Time-travelling plants

Gardening with the RHS

Royal Horticultural Society

Home & Garden, Leisure, Hobbies

4.4 • 654 Ratings

🗓️ 14 April 2022

⏱️ 30 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Today we're taking a trip back in time with Dr Chris Thorogood, Head of Science at Oxford Botanic Garden. Enter long-forgotten worlds of the weird and wonderful plants which flourished before, during and after the age of dinosaurs, and discover their descendants that still flourish today. Ferns are among these 'living fossils', and RHS Gardening Advisor James Lawrence shares some favourite varieties to grow in the garden* in discussion with colleagues Nikki Barker and Julie Henderson. Plus, an alternative look at ancient plants with Sarah Gerrard-Jones, aka The Plant Rescuer. She's built a huge online following charting her journey into rescuing abandoned plants and championing houseplant heirlooms passed down through generations. Useful links: ►RHS info on ferns ►RHS info on houseplants ►When Plants Took Over the Planet: The Amazing Story of Plant Evolution by Chris Thorogood ►The Plant Rescuer – The Book Your Houseplants Want You To Read by Sarah Gerrard-Jones Contributors: Chris Thorogood, Sarah Gerrard-Jones

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.
0:05.1	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.
0:23.7	At an RHS garden near you.
0:25.5	Book tickets online for discounts, plus under fives go free and under 16 to five pounds.
0:32.2	In the gardening world, we often find ourselves getting excited by the new plants being bred and brought to market.
0:37.9	It's part of my daydoll by edit a fantastic new plants blog by Graham Rice on the RHS website,
0:43.3	and he's recently been writing about things like a colourful new aloe safari series,
0:47.8	which give you amazing red-hot poker flowers for months on end.
0:51.4	New variegated Forsythias, with dramatic contrasting leaf edges and some
0:55.6	really exciting, recently bred alternative to box that won't get blight or caterpillars.
1:01.1	But amongst all the fresh things to lust over at the garden centre, it's important to remember
1:05.4	that plant life first began colonising land as far back as 500 million years ago. Well before humans, plant trials,
1:12.6	garden centres or scientific intervention ever existed. So, in this episode, we're going to be
1:18.9	looking back some of the oldest plant types still around, in what you could call a bit of an
1:23.4	ancient plant special. Botanist Dr Chris Thurgood will be explaining how these plants changed our planet forever.
1:30.9	Self-professed Ferngeek and collector James Lawrence will be sharing his thoughts on why
1:34.8	dinosaur-era greenery still perfect for the modern garden.
	...

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.