Episode 50: the Chelsea flower show 2018

The Chelsea flower show is the world's most famous gardening event, but houseplants are starting to make big inroads into this fixture in the horticultural calendar. I visited the show to check out the indoor gardening displays in the Great Pavilion, and met up with friend of the show Alys Fowler. Here's a summary of all my Chelsea interviews:

Ian Drummond of Indoor Garden Design shows me around the stand he put together in partnership with houseplant mega-seller IKEA: I find out how easy it is to grow Sansevieria in water and why plants in the office are good for you. Alys Fowler and I cover everything from the dearth of peat-free houseplant compost, the difference between perlite and vermiculite, and how to keep a Begonia luxurians alive.  Jo Jackson of Ottershaw Cacti gives me a tour of the delightful display of succulents, including Beaucarnea recurvata, Senecio rowleyanus, Haworthia truncata, Ceropegia linearis subsp. woodii and Echeveria 'Compton Carousel'. Follow them on Instragram as @cacti_dan Robbie Blackhall-Miles (who you'll remember from On The Ledge's bathroom plants episode) introduces me to the world of Aspidistras beyond A. elatior at the Crug Farm Plants stand, including the unmistakeable A. 'Uan Fat Lady' (pictured below). Robbie also recommends trying Oreopanax from Crug Farm as a big bold houseplant for spots with limited light. Every Picture Tells A Story is a nursery specialising in bromeliads including air plants, Vriesias, Neoregelias and more. Julia Carder explains how to look after these intriguing members of the houseplant world.

Visit janeperrone.com for full show notes and images.