The Ins & Outs - From The Chelsea Flower Show

Episode Date: May 23, 2024

We are coming to you this week from the Chelsea Flower Show at the Project Giving Back stand (designed by House Nine Design).Polly is in her element and has so much to share, while Jojo also gives her take on some of her favourite gardens!Polly discuses roses in the bathroom with a UK celebrity and the ladies dig into the fashion Chelsea Flower Show.This episode is sponsored by Niwaki, purveyors of the finest Japanese garden tools and accessories this side of Mt. Fuji. From hand-finished carbon steel secateurs to the best-selling Hori Hori wonder-weeder, Niwaki’s tools combine utility and style to make gardening even more of a pleasure. Click the link to visit their website and see the whole range of great stuff from Japan - www.niwaki.com.Get 10% off by using the details below:Discount: INSANDOUTS10 URL: https://www.niwaki.com/INSANDOUTS10InstagramPodcast - @the_insandouts_Jojo - @houseninedesignPolly - @pollyanna_wilkinsonProducer Andy - @andy_rowe_WebsitesJojo - https://www.housenine.co.uk/Polly - https://www.pollyannawilkinson.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Green, the colour of true elation Pine on a summer's day See I've been waiting for you Waiting for you Hello Inns and Outs and welcome to this very special edition of the Inns and Outs with myself Jojo Barr and Pollyanna Wilkinson because today of course we are coming to you from the Chelsea Flower Show from the Project Giving Back stand

and I'm going to be giving Polly a right good grilling on everything to do with Chelsea. And she's going to be departing her wisdom on us about everything she knows. That's right. Forgive us if it's a little noisy. There's a lot going on. It's pouring with rain.

There's a lot of crowds. But this week, we are sponsored again by our brilliant friends at Niwaki, who we are going to visit any minute now. And I'm going to get Jojo up the big old tripod ladder. I've got one of them at home, because obviously I already have everything Niwaki. Yes.

Tripod ladder, my friend. You wait. That's the sturdiest ladder you're ever going to go up. I was quite excited, because I actually got to go and have a look at the stand, the Niwaki stand. So I actually got to pick up these beautiful tools. Do you have a good old swoon?

Well, they're not just tools. They're like little bits of art. Yes, they are. They are so stunning, and the pick up these beautiful tools. Do you have a good old swoon? Well, they're not just tools. They're like little bits of art. They are so stunning and the weight of them and everything. I mean, I love stationery, so it's almost like the sort of garden stationery, if that makes sense. It is. It's just so pretty, isn't it? It's so beautiful.

I'm going to get you up the ladder, and then on my new shopping list, you know when we were talking about the golden spades, they've got a golden shovel. Oh, my God. Let's go and see it. Show me a shovel. Let's see it. Show me a shovel. Let's do it. Show me your shovel.

Hello, my darling. Hello. How are you? Look at us at the Chelsea Flower Show. We're at Chelsea Flower Show. This is very, very strange. Let's just give people a look, because not many people are actually going to see us, what we're doing.

But we're literally sitting on the bench here, the bench that we designed, looking out at lots of people looking at us, which is particularly odd. Yes, it's an experience. We're here at the Project Giving Back stand, which has been beautifully designed. Thank you very much. By you. Thanks, love. It's stunning. Thanks.

It's stunning. And listeners, it's pouring with rain. It's chucking it down with rain. I'm in the most inappropriate outfit ever, but I thought I had to get a bit dressed up for Chelsea Flatshow. We lit the pot. We did. I don't know about you, Paul.

I'm quite nervous. I'm absolutely terrified. People are watching us. We're normally hiding in our houses with a laptop in front of us, and instead we're like two goldfish in a bowl. I know, and there's a camera being pointed at me. There's people staring at us. It's most disconcerting.

But anyway, here we are. We're at Chelsea Flatshow. This is all quite a big deal. If there's a bit of a noise me. There's people staring at us. It's most disconcerting. But anyway, here we are. We're at Chelsea Flasher. This is all quite a big deal. And if there's a bit of a noise in the background, that's why you can hear us. Yes, excuse that, chaps. What are we going to talk about today, my friend? Well, today, my love, I'm going to just give you a right good grilling. Because I love giving you a right good grilling.

