Bunny in the Garden with...

This week is the last episode in this series. The tables are turned and, Unity, Bunny’s daughter, as well as being the sound engineer, quizzes Bunny on her life, career and her garden. There is an accompanying YouTube video on Bunny’s YouTube channel ‘The Guinness Girls gossip about Life and Gardening‘ which illustrates various aspect of Bunny’s life they chat about. This will go up on or just before, Friday 20th December.Happy Christmas and we hope you have enjoyed this series.#family #guinness

Today Bunny is in the garden with of Caryn Hibbert, founder and director of Thyme and the Bertiolli Brand. Caryn started life as a medic, an obstetrician and gynaecologist whilst having and bringing up 3 children. Then in the early 2000 Caryn changed tack and started developing her own business. Hear about the problems of combining medicine and a family, her brilliant father’s invention and her amazing water meadows with their extraordinary bird and wild flower populations plus golden moles! See Caryn’s Garden in Bunny’s accompanying YouTube video ‘Caryn Hibbert in her Gloucestershire Garden’ #takethyme #cotswolds

Today Bunny is in the garden with Lulu Guinness OBE. Lulu talks about her approach to design, how she loves creating original designs whether for handbags, interior design, gardens or clothing. Several of her iconic handbags are in the V and A museum. Before setting up her business, Lulu was a model (probably the smallest one then in the world) a backing singer in Valentine Guinness’s band, and she made corporate videos. Lulu and Bunny discuss what its like becoming a Guinness!#luluguinness #houseofguinness

Carole Boyd has been in the Archers since the mid 80’s. Following her training at the City of Birmingham University she then won BBC’s Carlton Hobbs award which involved a 6 month contract with BBC Radio Drama Company. But she started acting age 3, when, whilst being bored in long cinema queues, she used to sing and dance to entertain the other queue members. Carole voices all the female voices on ‘Postman Pat’, fell in love with Laurence Olivier in her early teens, and looked after her husband for twenty years after he had a stroke which removed half his brain. Though remarkably Patrick retained his speech and sense of humour. Carole talks about techniques to manipulate your voice and use it to be as expressive as your face. Bunny first met Carole when they were on the same team for University Challenge, and she describes her favourite colourful plants which she likens to ‘NewBerry Fruit Jewels’ a jelly type of sweet. #thearchers #bunnyguinnesspodcast

Today, Bunny chats to George Monbiot, sadly not in his garden as it is a building site, but we hear all about his plans for the garden, which he is working on with his partner, Rebecca Wriggly. Rebecca is Chief Executive of Rewilding Britain. Bunny and George chat about why George had an unhappy time at Oxford difficult, (he had an open scholarship) though enjoyed his course, his several near death experiences, his thoughts on whether Bunny should change her diesel car to electric and where he buys his clothes. Plus ideas, of course, on how we can hopefully save the planet.Bunny gives him a present of a Cambridge Gage tree from Frank Matthews. They are one of the largest tree growers in the UK with an extensive range of fruit and ornamental trees. Available as container grown or bare root in the winter, trees can be delivered to anywhere in the UK or you can visit their Tree Shop in Worcestershire. The delicious fruit have a very short shelf life, so you can only enjoy them by growing your own.#equality #wildlife

Bunny is with the world famous fashion and textile designer Dame Zandra Rhodes in her zany 9th Floor flat in London, which has tiny outdoor spaces that face south, north and west. Despite Zandra having designed clothes for numerous super stars such as Freddie Mercury, Princess Diana and Princess Anne, Zandra has a very down to earth side being passionate about making her own bread, listening to the Archers and Gardeners’ Question Time and of course creating her spectacular garden.Her home is filled with mementoes that she has collected throughout her action packed, extraordinarily successful career that spans well over 60 years. Zandra entertains her eclectic and wide circle of friends regularly, cooking her famous salmon with mango salsa for them - though has been known to fall asleep at the table due to her punishing work schedule. Her pink hair is always a talking point but she explains the unexpected affect it has had on her illustrious career. To see Zandra’s fabulous flat and gardens see Bunny’s YouTube video ‘Zandra Rhodes, in her plot with its fantastic plants, patterns and paints’. #zandrarhodes #fashionandtextilemuseum

Today Bunny is in Isabella Tree’s ground breaking Walled Garden at the Knepp Estate. They start off in the more private garden by the stunning Knepp Castle before going into the Walled Garden that has been totally reworked creating hills and hollows to replace a flat croquet lawn and Traditional Kitchen garden. Lots of sand and crushed concrete have been added and the various aspects of the newly created slopes have been exploited to create a greater range of plant habitats to produce a greater biodiversity. The new garden around the restaurant is a most used area and even a dog wash has been added for those that have visited the rewilded estate. The present Bunny bought Isabella was an attractive dark green hose with brass fittings from Claverton Cloches – something you don’t have to hide! To see Bunny chatting to Isabella in the gardens see Bunny’s YouTube ‘Bunny Chats to Isabella Tree in her ground breaking gardens at Knepp Castle.#knepp #rewilding

