Garden near Market Drayton will host BBC radio show

The Dorothy Clive Garden was selected to host the popular radio staple on February 5, to the delight of self-confessed Radio 4 "geek" Kathryn Robey, the garden's curator.

Because the 12 acre garden doesn't have the facilities to host the panel and its audience, the bulk of the show will be recorded at the Mitchell Arts Centre in Broad Street, Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent.

It will however include an informational piece about the garden, beamed to national audiences.

The panel for the show will consist of Bunny Guinness, Rob Flowerdew and Chris Beardshaw, chaired by Eric Robson.

Tickets are available at £4 from the garden on Friday and Saturday, or the arts centre from Monday to Friday.

Kathryn said: "I'm a Radio 4 geek and a Gardener's Question Time geek so it was a dream come true really.

Shows

"We decided that instead of having a marquee in the middle of the garden we would ask the Mitchell Arts Centre to host it."

She said there will be 300 seats available, and that she and the garden team were looking forward to being able to raise the profile of the garden.

The audience will be able to submit their own horticultural queries on the night.

Doors will open at 5.30pm on the evening and all attendees must be seated in the auditorium by 6pm.

Recording will begin at 6.15pm, and the recordings will be broadcast over two weeks on Radio 4, making a total of four shows.

For more details contact the centre 01630 647237.

Located in the woodland quarter close to the Shropshire and the Cheshire borders, the 12-acre hillside garden features a winter garden, an edible woodland, a woodland quarry with a waterfall, an alpine area and pool, a rose walk and seasonal borders.