This is your patch. This isn't mine. This is my turf. The garden is your turf. So I'm going to just sit back and enjoy giving you a right good roasting. Can we start with the fashion? Oh, fashion. Can we start with the fashion scene at Chelsea?

To be fair, you were here. Were you here on press day? I was here on press day. So Monday's press day. That's when all the celebrities get invited. I didn't get an invite, by the way. Just FYI. Awkward.

NFI'd. Really, really fucking awkward, actually. Can I tell you my celebrity highlight? Go on. Tell me. Talking to Joanna Lumley in the loo about roses. Oh, my God. Yeah. I love Joanna Lumley. really really fucking awkward can i tell you my celebrity highlight go on tell me talking to joanna lumley in the loo about roses oh my god yeah i love joanna lumley we're just having a chat with my friend jenny about roses and particularly the new david austin rose yes it's called the emma

bridgewater okay it's like a lovely actually it's very similar to the color of your trousers you're wearing today i'd like to point out this is a winter color for me this is a well played this is a lot this is allowed this color which is most unusual for me. I never ever wear this. I would say it's a mid-pink. Very true mid-pink. But I went with the wrong nail colour. I'm wearing very red nails so I don't know about this. Well no one can see so just close your eyes and pretend it's not. But anyway,

I'm here and I'm all in pink but more interesting is what other people are wearing. So what was Joanna Lumley wearing? Do you remember? Fabulous hat. Oh really? Was everyone just looking truly fabulous? Everyone did. I mean, who else did we see? I saw, I don't know his name. Is it Josh O'Connell?

Prince Charles from The Crown. No, I'm useless. He was amazing. I don't know anyone's names. And then Miley Kars. I know their faces, not names. And Amanda Holden in the tallest heels I've ever seen. She looked cracking. I mean, everyone just looks so glam. Yeah. It's a very glam day. Judi Dench. Was it quite exhausting for you you because you're sort of there were you still were you relaxing or were you well i was on a bit of a mission because i really wanted to capture the

gardens for project giving back and sort of give everyone that little glimpse of press day yeah but i mean it's very relaxing not having a garden and it's press days are really quiet days so for all the rest of you've ever been to the show it's a it's a busy old show it's a can be a bit of a scrum at times yeah whereas press day is really quite relaxed it's you know it's it's celebs it's press can i can i get a quick a quick rewind on the fashion thing yes i did on project giving backs uh on their recaps on all their stories yeah i was looking at some rather fabulous suits the gents were wearing. The gents represent. I think the gents represent. I mean, Tom Massey, I think, is renowned for his floral, botanical suits. Wax London.

He just always looks crack. I think his garden might have been one of my favourites as well. Yeah, me too. Oh, my gosh. Absolutely stunning. The WaterAid garden. Absolutely, like, knockout. Dreamy.

I mean, he's a Chelsea pro now. I can't even remember how many he's done now. Four, five. Yeah, hats off to him. Yeah, hats off to him. Bravo, Tom. Well done. Well done, Tom.

Okay, any other outfits you saw that were worth mentioning? Well, I mean, today we're just looking at a lot of raincoats, aren't we? I mean, we're looking fab in our Me and Em ensembles, aren't we? Me and Em. Our trousers are Me and Em, aren't they? Your little ensemble that you were wearing on Monday was pretty show-stuffer. I love that. Showing a little midriff, though, which I did feel a little uneasy about.

A little sexy midriff you. Put that away. Well, you know. Put that away. Just a little peek-a-roo. Do you know what? The sun was shining, my love. Get the sun on that midriff when you can.

Get that tum out. We don't get to see them very often, do we? I just spent my whole day breathing in, though. Are you 40 yet, Paul? How dare you? Well, how do you know that? I'm 38. I turned 42 on Sunday.

Stop ageing me. No, 38. I've got one more trip round the sun. Round the sun? It is round the sun. Yes. Yes, not the moon.

One more. The moon goes... One more. Yes. Good. No, I mean, the fashion, you know, you've got to keep it floral, don't you?

Yes. So most of it, everyone wears florals to Chelsea. Yeah. That's how it's done. Quite a lot of glamour. A lot of the Penelope Chilvers shoes, which are the sort of espadrilles with a velvet strap. Well, shoes is a hard thing to wear, isn't it? Because if you look around now, we're looking out at the crowd.

