Gardeners' World dream for couple

With the National Collection of Heleniums, a plant in the daisy family, sat alongside the couple's special perennials, Janet and Martin Blow are well known for their stunning garden just outside Audlem.

And when bosses of the BBC Two programme called up asking to film their helenium collection of 100 cultivars, the pair were more than happy to invite presenter Carol Klein into their garden.

Mr Blow said: "She's exactly what she's like on the television. She was really interested in the plants and was asking lots of questions about different things.

"They made the whole thing really nice and relaxed, and it was very interesting to see them go through the process.

"We have a nursery here which we run every day, and she went home with a whole boot full of plants!"

The programme offers green fingers tips, tricks and advice on the perfect garden, as well as an inside peak at gardens around the country.

But it's not the first time Mr Blow has appeared on television.

Having made an appearance on the Great British Garden Revival, the 54-year-old is a dab hand in the world of television.

He said: "We were at a plant fair and had a stall so they filmed us there for a little bit.

"But it was really different this time, we saw how the filming has to be done lots of times from different angles.

"They arrived at about 8.30am and weren't gone until about 6pm, so it was a long process, but very enjoyable."

The pair run a nursery from their home on Hall Lane, in a village called Hankelow.

Special Perennials, features a whole host of interesting and unusual plants with mail order facilities also available.

Mr Blow said: "It is a hard job, it's seven days a week and it's not what you'd call a low-maintenance garden.

"I get Christmas day off and that's about it - but it's our passion, we really love doing it.

"I think it all started when I was made redundant a few years ago and I think I'm the only person who spent his gardeners leave actually gardening!

"But we hope that having been on television we'll get more people visiting when we open up for the National Garden Scheme, and things like that.

"We really enjoy keeping the garden nice, it's really important to us and it's our passion."

And for those who want to see the garden first hand, the couple will be opening their gates for National Collections on August 16-17 from 2pm-5pm with an admission charge of £2.50.

Another chance to see it will be on August 20 and August 31 for the National Garden Scheme.

The garden is set to air on BBC 2 Gardeners' World on August 29 from 9.30pm.