In the night garden

Gardening with the RHS

Royal Horticultural Society

Home & Garden, Leisure, Hobbies

4.4 • 654 Ratings

🗓️ 12 May 2022

⏱️ 31 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This week we're heading out into the darkness to meet some surprising garden friends – bats. These furry night fliers are surprising garden helpers, hoovering up all kinds of mosquitos and midges that might otherwise be biting us instead. Shirley Thompson MBE has been at the forefront of UK bat conservation for almost 40 years and she offers advice to gardeners on how we can all play our part in helping keep bat numbers strong. Did you know that some cacti grow on trees and bloom at night? Meet the spectacular moonflower, Selenicereus wittii, an epiphytic cactus from the Amazonian rainforest. Sally Petitt of Cambridge University Botanic Garden tells the tale of how it bloomed in Britain last year, for the first time ever. Plus expert veg grower Matthew Oliver from RHS Garden Hyde Hall gives some brilliant tomato-growing tips, particularly for the tricky-but-tasty beefsteak varieties. Useful links RHS advice on bats in your garden Stars of the Night (Wild About Gardens pdf all about UK bats) Secrets of the Moonflower (Cambridge University Botanic Garden) RHS advice on how to grow tomatoes Visit RHS Garden Hyde Hall

Transcript

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0:00.0	Get your tickets for the greatest show in Earth at an RHS garden near you.
0:05.1	Where nature puts on an unforgettable performance of colour and fragrance.
0:09.3	The scenery changes many times in one season and our finest trees will happily play the part of...
0:14.7	The best hiding place ever.
0:17.4	Booth!
0:18.2	Put your day out of dreams in the hands of the experts.
0:21.6	It's the greatest show in Earth, at an RHS garden near you.
0:25.6	Book tickets online for discounts plus under fives go free and under 16 to five pounds.
0:30.6	If you're anything like me, you'll have been enjoying the longer days that spring has brought us.
0:35.6	The average length of daylight is now roughly 15 hours and we can all enjoy more time
0:41.7	for gardening into the evening.
0:44.6	But have you ever spent much time thinking about what happens when darkness sets in and
0:49.2	we're all tucked away inside?
0:52.1	Photosynthesis may cease as the sun sets, but it doesn't necessarily mean the action
0:57.0	has stopped. In fact, in the inky darkness, some flowers actually open up and bloom,
1:03.0	and there's a whole other world of wildlife and pollination that comes to life at night.
1:09.0	In this episode, we'll be diving into the darkness with Sally Petit, who will be sharing
1:14.1	how Cambridge University Botanic Garden managed to get the first-ever moonflower or
1:19.9	selenysserious witty-eye to bloom in the UK.
1:24.1	And we'll be taking to the night sky with Shirley Thompson to talk about the world's only flying mammals, bats.
1:31.3	Back in the daylight, we'll also be taking a trip to the greenhouse for more edible growing tips from RHS Hyde Hall's Matthew Oliver,
1:40.3	who will be covering beefsteak tomatoes, delicious at any time of a day.
	...

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