What is an American garden? Is there such a thing and if so what does it look like? In this three-part series, Monty Don travels across this vast continent in search of answers.

In the second episode, Monty goes south to explore gardens of early independent America and learns how the history of this part of the country is still very much evident in the places and people he meets. He visits the famous garden where President Thomas Jefferson, one of America’s founding fathers, enjoyed spending his time seeking out seeds and plants for his thousand-foot vegetable garden.

From there, Monty travels south to Charleston, which boasts some of the most beautiful trees in the world, and learns about the life of its plantations.

In Miami, Monty visits one of the most spectacular Renaissance recreations built on marshland, and then joins an orchid hunter in search of rare plants only he knows how to find.

Monty ends this journey in New Orleans, where he sits beneath the huge oak trees in the square where jazz was born and hears why this green space was such an important part of that city’s history. It is a journey full of surprises, colourful exotic tropical plants and extraordinary fairy-tale houses and gardens. Show less