Enemy of North Korea Alan says people sholuld celebrate botanical beauty – whether an Old Master or created by a manufacturer of faux flowers
Gardening guerrilla Alan Titchmarsh has backed fake flowers. It’s the latest shock move from the maverick telly host who is already an enemy of the state in North Korea.
Alan, 76, was censored by dictator Kim Jong Un for wearing tight jeans in one of his TV shows. Now fans of the horticultural hero here will be stunned to find he’s a fan of false flora.
He confessed: “It’s so easy to be snooty about artificial flowers, but now that they are so skilfully crafted – from synthetic fibres – it is almost impossible to call them out until one is barely a few inches away.
“Does that make them a travesty? You’ll be surprised at how good – and realistic – they look, until you are right up close.
“Garden centres sell everything from lilac and peonies to delphiniums and roses, lupins and lilies made of whatever synthetic material passes for silk nowadays, and they are undeniably beautiful. They will last for years and years, needing nothing more than the occasional shake to free them from dust.
“Were you to invest in the same fresh cut flowers they would last just over a week.”
Rural rebel Alan made the startling claim in his column in the new issue of Gardeners’ World. He added: “I am a huge fan of bunches of blooms gathered from my borders and fresh British flowers from the florist, but there are times where buying artificial is altogether kinder than subjecting our favourites to an early death.
“And, after all, aren’t we still celebrating botanical beauty – whether an Old Master or created by a manufacturer of faux flowers?”
It was revealed two years ago that the gardening guru was outlawed in North Korea for wearing tight jeans on one of his telly shows. State broadcaster Korean Central Television (KCTV) aired a 2010 episode of Alan Titchmarsh’s Garden Secrets but he was obscured from the waist down as he tended to plants.
The bizarre move was part of a censorship drive by North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong Un to crack down on influences of Western fashion but Alan joked it had given him “a bit of street cred”.
He said: ‘It’s taken me to reach the age of 74 to be regarded in the same sort of breath as Elvis Presley, Tom Jones, Rod Stewart. You know, wearing trousers that are generally considered by those of us of a sensitive disposition to be rather too tight.” I’ve never seen myself as a dangerous subversive imperialist.”
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