There's a lot of trainers. Wellington's would work. I mean, there's some pretty bad shoes out there as well, aren't there? Let's be honest. Don't be mean. No, come on. Sensible shoes are the name of the game. No, people want to hear it.

Come on. Let's look out there at the crowd. Let's look at some shoes. Very sensible. People are being very, very sensible. They've got hiking shoes on. It's a trainer day. We've got hiking shoes.

Look, I will not hear you saying rude things about hiking shoes. This is my gardening brethren. But we're not hiking though, are we? Practical. You've got the practical. There ain't nothing wrong with a sturdy shoe at a flower show. You've got some people out there with some sexy little strappers on. Some Connie's. Got some Converse out there.

I always respect the ones in heels. The ones that wear heels to Chelsea Flower Show deserve a round of applause. I'm like, you go girl. Because I can't even wear heels. You go girl. For an evening. No. You know, you're walking for miles out here. You have. I'd be really interested to hear your thoughts as a innie. Yes, I'm an innie. Walking around. You know, you're looking at it with different eyes.

Very different eyes, yeah. What's caught your eye first of all as and as somebody that doesn't really have a clue i'm in awe so first of all like i walk around and i'm in complete awe because i don't know how i would achieve it so i look at it and i think i can see the level of detail and work that's gone into that yeah but i have no idea how to do that so that's first off amazing um so i would say the gardens that i've seen that i was really like like stopped in my tracks yeah there was one that had this sort of gold the funnels and on top they had this beautiful like funnel there's a shade they look like sort of tree shades made almost like of copper and then they had a garden on the top and what's really cool about that structure is a water collector.

Absolutely. So they're water harvesting. Beautiful. So the water, the idea being that the water goes down those funnels. Okay. And it's stored and then used. Okay. So I love that one.

And actually, but I'm going to say my, actually one of my favourite, probably my favourite is actually this really sweet, really sweet garden that had uh it had a little pizza oven and then it had the central bit that you sit with this amazing mosaic sort of stone like pebbles that have been made into this yeah in the center yes i thought that was that garden was stunning by emma o'connell oh i loved that that was amazing it just felt like it was freedom from torture okay that for me was just wow magical isn't it and that's the willow that was woven there is by an absolutely amazing willow weaver, Tom O'Hare. He's an icon.

Yeah, that's at the back of the garden. You're right, because you've got the little pizza bit where you sit. Yeah. And it's sort of sunk, like a sunken seating area that's made of stone. Yes. With a little pizza oven. Yes. And this, honestly, we'll load up loads of photos.

No one saw it, but in the center is this little m mosaic made of little pebbles from pebbles and then at the back of the garden was this willow that had been woven into well you explained probably much better than i am well it's sort of a sinuous shape it's meant to be sort of a journey but what's interesting about that garden i think and you know talking about what people can take home that's a sunken seating area clad in stone with a timber seat that is an instant classic thing that you could put in your garden put a fire pit in the middle, absolutely dreamy

so that's a really popular one the Bridgerton garden is very popular because it's very traditional trad, English country garden lovely water feature that's not so me I walk into that and I don't so it's much more structured the purple of purples the whites much more orderly i don't know i'm much

more drawn to wild wispy everything looking a bit like almost looking like there was a few weeds in there yeah but i like that sort of wild look um more so i would say than that structured english country garden i can appreciate it that's very popular the structured english garden really yeah yeah yeah with the with the sort of with visitors yeah so there's this garden that you're talking English country garden. I can appreciate it. That's very popular, the structured English garden. Really? Yeah. Yeah, with the sort of, with visitors. So this garden that you're talking about

is the Netflix Bridgerton garden. Yes. Have you been watching Bridgerton? I'm not into it. Do you watch it? No. No.

I love it. No, but you're a binge watcher. I'm not much of a TV binger. No, it's amazing. I absolutely love it. The costume, the music, the way they do

the kind of modern music. Maybe I'll try again. I'll give it another go. That's music, the way they do the kind of modern music. Maybe I'll try again. I'll give it another go. There's a little bit of raunch as well, isn't there? Oh, well, I like that. Then I'll watch it. It follows the same theme each time, which is more or less like, here's a couple, they're going to fight a bit, and then they're going to get together. And they're going to have sex.

But what's really interesting about Bridgerton is they obviously film it at weird times of year because they've always got this fake wisteria dangling everywhere. Oh. So I spend my entire time watching Bridgerton going, those plants are fake. And there's a little plant geekery for you there. No, good.

