The Great Barn: Chillies, Camellias and Consciousness
4/24/202642 min
Peter and Gardeners’ Question Time panel visit the historic Great Barn in Harmondsworth.
Beneath the medieval beams, Peter is joined by Bunny Guinness, Francis Tophill and James Wong as they tackle a wonderfully wide‑ranging set of questions from the audience that are as thought‑provoking as they are informative.
Are plants conscious? Why do camellia buds turn brown and drop? And which plants might humans take to grow on another planet?
Along the way, there’s practical advice on organic ways to keep vine weevils at bay, how to dry lilac flowers, and what to grow in pots in a narrow alleyway with limited light.
Later in the show Chris Beardshaw talks all things pruning - why, when and how.
Producer: Dan Cocker Assistant Producer: William Norton
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4
* If listening on BBC Sounds and you wish to view the plant list, please go to the Gardeners' Question Time website and open this week's episode page. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qp2f/episodes/guide
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsPeter Gibbs· Host0:00
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Speaker 10:03
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Speaker 20:34
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Peter Gibbs· Host1:04
Hello, and welcome to this week's GQT with me, Peter Gibbs. One of gardening's little pleasures is the humble shed. If you're lucky to have the space for one or maybe even two, it'll no doubt be filled with gardening tools, pots, seed packets, maybe a lawnmower and a dozen pairs of holey old gloves you just can't bear to chuck away. Well, today we've come to a shed