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As we head towards Autumn, join us in our third BBC Gardeners’ World Autumn Fair, in the picturesque grounds of English Heritage’s Audley End House and Gardens, in Essex, from Friday 30 August to Sunday 1 September, 2024.

Tom Stuart-Smith's National Garden Scheme Garden

A young multi-stemmed olive tree in Umberto Pasti's Moroccan garden

Joe and Laura Carey

Tradescantia has more than 65 species, native to North, Central and South America.  Many are hardy and can be grown outdoors but several of the tropical species, which are tender, have become popular house plants in the UK. These include the variegated silver-striped Tradescantia zebrina, Tradescantia fluminensis, which has small leaves, trailing stems and white flowers, and Tradescantia cerinthoides ‘Nanouk’, with variegated pink and purple leaves that have green and white stripes.

All of the medal winners at this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show have been announced. This year’s Chelsea Flower Show had everything: from a garden designed by children, for children, a garden that provided a calming, sensory atmosphere to support stroke recovery, and even one inspired by the Netflix show Bridgerton. Discover the Gardeners’ World Magazine team’s show highlights of RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2024.

As Bridgerton returns for a third series, we celebrate its return by taking a look at some of the many filming locations from season three, which you can visit this summer. From urban oases to grand country estates, these include some of the UK’s most iconic stately homes and gardens.

For the last 19 years I have spent the third week in May at the Chelsea Flower show. It's one of those Great British institutions that just has to be experienced — a chance to see the country's best horticultural performers all in one space, to glean ideas, spot trends and talk to the people who make our gardens grow.

Every day I seem to spot the first rose of the year on yet another bush and, today, the first of hundreds on ‘Rambling Rector’; in the warmth and sunshine this afternoon there was even a hint of fragrance in the air. I can’t post any fragrance on this blog, but I can share the beauty of the roses along with their varied colour and form, beginning with ‘Olivia Rose Austin’, above, which grows into a neat and shapely bush.

Twenty-five years ago when my wife Kathy and I started searching for a new home for our growing family, she focused on all the qualities one looks for in a new house. I, of course, looked at what every gardener considers imperative—the lot. Thanks to Kathy, we ended up with a wonderful new place. And much to my delight, the property had one particularly important feature—good soil. The other nice bonus was that the backyard bordered a small city park, with lots of open space for the kids to play, so my garden design did not have to include an area for kicking a soccer ball. Plant-wise, however, there wasn’t much other than invasive shrubs and trees. So after removing all the nasty invasives, I had a clean slate to work with.

Starting a new garden from scratch can be daunting, but it’s also a fantastic opportunity to create exactly what you want. The vision I had for my new garden (two decades ago) was based on the many small English gardens that I was lucky enough to visit—not the gardens with impeccably maintained lawns and neatly clipped hedges, but those that had plants spilling out of every nook and cranny. Since its inception, the landscape has been slowly undergoing a transformation over the past decade, from a traditional shade garden to a more naturalistic one that embraces an ecology-first mindset. This evolution, however, hasn’t sacrificed the original intention of my dream garden—that it be a visually appealing space with plenty of activity.

With the third series of the hit drama about to start and The Bridgerton Garden coming to the RHS Chelsea Flower Show later this month, now is the ideal time to invest in some new plants to bring a touch of Regency glamour and romance to your garden.