"THAT" Daily Express story... earlier this year

This spring's Daily Express story... I think I might of upset the BBC, but I stand by my comments, this new series (Carol Klein's How To Grow Fruit) should be broadcast now so gardeners have sufficient time to plan and plant, not April!!

UPDATE: September 2009, still NO news when this series is to be screened. Shame on the Beeb, its our license fee which isn't exactly being used wisely here, what do you think? Please let me have your comments.

UK NEWS
WHY BBC HAS LEFT GARDENERS OUT IN THE COLD

THE GARDENERS' WORLD TEAM: Joe Swift, Toby Buckland and Carol Klein (pictured above)
Wednesday February 25,2009

By Martyn Brown

GARDENERS have accused the BBC of being out of touch for pushing back the spring series of ­Gardeners’ World until April – after the planting season.
Even the presenters of the popular BBC2 show admit it will be too late to offer useful advice for gardeners ­hoping to grow certain plants.For instance, raspberry and blackcurrant bushes, and apple and pear trees, should be planted between ­January and March.Viewer Mary Robinson, 34, said: “It will be too late to follow the tips in April as my garden starts to come alive before then.“Gardeners’ World comes around like the seasons. You can set your ­calendar by it but I don’t know what the BBC is playing at this year. It’s a strange decision.”

Presenter Toby Buckland blamed scheduling executives for the change and said he would have preferred the series to start a few weeks earlier.Co-host Carol Klein agreed. She said: “We are starting again at the beginning of April. It is late to come back as people are interested earlier and earlier in starting things off indoors and starting things off early.”

The spring series of the programme, which offers expert advice to help amateur gardeners plan what to plant and when, usually starts in February or early March. The BBC has decided to start it later than usual this year, as it has three Gardeners’ World specials left over from last summer. One will be shown each week from March 13 before the new series begins.The decision has not only angered amateur gardeners. The horticultural trade also expects to suffer as a result. Garden centres fear they will see a decline in sales, especially of fruit trees and bushes, because the BBC series will be starting later in the ­season than usual.

Chris Day, of the Buckingham Garden Centre, in Buckingham, said: “Early spring would be the perfect time for the trade. We would want to sell dormant plants such as raspberry canes before they come into leaf. ­Gardeners’ World starting late would make the process more difficult.“For apples and pears it’s fine because they’re sold in pots. But we could have offered more variety if ­programmes started early in spring. This "could be a missed opportunity for the trade.” However, the BBC said the cold winter meant the gardening season would be later than usual.

A spokesman said: “According to the Met Office it is the coldest winter on record for 12 years, so the transmission time of the new series should not hinder our viewers.”

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/86382/Why-BBC-has-left-gardeners-out-in-the-cold

Doyen of gardening Geoffrey Smith dies at 80

As a teenager I used to watch Geoffrey Smith on the television. I have many of his books, and I was saddened to here that he passed away last Friday after a short illness. A well-versed Yorkshire man, who developed the famous Harlow Carr Gardens, he's been described as the Geoffrey Boycott of the gardening world by many people. I loved his wisdom, his passion for plants and the English language, Smith was a great communicator of gardening. His manner was often blunt, yet his sense of knowledge of all subjects was immense. He was a panelist of BBC Radio 4's Gardener's Question time for two decades as well as presenting Gardeners' World in the early 1980's for two years.

A truly unique character in the world of horticulture, who had great rapport with audiences, will be greatly missed.