Relaxing with the godfather of gardening is my kind of meditation

You know you are sliding into comfortable middle age when a perfect Friday night is a glass of wine and Gardeners’ World on the telly.

The BBC series follows the growing season from March to October but I always find myself watching reruns to ward off any winter sadness. So it was with great excitement that I welcomed the new series this month.

I can think of no one I’d rather spend time with than the jolly, green-thumbed giant Monty Don and his gang of gardening geeks. Watching Monty potting on seedlings, his canine pals napping at his feet, is better than meditation.

In the first episode, regular expert Carol Klein, who has the same fizzing enthusiasm as the late, great David Bellamy, presented a segment on spring flowers. Honestly, if she could have climbed inside the closed petals of the crocuses, she’d have set up home there. We also saw the return of her gently spoken colleague Frances Tophill whose air of calm contentment is a balm for the soul.

It’s nice to see Frances, who studied horticulture in Edinburgh, is as sweet and unassuming in real life. On pages 6&7 she talks to Sally McDonald about her passion for plants, her friendship with the godfather of gardening, Alan Titchmarsh, and how she overcame shyness to become a TV presenter.

And while we wait for our next fix of Monty and co, our very own gardening guru Agnes Stevenson, who surely deserves her own show, is on pages 42&43, with more trusted advice and musings from her beautiful grounds in Ayrshire.

I hope you enjoy the issue.