In the second of these two episodes top football correspondent, Henry Winter talks to Bunny in his Rutland garden about the importance of football to the economics of the country (somewhat larger than horticulture) and how footballers can have a huge influence on excellent causes such as school dinners, autism and planting trees.His brother Tim (aka Abdal Hakim Murad), says of Henry "I was always the clever, successful one. Henry just wanted to play football with his mates. I used to tell him, ‘I'm going to make loads of money, and you'll still be playing football with your mates.' Now he’s living in a house with 10 bedrooms and married to a Bond girl."Henry proudly shows off his topiary yew avenue, modelled on Alice in Wonderland, his Lord’s bench and his garden lock down project. His father, John Winter, was a famous Architect and his mother was a garden designer, who worked with Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe and John Brookes amongst others. Hear how these influences have rubbed off on Henry! Henry read English at Edinburgh and in his small class of around ten were two now eminent gardeners - Sarah Raven and Isobel Bannerman. As a present, Bunny took Henry a French tarragon plant, great for soothing stomachs – when Henry is (very occasionally) scooped, a tea from this plant is brilliant for turbulent stomachs.To see Henry in his garden watch Bunny YouTube video ‘HENRY WINTER in his garden talking about gardening and football. The nations greatest passions!’#henrywinter

In this episode Bunny talks to Bob Flowerdew in his Norfolk garden. They talk about his previous work before he started gardening professionally which include chicken giblet washer (advancing to chicken box counter), council care-home cleaner, dog impersonator, glass fibre laminator, houseboy & cook in house of ill repute, festival security lighting engineer, marine engineer, museum attendant, nude model, Parisian guide, theatrical gofer, vitreous enamel applicator, arcade mechanic & pinball wizard. Bob though, is most at home performing. He approached the producer of BBC Radio 4’s Gardeners’ Question Time some 28 years ago, where he had been in the audience and said he could do a better job, and was subsequently taken on by the producer. On the program, with its 2 million listeners a week, Bob has consistently promoted organic gardening and had a big influence on the way people garden. Hear why he was booed off stage at Glastonbury , why he is not a big fan of hedgehogs in his garden and why he disagrees with George Monbiot about growing pineapples in the UK. He also has boycotted Tesco’s over their ‘Bags for Life’.For his present Bunny took him a fig, ‘Desert King’ which is extremely cold tolerant with beautiful, large, melt in the mouth fruit. Not widely grown, but in Bunny’s opinion superior to ‘Brown Turkey’.To see Bob in his garden watch Bunny’s YouTube video ‘Bunny and Bob Flowerdew bicker in Bob’s Norfolk Garden’.

Today Bunny is in the garden with the star of BBC’s hit series ‘Normal for Norfolk’ Desmond MacCarthy. Desmond talks about his beloved home, the Dutch gabled Jacobean, flint faced Wiveton Hall and how he has spent his life putting his energies into his family home with just a 250 acre farm to support it. The series was the precursor to Clarkson’s Farm, showing just how difficult it is today to raise enough income from farming. Desmond boosted the profile of the house through the tv series and has a café, shop, cottages to let, garden and house tours plus other ventures. Desmond was an engaging star of the tv series, an aristocratic gentleman with certain idiosyncratic tendencies, and hugely characterful eyebrows, and he has the audience on side throughout. To see Desmond’s house and garden see Bunny’s YouTube ‘WIVETON HALL - NORMAL FOR NORFOLKS GARDEN.’#bunnyguinnesspodcast #normalfornorfolk

Bunny chats to Her Grace, The Duchess of Rutland, Emma, in her gardens at Belvoir Castle. Emma talks about her life and gardens, including how she won a scholarship to the Guildhall School of Music to study opera singing, before changing direction and training as a land agent. Emma has completed many ambitious projects at Belvoir, including recreating the Capability Brown scheme for Belvoir Castle which was Brown’s final scheme, plus creating The Engine Yard, a retail village next to the castle, complete with a small hotel. Emma also explains how she has managed to bounce back from her breakdown, which was triggered by the break-up of her marriage.Emma also talks about the hugely successful podcast ‘The Duchess’, that she started, where she would chat to other chatelaines of English country houses.#theduchess #bunnyguinnesspodcast

Caroline Haughey OBE KC talks to Bunny in her idyllic garden (with its own cricket pitch) about the problems of modern slavery, how she works with the police and crime writers for TV dramas, and her love of boots!Caroline uses her outdoor spaces as a counterpoint to her frenetic life. Despite having a life time phobia of soil, she still loves gardening. Her mother (who also ran her own legal practice) is an amazing gardener, and together with Caroline’s her late father, Baron Ballyedmond, who was also was passionate about restoring and bringing to life houses and gardens, they did extensive work to Ballyedmond Castle, where Caroline spent some of her years growing up in a remarkable garden.#antislavery #bunnyguinnesspodcast

Bunny is in the seaside garden of Anna Pasternak. Anna is well known as a journalist and author. Anna had the privilege of growing up in a Gertrude Jekyll garden as a child, and loves gardens with different spaces or rooms within them. One of Anna’s favourite plants is lilac, as they were her great uncle, Boris Pasternak’s favourite. Boris Pasternak won a Noble Prize for his book ‘Dr Zhivago’. Anna wrote a book ‘Lara: The Untold Love Story that Inspired Doctor Zhivago”, the book revealed for the first time the critical role played by Olga Ivinskaya (Boris’s mistress) in his life, and argues that without Olga it is likely that Doctor Zhivago would never have been completed or published.Anna has also authored “Princess in Love” (about Diana and James Hewitt) and ‘Untitled:The Real Wallis Simpson’. Her mission is to write books that rehabilitate women whom history has treated unfairly. For her present, Bunny took Anna a little known plant, Aloysia polystachya, which can be used to make a delicious herbal tea that has been proven to help relieve anxiety.