This Easter, CUBG will feature in a seasonal special on BBC 1 celebrating Britain’s love affair with gardens and exploring how they have long been spiritual places that can have a profound impact on our heart and soul.
To celebrate Good Friday and Easter Sunday, former chorister and garden lover, Alexander Armstrong, along with garden designer Arit Anderson, visits six spectacular gardens steeped in faith and spirituality. These beautiful landscapes are bursting with new life that symbolise beauty, joy and hope.
CUBG will feature on the Good Friday programme, which will be on air at 13.40 and available on iPlayer afterwards. Presenter Alexander Armstrong and CUBG Director Professor Beverley Glover will look at the history of the Garden and how it remains at the cutting edge of plant science research while being a place of beauty and tranquility.
“I’ve always loved gardens. They’re beautiful places to enjoy plants, flowers, fruits and nature’s changing seasons. Most of all though, for me, they’re spiritual retreats from the modern world. This is a dream programme for me, celebrating some of the UK’s most sacred gardens and meeting the amazing people whose physical and spiritual lives are intertwined in them.”
Filming for the programme began last autumn, with the crew visiting CUBG to capture the colour in the Garden before winter. Filming with Alexander and Arit took place at the end of February this year, when CUBG’s Director, Beverley Glover and Head of Horticulture, Sally Petitt were interviewed about the history, science and beauty of the Garden. Viewers will enjoy scenes from around the Garden, including interviews with Beverley and Sally on the Main Walk, the Bee Borders and in the Sainsbury Laboratory (not open to the public), and finally the Winter Garden.
Other gardens featured in the programme are the Bishop’s Palace in Somerset, Pluscarden Abbey, Alnwick Castle; Scone Palace and Sudeley Castle.
Alexander and Arit celebrate the significance of these gardens in the Easter story itself. They will get hands on in these sacred places, meeting the custodians of the gardens to pick up gardening tips and discover the very special and surprising spiritual significance of each place.
