grow, cook, eat, arrange with Sarah Raven & friends

Few flowers are quite as essential as the Salvia, a plant of the moment which is as low maintenance as it is high performing. It takes just a little care to keep these ocean deep blues, rich purples and eye-catching reds flourishing well into the autumn months. Not only are colourful varieties like Jezebel and Amistad also edible, but they’re an indomitable blackspot deterrent and great for cuttin...

The allure of a warm, glowing, gorgeously adorned home to spend Christmas is particularly appealing in lieu of a challenging few years, and there’s no better way to bring your home to life than with our Christmas range! In this week’s episode of ‘grow, cook, eat, arrange’, learn how you can transform your home with some of Sarah & Arthur’s highlights from this year’s winter offering from our r...

The pleasure of designing a garden stretches far beyond colour - with the prolific growth of tender perennial climbers, your flowers become architectural art, giving arches and teepees spectacular structure. Join Sarah & Arthur this week as they take a journey through their pick of the climbers, from the pleasant purple and apricot combination of Rhodochiton & ‘African Sunset’ to the capti...

After Sarah’s recent appearance on Prue Leith’s More4 show, Prue’s Great Gardening Plot, it’s an absolute delight to host Prue on this week’s fascinating episode of ‘grow, cook, eat, arrange’. We’re given an insight into Prue’s gardening and the work that’s happened behind the scenes to create the dazzling spaces we see on her TV programme, how she’s made the most of challenging Cotswold clay with...

With 2021 waning and the winter months taking hold, the opportunity to force bulbs presents the delightful prospect of creating indoor arrangements for a much-needed splash of colour and pleasant aroma within the home. This week’s episode of ‘grow, cook, eat, arrange’ offers an eclectic selection of Narcissi, Amaryllis and Hyacinths to consider when assembling your chromatic chorus of bulbs, and e...

Cold nights and frosty mornings are soon upon us, which signals the perfect time to start putting our gardens to bed in preparation for the harsh winter months. A little bit of care and attention now will help your garden to thrive when the excitement of spring rolls around! Whether in a small garden limited on space, or one in which you have the luxury of corners you can leave to wild, Sarah &amp...

As we enter Autumn and the spectacular summer’s days wane in favour of darker, colder weather, Pelargoniums take centre stage and truly come into their own. For a family of flowers that boasts such visual flair and incredible scents, they’re remarkably high performers for very little attention. On this week’s ‘grow, cook, eat, arrange’ we’re talking all things Pelargonium, from those with attentio...

As winter descends on our lovely gardens, it’s a perfect time to plan for the emergence of wonderful possibilities next spring, particularly by sowing your own organic crops. While the prospect might be daunting to some, it’s just been made far easier by this week’s guest on the podcast.  The delightful Anna Greenland joins me on episode 36, fresh from the release of her new book. We hear the stor...

When you’re faced with a selection of plants as vast as our wonderful Autumn range, it’s very easy to get bogged down with such a range of choices, so this week we’ve decided to cast a spotlight on a few of our absolute favourites. Whether it be a productive collection to provide a cohesive, colourful ensemble, or perhaps a single flower with such a striking appearance that it becomes your new fav...

No late summer garden is complete until its colour palette is drizzled with delightful Dahlias, a flower that’s had its fair share of love on past podcast episodes - and quite rightly so! Their productive tubers and vibrant varieties make them a true must-have, and worthy of a full episode to themselves. Sarah Raven and Arthur Parkinson - perhaps the most enthusiastic Dahlia advocates - share thei...

With the highly anticipated, and slightly belated, Chelsea Flower Show 2021 just a week away, this week’s episode of ‘grow, cook, eat, arrange’ offers us a perfect chance to talk with one of the show’s most prolific and accomplished garden designers - the wonderful Ann-Marie Powell. Missing just a single year of the show since 1997 (understandably for the birth of her now-12 year old), Ann-Marie s...

We’re breaking convention on ‘grow, cook, eat, arrange’ this week as Sarah steps aside from hosting duties - Arthur is joined by a fellow Perch Hill resident, Sarah’s other half, and thoroughly accomplished writer, Adam Nicolson.  In a conversation ranging from profound environmental issues to more absurd incidents like the ‘big sheep crisis’, this episode is equal parts hilarious and inspiring to...

