Roses are red, violets are blue… but why are so few flowers ever black? Might it be because gardening itself is an inherently racist pursuit these days? It certainly is in the eyes of some.
During coverage of the Chelsea Flower Show held in late May, BBC Gardener’s World presenter Monty Don and his co-host Joe Swift sounded surprised by the chosen winner of the event’s Best Show Garden award, saying the procedures of judgement had “all become so technical” and a mere exercise in “the boxes… being ticked”, in an increasingly technocratic “procedure that is like passing a driving test”. And which particular boxes were being ticked at Chelsea? PC ones, as usual.
