By Matt Jackson

Copyright walesonline

Monty Don delivered a stark warning to his Gardeners’ World colleague before delivering a harsh reality check. The 70-year-old has been mentoring emerging presenter Jamie Butterworth over recent months. Jamie, 30, collaborated with Monty on the Radio 2 Dog Garden at this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show, having secured gold himself three years previously. Last April marked his debut appearance on Gardeners’ World and he even co-presented the BBC’s Chelsea coverage alongside Monty. This led to the pair meeting for coffee as Monty shared his expertise. During their conversations, Jamie reveals Monty advised him he must “master the craft” to achieve television success. Jamie disclosed that Monty also offered a cautionary message should he continue pursuing a broadcasting career. Speaking to The Times , he said: “Monty sat me down and told me to be prepared that being on TV will change my entire life, and that my wife, Devon, needs to be on board with it.” Jamie’s perspective shifted dramatically when he accompanied Monty to the RHS Chelsea Flower Show press day. He continued: “But I thought, how hard can it be? “Until I saw how mobbed he was at Chelsea press day – everybody wanted a piece of him. He even had a bouncer. Monty’s iconic.” Jamie described collaborating with Monty as amongst the “best experiences” of his life. He even attributes Monty with sparking his gardening enthusiasm. At nine years old he decided to purchase 1,000 cornflower seeds with the aim of flogging them for £1 each after tuning into Gardeners’ World, though his scheme didn’t quite unfold as anticipated. He admitted: “I thought it looked quite fun. It didn’t work, embarrassingly. Don’t tell Monty.” Despite this early disappointment, Jamie remained undeterred. At merely 16, he reached the finals of BBC Three’s Young Gardener of the Year and subsequently trained at RHS Garden Wisley. Now, Jamie operates his own enterprise, Form Plants, which started life as a shipping container on an industrial estate. As his business expanded, he discovered he needed to move to bigger facilities. He has since developed a star-studded following with “luxury brands” and prominent personalities such as Nigel Slater and Tony Blair dropping by his nursery. Jamie considers gardening the “greatest leveller” and insists that “anyone can garden” irrespective of their origins. His prestigious clientele features King Charles , who, when encountering Jamie at the Chelsea Flower Show, observed, “I know Jamie,” before prompting him about a forthcoming delivery. Whilst many might feel nervous about serving the King, Jamie discloses that it was actually working alongside Monty that made him “really worried.” He confesses he was initially troubled that the BBC host would garner all the acclaim whilst Jamie undertook the labour. Nevertheless, he observes that Monty “got really stuck in” throughout the garden planting procedure. When he’s not on Gardeners’ World, Jamie can often be found on BBC Radio London and Talk Radio, where he frequently discusses all things gardening. Gardeners’ World airs from 8pm tonight on BBC Two