Meet the Asters, Castlewellan’s autumn gold and a trip to Kiltumper

As autumn takes hold, David visits the National Arboretum, Annesley Garden at Castlewellan Forest Park where he takes in the seasonal hues with Alwyn Sinnamon and learns about an unusual 19th-century recipe for compost that included rabbit intestines and rats! A walkabout with Maurice Parkinson in his Ballyrobert cottage gardens reveals a collection of asters perfect for late season colour. Ann Fitzsimons joins David on a visit to a listener’s garden who has over 100 named varieties of hydrangea and the authors of ‘In Kiltumper: A year in an Irish garden’ chat about their intimate relationship with life outside their County Clare window over the last three and half decades.