NEWTON St Cyres Garden Club was pleased to welcome on October 2, for a rare local appearance, a well-known gardening expert, TV presenter, author, and radio host, who lives in Devon.

Back in 2008, Toby Buckland hosted “Gardeners' World” for two years and is still a regular presenter on the BBC series.

He has also taken part in “Gardeners’ World” live at the NEC, Chelsea Flower Show and many other shows.

When he is away from the cameras, Toby hosts a gardening show on BBC Radio Devon every Sunday morning, giving listeners gardening advice.

He also hosts his own annual garden festival at Powderham Castle, (next year’s dates are May 2 and 3, 2025), and he writes for the fortnightly “Amateur Gardening” magazine.

Nicola Baker, from the Garden Club, explained: “Toby’s topic for the evening was his favourite plants and he provided so much more!

“Accompanied by cuttings of these plants from his own garden, he also touched on his previous jobs in Cambridge, his practical experience working with roses and many amusing recollections.

“He had a very natural down-to-earth style which really engaged the audience.

“One of Toby’s amusing pieces was about his attempt to grow a prize pumpkin.

“Toby had the opportunity to grow his own from a seed and was pleased with his resulting specimen.On arrival at the show though he noticed other growers had telehandlers and webbing to unload their entries, and realised that his was not really a contender.

“However on returning home he received a letter and cheque for ‘The Prettiest Pumpkin’!”

Nicola explained that the evening concluded with numerous questions for Toby from the audience, which he readily answered.She added: “Thank you to all those who attended, including many from Upton Pyne and Crediton Garden Clubs and some from as far afield as Torquay!

“Overall it was a wonderful evening, informative and entertaining, where we learned from an expert, in a relaxed setting.”