Titchmarsh documentary to reveal palace garden secrets
WHEN it comes to buying the Queen flowers, Alan Titchmarsh has given a few hints – nothing too exotic.
The green-fingered TV star has filmed a documentary in the gardens of Buckingham Palace, looking at the way the “green lung and oasis in the middle of the city” changes through the seasons.
Asked about the Queen’s influence on the 39-acre garden, he said: “The gardeners are quite cagey talking about what the Queen likes, but what becomes quite evident is she loves what we would call English cottage garden flowers – unostentatious flowers, not things that are too exotic.”
The former host of the BBC’s coverage of the Chelsea Flower Show said the Queen was given an arrangement of freshly cut flowers from the garden every week.
“She has a little posy cut for her every Monday, which is placed on her desk for when she arrives back from Windsor,” he said.
“It will typically have six or seven different types of flowers from the garden to give her a little snapshot of what’s looking good at that time.”
Asked how involved she is in planting decisions, he said: “If it’s a quick replanting of a bed they wouldn’t bother her, but she is very much involved with major changes.”
He said the garden was teeming with wildlife, adding: “If you wander off into the undergrowth, you’ll find what is probably one of the finest collections of trees and shrubs in the country, including 35 different types of mulberry.
“But it’s a revelation to see just see how much wildlife there is – amazing bird and insect life and mammals – which for somewhere slap-bang in the middle of the city is unusual.”
Last year a white helleborine orchid was discovered in the palace gardens by scientists from the Natural History Museum and Imperial College.
The species had not been seen in London for more than 100 years – having last been spotted in London near Harefield in 1900.
The two-part series, The Queen’s Garden, which uses technology to follow its progress through the seasons, is part of IT V’s Christmas schedule.