BBC Radio 4 FM

BBC Radio 4 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced BBC Home Service.

BBC Radio 4

Radio 4

Radio 4 (FM)

Chrysanthemum

Documentaries

Factual

08/04/2014

BBC Radio 4 - Chrysanthemum

Jools Gilson pursues chrysanthemums, through memories of her grandfather Bill Bowman.

Jools Gilson explores the world of chrysanthemums, through memories of her grandfather, Chinese tea ceremonies and the search for the perfect bloom.

Gorgeous, medicinal and edible, Chrysanthemums come with whole worlds in their blossoms. Jools Gilson pursues these remarkable plants from her Grandad's garden in the 1930s to the latest National Chrysanthemum Show in Stafford. Along the way, she visits championship grower Ivor Mace's greenhouse in the Rhondda Valley and sips chrysanthemum tea ceremoniously in London.

What is it that drives people to tend their chrysanthemums as if they were newborn babies? And what is the connection between these floral shenanigans and the chrysanthemums used as ancient Chinese herbal remedies for calming itchy eyes and lowering blood pressure?

Jools returns to her roots, to ask her aunties how her Grandfather found time to grow something just because it was beautiful - between factory shifts, growing vegetables and trapping rabbits to feed his ten children.

What blossoms is a story of survival, and the pursuit of perfection.

Producer: Adam Fowler
A Overtone production for BBC Radio 4.

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Chrysanthemum

Genres

Formats

BBC Radio 4 FM

About BBC Radio 4