Geek. Geek. Okay. We've actually got questions. So, I mean, I can talk all day long. Give me the questions. Jojo's going to ask me questions. So we are more garden themed today, guys.

There's a leaf in my coffee. But that just adds flavour. It does. What sort of leaf? It's more of a garden themed episode today, chaps,. But it's, that just adds flavour. It does. What sort of leaf is that? It's more of a garden-themed episode today, chaps, because obviously it's Chelsea flower show, so bear with us. And innies, you know, bear with us.

You'll learn something, I promise. And arties. Yeah. I'm hoping, if like me, all my innies out there, there's no way that you listen to this podcast if you're not also slightly interested in the outside. So, by now... Perhaps they just fast-forward through my bit.

Oh, God, that would'd be awkward wouldn't it there is like a times there's a little fast forward by 10 thing isn't there on spotify that you can use that's not what happens okay so we've got some questions here yep um now this is by super good as super good as asked polly can you tell us the trends that you are spotting in gardens, fashion and plants? Oh. We've sort of covered fashion a little bit. We've done fashion. Trends.

Trends that I've seen at Chelsea this year. Trends in Chelsea. So. Good question. It's a really great question. So, I mean, I can talk to you a little bit about the judging as well, but one of the main things the RHS are asking for in their judging criteria now is that the gardens are sustainable.

So I would say the biggest trend is that there are so few virgin materials which is an expression i've heard this week which i love i.e most materials you're seeing in the garden so you're paving you're walling are reclaimed which i think is a lovely idea because it means that you know you can either try and reuse things in your garden or you can go to your local quarries or stone yards and see what they've got which isn't necessarily new. Amazing. So I think the main trend I'm seeing is that kind of the new gardens, the new sort of very London city garden,

which people could walk up to and go, I'll have one of those, thanks. I don't really think that that's a trend we're seeing anymore. And instead it's much more naturalistic. I mean, look at Ula. So Ula Maria, very good friend, super proud of her. She's just won Best in Show. Amazing. She's just won Best in Show. Amazing.

She's 31. She's only the third solo woman to win Best in Show in 100 years. Oh, and she was for, what was her charity? Muscular Dystrophy. Muscular Dystrophy. Amazing. The Forest Bathing Arms. Yes.

She's just won. And hers is all of the materials are reclaimed. So that amazing wall she's got, that's all reclaimed materials. The flooring, reclaimed brick. Okay, what we want to know. Yeah. When you talk, because I think it slightly leans into the ins as well, when you talk sustainability, materials that are sustainable or, say, reclaimed, how much do you think that adds value? How much more expensive is that, do you think?

I don't think it needs to be more expensive at all. If anything, it can be less. I mean, it depends, because things like reclaimed Yorkstone is more expensive than new yorkstone because it's usually got that beautiful age you're paying for the age of that stone the character that you otherwise have to wait quite a long time for yeah um but i mean i just think it's a really great way of showing that not everything has to be brand new that we can source what's already there because the idea about sustainability is to only take what we need and leave enough for everyone else. That's the kind of general ethos behind it, as opposed to it being just sort of greenwashing it.

The point is, take what you need and leave the rest. That's the idea behind it. We're being attacked by a bumblebee. Christ! It's a gigantic bumblebee. This is what happens when you try and record near foliage. We are surrounded by foliage and bumblebees. No, that's really interesting.

That's a really good one. I'm thrilled to hear that. I'd say the other theme, actually was interesting watching gardening gardeners world because they were talking about it a little bit the planting is less flowery and i know i mentioned this on the last pod it's it's less about loads and loads of blooms and if you look around it's so much more textural so much more foliated shade planting which is actually really tough to get right so i think that's a real trend is sort of moving more towards how you can plant for shade, how you can plant more naturally.

Yeah. So it's moving away from the gardens of old, which were sort of very symmetrical, perfect, manicured, polished gardens, moving more towards these sort of natural spaces. Love that. That's a key trend. This is from Olivia. How to take inspiration from chelsea flower

show and use it in a normal home setting oh god the rain has just started hammering down everyone our friends from new akio um how to take the trends so i think the main trends are actually so go around and take note of the the shad planting. Because that's the question we get asked every single week about shade planting. I mean, you don't get asked. I get asked. Every week we get questions from our innies and outies about shade planting. Yeah. So the main thing, I think, is going away and actually paying attention to the foliage plants.

