MyGardenFinder.com

We know we were very far from being alone in our shock at Monty Don’s departure from Gardeners’ World, and particularly the reason for it - so we absolutely loved a recent post on the show’s blog that showed how a dedicated plantsman never really leaves a garden he’s nurtured.

On the face of it, Rosemary Edwards is writing about sweet peas. But only on the face of it.

The scent of Monty lingers in the garden - his Sweet Peas are in flower and they truly smell divine. In fact the formal garden has never been so packed with presenters - Alan Titchmarsh in one corner, Percy Thrower in another and Monty’s brand new edition in the third.

Alys has even managed to grow Geoff Hamilton’s lovely mauve Sweet Pea in the fourth - despite the fact we had been warned it’s become unstable. Personally I had never heard of an unstable sweet pea before until grower Roger Parsons explained it meant the flower keeps reverting in colour to one of its parent plants - in Geoff’s case pink.

In truth there are various different shades of Geoff in our formal garden - but we don’t care - we still love him.

Monty Don’s gentle, passionate style of presenting could make the most unpromising of subjects into compelling television and if his self-styled ‘gardening leave’ becomes permanent retirement he will be a temendous loss to broadcasting.

In many ways he is the mirror image of Gordon Ramsay - quiet and gentlemanly where the Scottish chef is noisy and profane.

Very different at first sight, they are nevertheless similar in possessing a charisma born of their great experience, a devotion to their subject matter, and a committed enthusiasm for passing on their knowledge to the lay person. Both carry the story of their work (and their working conditions) in the lines on their faces, and both make the best sort of television - entertaining, instructive, and very, very watchable.

Carol Klein, who stepped up as acting lead presenter of Gardeners World when Monty stood down, has many of those qualities too and it was no surprise to see how good a job she did in the role.

It’s no exaggeration to say that Toby Buckland, who will take over the job from this autumn, has some tremendous acts to follow. But he’s not the first new presenter of the show about whom that has been said.

We reckon he’ll cope. Good, well managed, TV programmes - like good, well-managed gardens - usually bounce back, blending new ideas with the legacy of what came before.

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