Monty Don has revealed that he often finds himself struggling to "restrain tears" as he admits that a part of him "resents" a BBC show. The 70-year-old gardener and television presenter opened up about the complex emotions he experiences when filming coverage of the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, which he says takes him away from his beloved garden at a critical time of year.
A Childhood Feeling Resurfaces
Monty explained that the feeling of being separated from his garden during the seasonal transition from spring to summer harks back to his days at boarding school as a child. He recalled feeling as though "summer had arrived without me" while away at school, and that same sensation now hits him when he leaves his Herefordshire home, Longmeadow, to present the Chelsea Flower Show coverage for the BBC.
"I still have a moment or two like that every year in the garden, although now, 67 years later, I do my best to restrain the tears," Monty wrote in Gardeners' World magazine.
The Garden as Epicentre
Monty has long considered his home and garden to be the epicentre of his world. He purchased Longmeadow in 1991, when it was just an abandoned field with a single tree. Over the years, he has transformed it into a series of lovingly crafted gardens that now serve as the backdrop for his television programmes.
He noted that a garden often experiences a "watershed moment" where one season seems to become the next with "seemingly no transition." However, he also acknowledged that gardens change constantly through "slow mergings."
The Chelsea Flower Show Conflict
Monty presents the Chelsea Flower Show coverage alongside Rachel de Thame, Angellica Bell, and Nikki Chapman. He leaves Herefordshire on a Sunday and returns a week later, only to find that his garden has "completely rearranged itself." He jokes that "spring has toppled into summer and I was not there to see it."
This brings a "complicated mess of emotions" for Monty, including a sense of "betrayal" from his garden, as well as delight at welcoming the new season. He admitted: "I do not want to miss out on the greatest garden extravaganza of the year and am delighted to and privileged to present the programme from there, and yet part of me resents being taken away from the garden at this critical moment."
Upcoming Episode
Monty will return to screens on May 15 at 8pm on BBC Two with Gardeners' World. In the episode, he will start work on summer planters, leeks, and fertiliser. Elsewhere, Frances Tophill will be in Berkshire learning about biodynamic gardening, and Adam Frost will show viewers around his new garden as it begins to take shape.