Because all of the gardens will give you a plant list. Or you can all look them up online if they're not in the brochures. So you can actually go and find out that foliage, the filler. It's really easy for us to pick the floral bits, you know, the fun irises and the roses. But actually the bits in between, which are kind of like the background. Yeah. That you don't pay attention to. I think that is the main thing this year.

Good Lord, the heavens have opened. Oh God. It is pouring with rain. It is chucking it down. Look at all the brollies go up look the brollies are up look some interesting brollies out there there's a william morris now i understand why everyone's wearing their hiking shoes don't you i do i mean if you're wearing a you know well i felt like a right wally in my white converse like that gentleman you know

look at this guy here with his yellow matching yellow suit though oh no practical there's no rescuing those shoes no see that's game over you see yes see there you go vindicated so yes those are that the main takeaway i would say is is just paying attention to the planting because the planting everyone has chosen plants this year i think which are transferable to the garden they're more resilient they're more drought tolerant so i think i mean obviously we're at chelsea flower show you're paying attention to the plants but but if you can pay attention to the ones that don't shout. That's amazing.

That's really, really good advice. That's what I've been doing. I've been walking around with a notebook, getting some foliage ideas. I do that thing when I come to Chelsea. This is my third time coming, and I go around with my phone, and I just start taking photos of plants. And then you get them home, and you're like, what the hell am I going to do with those?

Yes, I'm not sure. I was thinking it would be really great. I know there's an app. It would be so nice to have some sort of maybe they could develop an app where you can oh wait it exists that does it's called plant spotter yeah there's quite a few of them and you can do it on your phone as well you just swipe up and it tells you what it is on google google images that's it never quite looks the same on a camera it doesn't it doesn't oh and another tip to pay attention to is the trees that everyone is using this year.

I mean, like these trees here in front of us, how, they look like they were here before. I cannot get over how big those are. How would they have craned those in?

Well, exactly that, my friend. Literally craned them in. It's super impressive. It is amazing. It's a magic, isn't it, to make a garden look like it's been here all the time. It's insane.

We're sat opposite Tom Stewart Smith's garden, Tom being one of the greatest garden designers of all time, I would argue. Fangirl moment. And we're looking at a garden which looks like it's been here for years. What are those trees? They're hazels.

Well done. Oh gosh, I'll test that one. I'm fairly sure they're hazels. They are stunning. From memory. But there's loads of birch, river birch. There's colrutaria or corrutia never know how to pronounce it there's some different trees some more resilient stuff going on as well so focus in on

the on your structure structure foliage structure and foliage my friends structure and foliage actually everyone's been very clever with mixing their materials this year as well small format big formats and loads of ideas to get all right great, great. Now, ooh, this is a good one. This one's from Sally. Sally's asking, what's your favourite colour combo this year, Polly? Ooh, toughy. Well, I would argue there's not loads of colour this year. It's a less colourful year, obviously.

Anne-Marie Powell has done a really exuberant, lovely colour one. This I've seen a lot. That's a Benton Iris. This I've seen a lot. That's a Benton Iris. This I've seen a few times. Jojo is pointing at a sort of brownie cream Benton Iris. I don't know the exact colour, but it looks like cappuccino. It looks like cappuccino. It almost looks like it's sort of on the way out.

No, it's not. It's not on the way out. Doesn't it? It's up and arriving. But yes, the fadedness. The fadedness. It's got a light brown faded. Bearded Iris is such a popular.

Looks like it's been dipped in coffee. You're right, it's a cappuccino. It does. Yeah. Favourite colour combo? Hmm. I mean, it's super simple, but I love what Ula's done, which is just a sea of green, and then she's got purple and white froth.

So she's got a Thalictrum Blackstocking, which is a really great plant for you. Thalictrum Blackstocking, which is purple. Thal for you. Thalictrum Blackstocking, which is purple. Thalictrum. Thalictrum. You got it. Okay. Blackstocking. Got it.

Blackstocking. That's a little frothy purple plant, shade lover. Okay. So if you want a little bit of colour and shade, that's a great one. So I just think, actually, green, white and purple, super classic. But the purple is just low-key. Okay. It's not everywhere.

