He's back! The last time we caught up with Ben Preston he was departing York Gate Garden (where he was Head Gardener) and heading for his own nursery. Now Cliff Bank is up and running and selling a crop of exquisite plants! This week we take a look at the Anemones he's been building a collection of. Next week more planty treats in part two!

PLANT LIST

Agrostemma githago

Anemone ranunculoides 'Kai'

Anemone ranuculoides 'Prinz Eugen'

Anemone flaccida

Anemone ranuculoides 'Golden Dream'

Anemone nemorosa 'Explosion'

Anemone ranunculoides ‘Sirje’

Anemone ranuculoides 'Kreet'

Anemone ranuculoides 'Dagerōt'

Anemone ranuculoides 'Leida’

Anemone nemorosa 'Salt and Pepper'

Anemone nemorosa 'Thekla'

Anemone nemorosa 'Vestal'

Anemone nemorosa 'Flore Pleno'

Anemone nemorosa 'Jummer's Fienrood'

Anemone nemorosa 'Denmark'

Anemone nemorosa 'Virescens'

Anemone nemorosa 'Viridescens'

Iris 'Russian Kavelguard'

This week one of the nicest men in horticulture is back on The Talking Dirty Podcast. Joe Whitehead is Head Gardener at Burghley House on the Cambridgeshire/Lincolnshire border. He talks Alan Gray (East Ruston Old Vicarage) and Thordis through some of the changes which have been going on in the garden, and shares his favourite shade plants of the moment.

PLANT LIST

Catalpa bignonioides 'Aurea'

Paulownia tomentosa

Cornus kousa 'Milky Way'

Betula utilis subsp. jacquemontii

Dodecatheon meadia syn Primula meadia

Lonicera involucrata

Tulip bakerii 'Lilac Wonder'

Tulipa sylvestris

Lunaria annua 'Chedglow'

Lunaria annua 'Somerset Marble'

Smilacina racemosa syn Maianthemum racemosum

Arum italicum subsp. neglectum 'Monksilver'

Lamium orvala

Epimedium 'Amber Queen'

Epimedium 'Sphinx Twinkler'

Epimedium pubigerum

Omphalodes cappadocica 'Cherry Ingram'

Lamium orvala 'John Foster'

Lunaria annua 'Corfu Blue'

Digitalis purpurea 'Pam's Choice'

Taraxacum pseudoroseum

Crepis rubra

Toona sinensis 'Flamingo'

Acer pseudoplatanus 'Brilliantissimum'

Ficaria verna 'Brazen Hussy'

Ficaria verna 'Double Mud'

Helianthus annuus 'Teddy Bear'

Erysimum 'Parish's'

Erysimum 'Ruston Copper Knob'

Campanula medium

Time to return to one of our happy places. The garden at East Ruston Old Vicarage on the Norfolk coast is bursting with plants at every time of year, but in April seed-sowing is underway in earnest and there are treasures to behold everywhere you look! In this week's episode the garden's owner Alan Gray shares just some of what's going on with Thordis.

PLANT LIST

Tulipa 'Yellow Crown'

Tulipa sprengeri

Amaranthus cruentus 'Hot Biscuits'

Amaranthus cruentus 'Velvet Curtains'

Anemone coronaria 'Bordeaux'

Smyrnium perfoliatum

Tropaeolum tricolor

Tropaeolum pentaphyllum

Tropaeolum hookerianum

Plumbago auriculata

Rosa 'Iceberg'

Rosa 'The Generous Gardener'

Abutilon vitifolium

Abutilon vitifolium 'Album'

Drimys winteri

Hyacinthoides non-scripta ‘Silver Cobalt’

Agapanthus 'Queen Mum'