Welcome back to this weeks exciting episode of the Mic the Gardener – Gardening Podcast. I've always been passionate about looking to the future of gardening and horticulture, and in particular thinking about where the next generation of young gardeners will come from. In today's episode I chat to Victoria who is the Chair and the national organiser of the Young Horticulturist of the Year competition.  Now as the title of the competition clearly tells us, this is a competition to find the best young horticulturist. What are the most reassuring things that comes out of our chat is that there can be up to 2000 entrants into this competition, so there is young gardening and horticultural talent out there for sure. Victoria tells me all about the competition, including: How it came about What's involved in the process Who can enter How to enter What's the winner of the competition receives Key dates, and lots, lots more. It's truly a fascinating episode, and, if you know of anybody who is eligible to enter the Young Horticulturist of the Year competition, do point them in the direction of this podcast and the Young Horticulturalist of the Year website. How refreshing and reassuring to know that the hands of our gardens, horticulture in general and indeed our pallet is in safe hands. As always, it's been a pleasure spending time with you today, so do hit that follow or subscribe button to make sure he don't miss out on future episodes. And if you've enjoyed today's episode, do leave a review with your preferred podcast provider. Bye-bye for now bye-bye. Mike

Hello and welcome back to this week's episode of the Mike the Gardener – Gardening Podcast. In this weeks episode I speak to Chris Collins, horticulturalist, broadcaster and former Gardiner for the BBC TV programme, Blue Peter.

Chris is an extremely passionate plantsman and gardener who has travelled across the world and has some fascinating stories to tell about his exploits in Brighton, Scotland, Cameroon and Japan. He also tells us about his time as a gardener with your iconic British TV programme Blue Peter. 

This episode was recorded in the South Arboretum at the edge of Kew Gardens, on the banks of the River Thames, where Chris once worked. We were also on the London Heathrow flightpath, as you may hear during the course of this episode. 

To find out more about Chris, head to his website and you can follow him on his various social media platforms, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. 

If you enjoy this episode, please do leave a review with your preferred podcast provider. And don't forget to follow/subscribe as there's still more to come  in this series.

If you'd like to get in touch with me, and I love hearing from you all, you can email me at [email protected] or message me directly via my Instagram account at @Mike_TheGardener.

Mike

Hello and welcome back to this weeks episode of the Mic the Gardener – Gardening Podcast.

Temperatures are beginning to warm up, spring has well and truly sprung. Fountains of fresh green foliage are erupting from our borders and containers. It's a most welcome sight. However, with the warmer temperatures and the emergence of our perennials and favourite garden plants, comes an army of some unwanted visitors to the garden. Slugs, snails, aphids, ants, vine weevils and much more.

As an organic gardener, I won't use chemicals / pesticides in my garden. So, in this enlightening episode I chat to Tess the owner of Ladybird Plant Care about how we can deal with garden pests organically.

Ladybird Plant Care has a range of organic, pest control solutions which are safe for pets and children alike.

In this fascinating episode we chat about vine weevils, slugs, snails, aphids and ants, explaining how you identify if you have these pests in your garden, the symptoms, their lifecycles and how, where, when and why we treat them.

For further information head to the Ladybird Plant Care website.

If you haven't already followed or subscribed, do you hit the follow/subscribe button to ensure you don't miss out on future episodes. And, if you're able, please leave a review with your podcast provider.

Many thanks.

Mike

Hello, and welcome back to this weeks episode of them Mic The Gardener – Gardening Podcast.

The word legend is often bandied around without too much consideration as to it meaning. These days, it seems you can have two minutes of fame and still become a legend.

Today, however, I am going to use the word legend for my very special guest.

He's a world renowned plantsman, a bestselling author, a well-known TV presenter and I have been a fan of his for as long as I can remember.

Today, I chat to horticultural legend, Roy Lancaster.

In this wonderful episode, Roy chats to me about his early days, his first book, his love of plants and nature and much much more.

Please don't forget to follow/subscribe to the Mic the Gardener – Gardening Podcast as there's still lots more to come. And, if you're able, it would be absolutely wonderful if you could leave a review with your podcast provider.

In the meantime, I look forward to seeing you next week.

Mike

Hello and welcome back to another episode of the Mic the Gardener - Gardening Podcast.