Yeah. Okay. super classic but but the problem is just low-key okay it's not it's not everywhere yeah okay um and then i mean tom stewart smith's done an absolute cracker just with green and white as well which is you know quite typical for like wild country english garden yes yes that's my favorite kind of yeah but it's that is an art to make that look that good the master class oh my gosh in planting yes it's lovely where's paul where do these gardens i know this is a really silly question where i know where project giving backs there for good causes but yes where do all the other gardens go after chelsea so all the gardens always go to a new home part of the process with the rhs when you get a garden at chelsea or any of the show gardens is to tell them what's happening to it afterwards so obviously we focused a lot on the project giving back gardens because

we're sat here on the project giving back stand they all have a second life and the in fact that second life is more important than than the show if anything yeah a lot of the designers will design the garden for its final location rather than the show right okay it's far more important what happens to it long term so call you out on something because i i know when you're supposed to move trees now because you taught me yeah so how do these trees get moved in the summer months and and they're still okay i love this question someone messaged about this the other day so these will have been in air pots or big pots or hessian above the ground so you can move a tree that's already been dug up

ah okay so this will have been sitting in a big old pot massive great airport chances are okay so it will have been dug up during the root ball season and then probably into a big airport which is like a massive sort of i think it's plastic but it might not be ring with where the roots can go through the holes okay um and then that way it's not suffering from lifting shock. Because if you lifted a tree now and tried to plant it, it would suffer. So although this has probably gone in, it's still in its container under the ground. And then it will come back out. Yeah, but fun fact, my friend.

Go on, fun fact. Literally every plant in the whole showground is still in its container under the ground. Tell me also, because I know how little time we had to put this stand up, which is insane. Honestly, I cannot tell you how many people it takes to put one stand up. So for the gardens, the amount of legwork and people and planning and orchestration to get these gardens looking that good in such a short space of time. The takedown, which is when everything is just literally two days. Is it two days?

I think it's a little longer than that, but not a lot longer than that. No. I mean, the takedown is quick. And the reason we plant in pots is for that, because otherwise you have to find the pot, matching pot for every other plant. But also it means that they don't sort of go into shock, so they're already sort of settled in their pot.

Right. So other than the ones right by the edge or where you're trying to cram them in a little cranny, every plant you see will be in its pot. That's amazing. I know, it's all the trickery. Trickery, I tell you. Smoking mirrors and trickery of Chelsea.

Smoking mirrors. Okay, question from Chrissie. What does Chelsea... Oh, that's thunder. What does Chelsea mean to a designer? What is the career significance? Oh, good question. Well, well number one it's not easy to get into chelsea because you have to find the funding which isn't easy um and you also have

to submit your design to the rhs it's not a given that you are let in so you have to have a great design and what does it mean i mean it means everything the the medals are a really curious one so you get gold silver gilt silver or bronze obviously everyone wants gold um but it's not easy to get and the criteria is tough and gets tougher every year this is enormous first of all those medals are enormous because then you can say you're a medal winning yeah designer which i think gives a huge amount of credibility kudos a huge amount of major kudos i mean you just put that on your front of your cv one gold yeah see ya well i think any metal frankly is amazing drop the mic i'm out of here um yeah yes it's it's a really big deal yeah i can imagine okay well that's so gold silver run

run me through them again gold yeah silver guilt oh silver guilt right silver bronze bronze okay uh i think this is a good one because everyone loves a rose and there's a hell of a lot of them out there oh you're being attacked lots of glorious roses at chelsea but how to use them in a border that's a good question because there are loads of glorious roses i haven't taken you into the the pavilion yet jojo let's take me in there yes i'll take you in then i'm going to show you my favourite plants. Oh, can you? Oh, we've never done this together. So roses and borders. Yes. Talk to me.

So, I mean, to go back to actually the new David Austin rose, the Emma Bridgewater, because we were talking about how it's the same colour as your trousers. It's a pink, but what's really cool about that, which I really like, shrub rose, which means it's sort of medium-sized, and repeat flower, but also it starts pink and then as it fades it turns to lilac, which I think is kind of cool.

How lovely. And I was talking to David Austin and the team about it because it's a really nice plant for you to fit into quite a lot of schemes because of that colour change. So I think the trick with roses is I would always choose, and I myself have actually just chosen a couple. I've chosen Donahue, I never know how to pronounce it, Donahue, which is an apricotty rose, which I suggest you all go and have a look at online.

