowers, winter gardening, and yes, even murder. 

Presenter: Helen Griffin

Contributors: Fiona Davidson, Guy Barter, Arthur Parkinson, and Matt Pottage

Books Discussed:

As the surrounding world starts looking a little bleaker, we’ve decided to explore how to best turn our homes into verdant oases. RHS Digital Editor Jenny Laville chats with Gareth Richards about the best low-maintenance houseplants, fun climbers for indoors, and underrated care tips and tricks. Social historian Catherine Horwood regales us with the history of ever-changing houseplant trends. And finally, author and podcaster Alice Vincent reveals the role houseplants played in her own gardening journey.

Presenters: Gareth Richards and Jenny Laville

Contributors: Catherine Horwood and Alice Vincent

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Picking the right houseplant

Houseplants for different locations

Houseplants for students

Potted History: How Houseplants Took Over Our Homes

Why Women Grow: Stories of Soil, Sisterhood and Survival

Rootbound: Rewilding a Life

This week, we’re journeying back through time, taking stock of a few significant moments in botanical history. We’re unravelling their mysteries, considering their reverberations, and imagining what this all might mean for the future. We're starting with a tale on the first flowering of the giant waterlily in cultivation, then discovering how ‘Midwinter Fire’ gave Cornus sanguinea a whole new reputation, and finally, we're taking a look at the life and legacy of Arthur Bulley, founder of Ness Botanic Gardens. Each of these stories draws inspiration from articles in the December issue of The Plant Review.

The Plant Review

RHS A Plant for Every Day of the Year

Foggy Bottom: A Garden to Share

Ness Botanic Gardens