Gardeners' Question Time Kimpton
5 snips
Feb 6, 2026 Juliet Sargeant, plantswoman and landscape designer; Bunny Guinness, garden designer with a knack for composition; Bob Flowerdew, grow-your-own expert. They tackle alternatives to red roses, shrubs for a north-facing chalky clay garden, horseradish harvesting tricks, pruning winter honeysuckle and winter pruning dos and don’ts. They also cover propagating daphne, managing fairy rings and growing figs in containers.
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Choose Fragrant Shrubs Instead Of Cut Roses
- Give a fragrant shrub or a garden-picked posy instead of a dozen roses for Valentine's Day.
- Bob Flowerdew recommends Rosa Bengal Beauty as a long-flowering alternative and Juliet Sargeant suggests scented shrubs like Daphne or Sarcococca as home-picked options.
Shrub Choices For North Facing Chalky Clay
- Plant shrubs that suit chalky clay and north-facing light like viburnums, roses, lilacs, Philadelphus Belle Etoile and Osmanthus.
- Bunny Guinness and Juliet Sargeant emphasise shrubs give structure, scent and edible fruits (Cornus mas, Japanese quince) on alkaline clay soils.
Harvest Horseradish When You Need It
- Harvest horseradish when you want fresh flavour and wait until the second year for thicker roots.
- Bob Flowerdew suggests planting some roots under a bottomless bucket filled with compost to blanch shoots and produce fresher, easier-to-dig roots next year.