And then I've also gone for Septed Isle, which is a pale pink. But the Olivia is another one that I love, which again, pale pink. But that combo of those sort of sherbet-y yellow rose and then pale pink ones as well, I love. But I think that looks stunning in that old classic scheme, green, whites and purples. Lovely. Because it adds that extra dimension. So when I'm using roses, I will go for shrub roses usually, if we're talking about inner border, because they're the ones that don't get absolutely whopping.

Yep. Mix them in with your perennials and then a little tip for you to try and stop black spot. If you plant small leaf salvia, like salvia, mac macrophyllum, near roses, it prevents black spot. Oh, wow. Yeah. That's a great little tip. Yeah, and also salvia's, like, nacklinda, which is like a very dark purple salvia, looks lovely with those sort of pale pinks and apricot roses anyway.

Speaking of rejecting nasty things, you were experimenting with how to keep the slugs at bay, and considering it's still wet, how are you keeping your slugs at bay? Mate, you wouldn't believe it. I have gone for it. They've absolutely gobbled through my entire... I mean, I can't... It's horrible. They've gobbled my entire board over.

It's a bad year for it because of all the wet. I've gone for it. So I've got the cut flower bed. I have put copper tape all around the top of it. Yeah. Then I have done nematodes. Oh my gosh, this is very... Which is like a biological control.

You water it into the soil and they somehow kill the slugs and then i have also gone with a sheep's wool pellets around every single plant which is meant to kind of dry the slugs and snails out okay i've also gone for a strulch oh my god you've gone all out so i literally every single eco biologically friendly option yeah and they're fine oh my god look at that i know but that's that's a lot it's like on the door just like fuck you slugs yeah but it also it's really only working for my cutting flower garden which is like a separate bed on its own otherwise i would go with nematodes in the border nematodes nematodes nematodes you gotta put them in the fridge when

they arrive though which i often forget to do okay otherwise they don't work now that's quite enough about gardens Jojo. I'm sat here in this beautiful, beautiful stand, which you and your team have worked so hard on. Can you give us a bit of a summary of how you designed it? What the inspiration were? Like what materials did you choose? Give us a little summary.

Very, very brief led. So this is a real sort of, it's so important that we hit the brief for Project Giving Back. The work they do is absolutely incredible. They obviously support charities. I think it's 16 charities around the UK um that they're supporting and you can obviously come onto this stand anyone can come on and learn all about the charities that they're supporting which is amazing and then each of those charities gets to work with a designer like they did paul

last year um who creates an incredible garden that helps tell the story of the charity which is amazing so brilliant work they do and, the stand is about telling those stories. And so therefore, to us, this is a foundation of that. So we wanted to be really sympathetic of allowing that to sort of speak through. So it's a place you can come and relax. It's actually, just to explain everyone, the stand is actually split into two sections. In the middle section, sort of the front,

is this beautiful bench that we had carved, especially. It's dreamy. What's happening to this? This is going to go off to the founders, actually. Oh, I was going to say, I'd quite like this. It's stunning. The founders won't mind. You can have that. That's okay.

You can take that. They won't mind. No. Don't just pop it in your handbag. I could carry this out on my back. It's vast. It's a giant. It's a huge lump. So basically, there's a company called Goldfinger, and it's a grassroots company.

And the work that she does is absolutely second to none. It's incredible. Every tree that falls around Britain, essentially what's going to happen to it, it's chopped up into wood, who knows where it goes. They take those trees from forests or parkland, wherever. They get donated to Goldfinger. And Goldfinger turn it into furniture for all sorts of amazing places, like Sarcher Gallery, like here for us.

