In Life and Death

Gardening with the RHS

Royal Horticultural Society

Home & Garden, Leisure, Hobbies

4.4 • 654 Ratings

🗓️ 31 August 2023

⏱️ 31 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Perhaps nowhere do we face the realities of life and death more frequently and intimately than we do within the garden. We witness a cycle of growth, dieback, and rebirth on a seasonal, weekly, and even daily basis. And so, as we once again inch closer to a new season – to autumn, a time of abundance, growth, but also, let’s face it, decay – we’ve decided to take a deeper look at what gardens and our beloved flora can reveal about both life and death. We’ll hear from Dr. Ross Cameron about his 2023 release How Plants Can Save Your Life, get a behind-the-scenes peek at the field of forensic botany, travel to The Poison Garden in Alnwick to learn about their pernicious new addition, and finally, take a second look at the life cycle of wasps. Warning: This episode contains a story about police investigations into death, murder and suicide. Listener discretion is advised. Links: Gardening for Health and Wellbeing How Plants Can Save Your Life Murder Most Florid: Inside the Mind of a Forensic Botanist Mark Spencer's Lindley Late Lecture The Alnwick Garden Endless Forms: Why We Should Love Wasps

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Get your tickets for the greatest show in Earth at an RHS garden near you.
0:06.4	Where nature puts on an unforgettable performance of colour and fragrance to delight your senses.
0:13.2	Inspire your gardening adventures and entertain your own little stars.
0:17.4	Race you, let's go.
0:19.5	Catch Springs finest scenes while you can at an RHS garden near you, let's go. Catch Springs, finest scenes while you can,
0:22.1	at an RHS garden near you.
0:24.0	Book tickets online for discounts,
0:26.0	plus under fives go free and under 16s of five pounds.
0:34.5	Perhaps nowhere do we face the realities of life and death more frequently and intimately
0:40.3	than we do within the garden. We witness the cycle of growth, dieback and rebirth on a seasonal, weekly and even daily basis.
0:49.3	Seedlings pop up through the soil bearing their electric green hue that screams of spring.
0:56.0	They twist and grow and branch and bloom and fruit, producing rousing scents, vibrant colours and singular patterns.
1:04.0	The petals fall, the fruits rot, the greens turn to brown, we get death and dormancy.
1:10.0	The passage of time, the start of a new phase in the cycle.
1:15.6	It's oddly calming, at least that's how I think of it. You can count on this happening again and again.
1:22.6	The only constant is ephemerality, death but also life, is a given. And so as we once again inch
1:32.0	closer to a new season to autumn, a time of abundance, growth, but also, let's face it, decay.
1:39.3	We've decided to take a deeper look at what gardens and our beloved flora can reveal about both life and death.
1:47.0	First up, we're chatting with Dr Ross Cameron about how plants can save your life.
1:53.0	We're then lifting the veil on a rather unusual profession, forensic botany,
1:59.0	before we head to the poison garden in Anik to learn about their
2:03.5	pernicious new edition.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Royal Horticultural Society, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Royal Horticultural Society and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.