Tag Archives: Alan Titchmarsh

Alan Titchmarsh shares his top tips to growing a sunflower:

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B&Q celebrity ambassador Alan Titchmarsh shares his top tips to growing a sunflower:

“This is a fun way to get children inspired to garden and what better way than to start with everyone’s favourite flower, the sunflower:

1. Make sure you plant the sunflower in a spot where it’s sunny all day long, these plants love the sun

2. Ensure that the plant has enough space, roughly 30 inches apart from other plants.

3. Water the plant as soon as you’ve planted it and remember to water infrequently to encourage the roots to grow deep.

4. When it gets to roughly 30cm high, support the plant with a bamboo stick. Doing this will encourage the plant to grow as tall as it can with the support of the stick.

5. To protect the plant from animals, buy some netting to drape over the plant. That way the plant will produce lots of seeds which are a tasty snack for birds

To see how to grow your own sunflower just log onto www.youtube.com/bandq.

TV Preview: The Seasons with Alan Titchmarsh; Autumn

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I love a good wildlife documentary, If they’re done right they can be relaxing and informative at the same time. Frost Magazine were allowed a preview of ITV’s current offering ‘The Seasons’ so we can tell you all about it.
In ‘The Seasons’; gardening zen master Alan at-one-with-nature Titchmarsh takes us through the seasons and how we’re intrinsicly linked with nature.
This time round it’s Autumn. Mixing time lapse sequences and beautiful photography, The Seasons shows us something about our home country that we’ve forgotten about. As we increasingly move and expand our urban jungles, we’re actively trying to recapture our link to nature. Farmers markets and organic food are booming and we guilt trip ourselves and others into shunning advances in food technology. We’re increasingly seeking a more natural and simplistic way of life. It’s little wonder then that glorious early morning mists in seemingly mystical forests seem so appealing.
Titchmarsh walks us through Autumn explaining why we have seasons by using an electric globe and an orange ball and answering questions like why do leaves turn orange? and why do berries taste bitter after michaelmas?
He also talks about animal behaviour; covering hibernation, migration and how animals prepare for winter; which gives lots of opportunities to show us shots of adorable small mammals and woodland creatures as well as some less adorable insects and a snail in its very own stasis.
The Seasons doesn’t stop at animals and plants, it looks into how humans relation to nature, from Harvest to allotments to sustainable oyster fishing.
It’s a lot of information to cover in one hour long program which means that The Seasons touch upon a great deal of information but doesn’t go into any real depth. Still, it has some great photography. The episode concludes on visions of frosty fields and snowy countrysides which gives you a taste iof what will follow.

The Seasons: Autumn is on ITV1 on 23rd May at 7pm