There are massive gains to be had if you’re willing to take a crack at autumn sowing, which presents a fantastic opportunity to grow some truly giant hardy annuals. Whether you’re looking to get ahead on ornamental additions to the garden or encourage stronger roots to protect your edible plants, Sarah & Arthur explain how autumn sowing now could be the start of an envious, vibrant ensemble in...

From selling her own beautiful produce at markets in London, to exciting collaborations with Skye Gyngell at Spring Restaurant and Jam Jar Flowers’ Melissa Richardson (a previous guest on the podcast!), Jane Scotter has had a wonderful journey to running her 16-acre, biodynamic farm - Fern Verrow. Joining Sarah & Arthur from her gorgeous spot at the foothills of the Black Mountains in Hereford...

For regular listeners or those familiar with Arthur’s fabulous family of feathered friends, you’ll know that hens are his area of expertise. From those ideal for egg laying to the breeds that make pleasant poultry pets, this week’s episode of ‘grow, cook, eat, arrange’ is all about how to choose and care for hens of your own. Sarah & Arthur divulge their experiences with picking a suitable chi...

Organic lifestyles may have become particularly popular in the last few years, but the shrewd gardeners at Yeo Valley Organic Garden have been at it for over 25 years in the depths of Somerset. What’s even more exciting is their debut appearance at this year’s belated Chelsea Flower Show - a ‘dream come true’ for Sarah Mead. From dealing with pesky pests to picking out vibrant native flowers for t...

With the care and attention that we put into our gardens and green spaces, what use would it all be without a comfortable corner in which to sit back and enjoy it? We turn our focus this week to the captivating decorations and colour combinations to perfectly complement your floral handiwork. In episode 27, of “grow, cook, eat, arrange” Sarah & Arthur talk all things garden props - the most in...

This week’s podcast is a special-one with a focus purely on delicious food! Sarah is joined by a guest who combines her passion for the planet mixed with her love of plant-based delicious dishes that you can make at home; author of “One Pot, Pan, Planet”, Anna Jones.  This best-selling author and environmentally conscious cook, discusses her brand new book, some of the best kept secret vegan subst...

When taking care of the beautiful congregations of colour at Perch Hill, it must be said that a wonderful team of keen, green-fingered folk are a helpful luxury that most at home won’t have when taking care of potted arrangements, so creating a maintenance schedule of sorts can be quite an art. In this practical instalment of ‘grow, cook, eat, arrange’, Sarah & Arthur have a whole host of prod...

As the latter summer months wane into autumn, pleasing perennials sweep into season - from the hard-working and rich Phlox ‘Blue Paradise’ to the hardy mainstay of the garden that is the beloved Salvia family. Sparking inspiration for your own containers, borders, cut flower arrangements and everywhere in between, Sarah & Arthur this week run through the plethora of perennials they consider th...

From the beauty of a bold, stained glass window to the emphatic and highly saturated patterns found in wildlife and nature, colour is an element of gardening that’s captured both Sarah and Arthur’s eye since their youngest years. Marrying together flower families is a fine art, but between Sarah’s ‘Bride, Bridesmaid & Gatecrasher’ approach to picking beautiful bunches, and the colour palettes...

As the summer months are upon us and the prospect of lovely evening gatherings in the garden grows ever more appealing, there’s a marvellous opportunity to spruce up your garden with a selection of gorgeous Gladioli. It’s not too late in the year to plant your own, so now is a perfect time for us to consider some of the best Gladioli to bring a natural and harmonious ensemble of colour to your spa...

While the boldness of Lupins might be unfairly mistaken for a lack of subtlety, and many gardeners overlook Irises and Peonies, Sarah and Arthur feel it’s high time for a renaissance of these romantic, vigorous flowers. From the rousing rouge tones of Terracotta to the rich, cool tones of Dusky Challenger, there’s a strong case for adding these gorgeous varieties to your garden - they should be pr...

As we finally begin to emerge from a year of restrictions, the world is our oyster and it’s time to start planning some gorgeous getaways and rousing retreats. For many, the likes of familiar old favourites Sissinghurst and Chatsworth will undoubtedly be on the cards, with romantic rose gardens and marvellous displays of cramming every cranny with colour. For this episode of ‘grow, cook, eat, arra...

Rich in fragrance and saturated colour, the biennial is a wonderful group of plants that promise to really enhance the sights and smells of your garden, whether they be the magnificent early Wallflowers, or the aromatic Icelandic Poppies. Among the numerous varieties of biennial worth sowing right now, on this week’s ‘grow, cook, eat, arrange’ we also hear about how you can add carrots to your veg...