RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2017

Even if you don’t know your hosta from your hebe, the annual Chelsea Flower Show is still one of the most glorious spectacles on TV. You can even kid yourself you have the greenest of fingers as you survey the prize-winning pelargoniums. Or are they penstemons? Whatever their names, the current trend for bright and cheery planting means we can expect to see splashes of vibrant colour among the more subtle hues.

The kings of TV gardening – Monty Don and Joe Swift – are our BBC2 hosts at Britain’s premier horticultural event at 8pm. But before that at 7.30pm on BBC1, Swift and Sophie Raworth introduce one of this year’s Radio 2 Feel Good gardens.
Daytime viewers get an extra spadeful at 3.45pm on BBC1, with Nicki Chapman and James Wong placing their bets on which show gardens will win a medal.

Hotly tipped is James and Helen Basson’s garden (they’ve won gold two years running), but the pair will surely give a nod to the dramatic Chengdu Silk Road garden with its undulating canopy. And sure to get a mention is former Gardeners’ World host Chris Beardshaw, who is exhibiting again.