And they work with youths in the local community to teach them how to do woodcraft as well. Oh, how lovely. So it's all amazing. They have a soup kitchen. It's the most incredible company. Amazing. So this is who they are. What they also do is they put a qr code um and the coordinates

of where the tree fell in the uk which is pretty awesome which is on the back here so that's amazing anyway that's one part of the front of the stand that's what we're sitting on today what's the floor here is this millboard this is millboard which is awesome isn't it it's a really rugged looking millboard that we used great really gnarly this is a little um this little desk here that we have made from our lovely friends at is a little um this little desk here that we had made from our lovely friends at parker howley which is essentially like a sort of kitchen unit you can have that too just drag that home too just actually one thing i do want to note is the sofa in the back yes it's got a pattern on it it has got a pattern on it which is you know quite surprising

for house nine yeah but you know what that's a really good story so around the back you've got this vip area which has a little kitchen and this wonderful wallpaper and it's really colorful and it's this really fun little area back there that we designed can i say i just hats off to rosie rosie's my lead designer on this project and she is i love her to bits she's amazing and she's such a talent superstar originally we didn't have this pattern on the sofa right the fabric that we were going to use was out of stock which is just a classic that happens all the time with fabrics this fabric just like literally jumped out the box at me and i was like this and it's one of my favorite fabrics by blythefield it really surprised me because i was like it's jojo i love do you know i love a pattern and this this was like the

perfect opportunity to use it i'm all for pattern you would like that in your house yes i would i saw that and i thought yes thank you that's what i spot on it's a how would we describe it i'm going to describe it badly i I'll have to show everyone. We'll put it on the road. It's a yellowy gold. It's a lovely mustard yellow, and it's a giant sort of flower. Essentially, it's a giant flower, and it's a repetitive pattern that's almost formed into a stripe.

Dreamy. And we actually railroaded it. When you railroad something, it means you turn it, so it's actually not the natural way it's meant to be. Railroad? Railroad. So say you have a fabric, and it's meant to go a certain way we flipped it the other way which is called railroading i know we're such rebels stop

it anyway we actually didn't even have enough of that fabric they literally had 12 meters left so we had to then source something else to make the base with but it's actually turned into sometimes these design mistakes actually turn into the best thing ever so there you go well it's come along very nicely so it's all very very biophilic design obviously very inspired by nature by gardens like that's the idea we want it to feel like that everything around it sort of blends so everything is sustainable everything is really considered like where it's from um yeah now i think that's quite enough and we need to talk about what's in and out can we say what's in is women representing on main avenue yes women representing it's

wonderful women in gardens we've got five women on main avenue this year that's not common no it's usually far more men and ula won best in show so we've got a lady winning so can we just say what's in is women representing in well doneulture. Well done, women. Super. Thank you for flying the flag, ladies. Yeah, OK. What's out is, I mean, out has surely got to be hay fever. Oh, my God.

I've just been the most hideous coughing mess for the entire week. Because it's not in, and it's definitely coming out of my eyeballs and my nose and my throat. You and me both, my friend. I'll be glad to get away from these plane trees it's the london plains these these are little these are shards of glass it's like literally shards of glass they wedge in your throat and that's it right down your eyeballs and your throat you're having a conversation with someone you're like lovely yes anyway so that's what's out anyway so um i think that's a wrap my friend let's go and climb the climb the Nowacki ladder. Get me up that ladder, gal.

The big one's really quite tall. Is it? You're going to clean all your gutters with that one. Oh, I tell you. Come on. Well, you say I will. Brad will. Brad will. I won't be up those ladders. I'll be watching. And you'll watch and put it on socials. Of course I will. Him topless, his little cheeky thirst trap. Of course I will. We all like that one. Go on, up your pop. Up your pop there, honey. Take your top off. Up your pop. Maybe I'll get

Mr Big up. Go on, Mr Big. Do it. Everyone wants to see mr big i think it's about time you released him into the wild asking about mr big have you everyone wants to know how he is and when he will be outed so watch this space watch this space everyone okay thank you for joining us on this thanks everyone unusual it wasn't unusual it's so fun and now we're off to meet some people as well, which is amazing. Thanks to everyone who came as well to say hello to us. Yes. Thank you. It was not at all terrifying.

Oh, you beautiful hot stuff. Look at us. Oh, you lovely lot. Goodbye, outies. Love you guys. Bye. Love you. Bye. Bye.

Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye.

Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye.

Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye.

Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye.

Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye.

Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. If you're at a point in life when you're ready to lead with purpose, we can get you there. The University of Victoria's MBA in Sustainable Innovation is not like other MBA programs. It's for true changemakers who want to think differently and solve the world's most pressing challenges. From healthcare and the environment to energy, government and technology, it's your path to meaningful leadership in all sectors. For details, visit uvic.ca slash future MBA. That's uvic.ca slash future MBA.