大象传媒

For most of the country, it's waders rather than wellies that are essential kit to get gardening this spring. Beechgrove is back and Jim McColl, Carole Baxter, George Anderson and Chris Beardshaw are raring to go no matter what the weather.

In the first programme, the team take a look at some soggy, boggy gardens across the country and assess what can be done. They also deal with their own new unintended paddling pond, in the Beechgrove Fruit House.

On a snowy day in February, Carole visits Dunblane to find early inspiration from the Scottish Rock Garden Club's Early Bulb Display. This is not a competitive display; this is to encourage SRGC members to share their plants and information with others. Members bring as many pots and pans of alpines as possible to clothe the benches and it turns out that more than 90% of the species and varieties are unique. Carole chats to members and visitors, and catches the flavour of this early springtime display.

Also searching for early season colour, George finds all that and more when he visits Shepherd House garden in Inveresk. Recognised as one of the best small gardens in Scotland, Shepherd House is a very personal garden of about one acre, designed by its owners Charles and Ann Fraser. The garden in February is full of aconites and iris, and swathes of hellebores. Ann has placed mirrors under the traditionally shy hellebore blooms so that we can appreciate their beautiful faces. She has also turned into a snowdrop collector, or galanthophile, after being invited to paint some snowdrop varieties. She's got the bug and she now has a stunning collection of snowdrops of over 70 varieties, all with very different characters.