In this episode we are talking about one of our favourite garden plants roses. I know we all love a beautiful rose in our gardens so today I'm talking to PR and Project Manager from Roses UK, Marilyn Stevens.

Roses UK oversee the very popular Rose of the Year competition and in this fascinating episode Marilyn tells me everything that’s involved with the Rose of the Year. I've been in gardening & horticulture for quite a few years but have to admit to not knowing exactly how much goes in to deciding the winner. I know you will be absolutely amazed.

We talk about everything including:

As always, please don't forget to follow/subscribe as there's still lots more to come. And, if you are able, it would be lovely if you could leave a review with your podcast provider.

You can follow Roses UK on Instagram by clicking here. You can also follow me on Instagram by clicking here.

Meanwhile, I look forward to seeing you here next week.

Mike

Hello there and welcome back to the Mike the Gardener - Gardening Podcast.

In this weeks episode I’m bringing you another Plant special – Sweet Peas!  I chat to Sweet Pea expert and President of the National Sweet Pea Society, Roger Parsons. Roger has been growing sweet peas for 35 years and has his own family run business, Roger Parsons Sweet Peas. He is also the author of the book "Sweet Peas: An Essential Guide’ and co-author of ‘Lathyrus: A Complete Guide”. 

In this fact filled episode Roger tells me everything about growing sweet peas including:

Roger also tells me about the different types of sweet peas and shares his own personal favourite, named after his wife and tells us why he chose this particulsr sweet pea.  We also discuss customer favourites and sweet pea trends.

If you need more information about sweet peas, then head to Rogers website www.rpsweetpeas.com  or perhaps consider joining the National Sweet Pea Society.

As always, please do send me your comments about this episode and the Mic the Gardener podcast to the show’s email address [email protected]. I’d also be very grateful if you could leave a review with your podcast provider.

And don’t forget to follow/subscribe as there’s lots more still to come in the weeks ahead.

Bye-bye for now bye-bye!

Mike

Hello, I'm Mike Palmer, your host of the Mic The Gardener - Gardening Podcast, sponsored by Natural Grower.  Welcome back to this week's episode.

The Mic the Gardener Gardening Podcast has been up and running for just over a year now. In that year I have listened to more gardening podcasts than I've ever done before. One of my go-to podcasts is always Talking Heads, presented by Saul Walker and Lucy Chamberlain, who are both modern day head gardeners in private estates.

This week I'm delighted to be joined by both Saul and Lucy who chat to me about their careers to date, their roles as head gardeners in private estates and much much more.

If, like me, you listen to their podcast, you'll know I was legally obliged to start the conversation by talking about the weather, however, we also discussed:

If you haven't already listened to the Talking Heads podcast, (and I can't believe you haven't), click on this link to have a listen.

Thank you, as always for listening to this weeks podcast. If you haven't already, please do follow/subscribe and leave a review via your preferred podcast provider.

You can also follow me on my Instagram account, @mike_thegardener where I have a live, weekly broadcast from my own garden, every Sunday at 10am (GMT).

Join me next week when I will be discussing everything you need to know about growing sweet peas from seed with leading sweet pea expert, Roger Parsons.

See you next week.

Hello, I'm Mike Palmer, your host of the Mic the Gardener – Gardening Podcast. Welcome back to this week's episode.

It's the middle of March (already!) and my garden is full of daffodils. I always think daffodils really are the harbingers of spring with their bright, cheery yellow trumpets. And of course, not just yellow trumpets these days, as you’ll find out today.

In today's episode I chat to the Chair of The Daffodil Society, Ian Tyler about everything you could possibly need to know about growing daffodils in the ground and in containers.

In fact-filled episode we talk about:

And, as discussed during this episode the Daffodil Society Show is 16-17 April at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens, Westbourne Road, Edgbaston, B15 3TR.

If you're looking for more information on daffodils or perhaps looking to join The Daffodil Society head to their website, www.thedaffodilsociety.com.

If you've enjoyed this episode, and I sincerely hope that you have, why not follow/subscribe to my podcast to ensure you don't miss some of the exciting episodes coming up. I'd also be really grateful if you could leave a review with your podcast provider.

You can find out more about me and my own garden by following me on Instagram where you'll find me as @mike_thegardener. 

If you want to contact me, do you send an email to the show email address [email protected] or message me via my Instagram account shown above.  

See you next week!

Mike