October 24, 2025

Two Dales

41 minutes

Which seeds would you take to a desert island? How can I improve my success planting bulbs? Which easy-to-grow plants have you managed to kill?

Peter Gibbs and a panel of gardening experts are in Two Dales to share their top horticultural advice. Joining Peter are garden designer Bunny Guinness, RHS curator Marcus Chilton-Jones, and alpine specialist Bethan Collerton.

Later in the programme, Marcus stops to chat to Steve Porter, Head of Gardens and Landscape at Chatsworth House about the history of camellias and how best to grow them.

Assistant Producer: Rahnee Prescod

Producer: Matt Smith

A Somethin' Else Production for BBC Radio 4

Plant List:

Q — 2 minutes, 45 seconds

Which easy-to-grow plant have you managed to kill?

Marcus Chilton-Jones

Swiss cheese plant

Mother in law’s tongue

Bethan Collerton—

Gorse

Bunny Guinness—

Bacchia

Pelagonium

Q — 4 minutes, 41 seconds

I've got a prickly pear cactus and the outer surface layer appears to be getting eaten in patches. Why?

I want to re-plant a board backed by a 6ft wooden fence. What would the panel recommend?

Bethan Collerton—

Evergreen ferns

Brunnera macrophylla ‘Jack Frost’

Brunnera macrophylla ’Silver heart’

Bunny Guinness—

Lavender

Yew

Allium ‘Globe master’

Hydrangea seemannii

Marcus Chilton-Jones —

Physocarpus

Camellia

Lobelia

cotinus

Hydrangea seemannii

Q 15 minutes, 30 seconds

Cornus kousa ‘green sleeves’

Cornus kousa ‘milky way’

Bunny Guinness —

Cornus mas ‘Cornelian cherry’

Q -- 25 minutes, 37 seconds

Could the team advise how to improve my success rate of my bull planting?

Q -- 30 minutes, 30 seconds

How should I prune a Victoria plum tree?

QF 37 mins 25

Which two packets of seeds would you take to a desert island?

Bethan Collerton—

Courgette

Rice

Bunny Guinness—

Edamame

Fig

Marcus Chilton-Jones —

Tomatoes

Sunflower

...more

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By BBC Radio 4

4.8

248248 ratings

October 24, 2025

Two Dales

41 minutes

Which seeds would you take to a desert island? How can I improve my success planting bulbs? Which easy-to-grow plants have you managed to kill?

Later in the programme, Marcus stops to chat to Steve Porter, Head of Gardens and Landscape at Chatsworth House about the history of camellias and how best to grow them.

Assistant Producer: Rahnee Prescod

Producer: Matt Smith

A Somethin' Else Production for BBC Radio 4

Plant List:

Q — 2 minutes, 45 seconds

Which easy-to-grow plant have you managed to kill?

Marcus Chilton-Jones

Swiss cheese plant

Mother in law’s tongue

Bethan Collerton—

Gorse

Bunny Guinness—