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May is a vital month to get your garden in order for the summer, and Monty Don has shared a vital tip to make sure your plants don’t die off when they make the big move outside

We might not all be gardening experts, but there’s one person we can rely on to get things in shape: Monty Don. Rather than going in blind, it’s handy to have someone around to lead you in the right direction – and Monty’s latest tip is super simple and could save your plants from a painful death.

As you might know, May is a massive month for gardening. As the weather changes, many plants and flowers can move location or even be planted for the first time, and it’s a good chance to get ready in advance to make sure that your garden is thriving by summer.

One thing you’re probably thinking about at the moment is sprucing up your garden space with annual plants – meaning the type that can’t be planted year-round and won’t last in the garden forever.

However, BBC star Monty warns not to be too hasty, and advises that a simple step can stop plants from dying off after being moved outside.

On his website, the Gardeners’ World presenter explains that the middle of May is the ideal time to plant ‘tender annuals’, including sunflowers, zinnias, and tobacco plants. For the most part, these can all happily go outside now unless your garden is particularly cold.

The key thing to ensure their health and growth, however, is ‘hardening them off’ for a week or more. In short, this means giving the plants a bit of time to acclimatise to the outside world before putting them straight in the soil.

Monty explains: “Hardening off is important and will mean much faster growing and longer-lasting flowers – so if you buy any of these annuals from a garden centre over the coming weeks, do not plant them out immediately but put them in a sheltered place for a week to acclimatise to your garden, as they will probably have been kept sheltered for best retail display.”

So, you’ve completed the hardening off period, but you might still be a bit unsure exactly how or where to plant the tender annuals. Thankfully, Monty also has some advice for that.

In his own garden, the expert prefers to focus on aesthetics, grouping them around to break up the bedding and add a bit more diversity. For planting, he suggests to “space them about 12 – 18 inches apart in a sunny situation that is sheltered from strong winds and water them in well.”

Alongside tender annuals, you might also want to get some use out of your garden in way of food – and May is also a great time for that. The Mirror recently revealed which fruits are best to plant now if you want to be able to pluck a snack directly from your garden by summer.

The Vicar of Dibley brought an unlikely group of parishioners together on screen, but while some of the cast have sparkling careers, they’ve been shaken by six heartbreaking deaths

The Vicar of Dibley must be one of the nation’s favourite shows over the past few decades. Originally running from 1994 to 2000, the BBC show was beloved by families all over, with plenty of slapstick moments for the kids and raunchy jokes for the adults.

While it made a huge impact and bagged plenty of awards, it surprisingly only had 20 episodes in its main run, before returning for lots of special episodes due to fan demand. Unlike many sitcoms of the time which focused on younger groups and urban life, The Vicar of Dibley offered a slice of village life, following Dawn French as Reverend Geraldine as she arrived to shake up a village dominated by characterful old men.

It was also created by Richard Curtis, who’s better known for his huge films such as Love Actually and Notting Hill rather than his small screen works. The Vicar of Dibley was last on screen for a lockdown special, and sadly, if it returned again it wouldn’t feature much of the original cast; most of them have died since the original series ended. Aside from tragic deaths, however, a lot of the main parish team have enjoyed incredible successes in their careers, and it’s guaranteed that none of them will be forgotten.

Dawn French – Reverend Geraldine Granger

Reverend Geraldine Granger is the down-to-earth vicar who ruffled a few feathers when she arrived in the village. Despite some initial hesitations, Geraldine quickly became a popular member of the community, although her outrageous behaviour and the odd bit of rude language did turn heads.

The star of the show, Dawn French is best known for writing and starring in French and Saunders with best friend Jennifer Saunders. Dawn has done it all, appearing in the theatre, TV series and big budget films, as well as presenting shows such as ITV’s Little Big Shots. She also appeared in Little Britain, Lark Rise to Candleford and in Sky One’s Delicious.

Not limited to the small screen, Dawn played the Fat Lady portrait in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, starred in Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie, and also did voice work on The Chronicles of Narnia, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Coraline.

She was married to comedian Lenny Henry when The Vicar of Dibley first aired, but they separated after 25 years of marriage in April 2010. Dawn then married charity executive Mark Bignell in 2013 after two years together. In recent years, Dawn has also been very open about her weight loss journey over the years after making the decision to overhaul her lifestyle in 2011. A cancer scare prompted the star to lose 7.5 stone for surgery, and she has since said it was a completely ‘practical’ choice and not one based on her appearance.

Emma Chambers – Alice Horton

Alice was the ditzy yet adorable church verger, who Geraldine once claimed had the “intellectual capacity and charisma of a cactus”. Despite a backlash, Alice married her second cousin once removed Hugo Horton and went on to have 10 children.

Actress Emma Chambers had us in fits of giggles throughout all 20 episodes of the show, and even won the British Comedy Award for Best Actress in 1998. Emma also appeared as Hugh Grant’s on-screen sister in Notting Hill before going into voice work.

Tragically, Emma died at home from a suspected heart attack in February 2018 at the age of just 53. Emma and Dawn were very close, with Dawn sharing at the time: “Emma was a very bright spark and the most loyal and loving friend anyone could wish for. I will miss her very much. Far too young and I think we’re all still reeling a little bit from it. My memories of working with Emma are some of my most favourite memories of my whole career.

“She’s a massively diligent person, much unlike Alice. She was incredibly bright. Very funny, very knowing and yet she was able to play someone who was in a different world. She didn’t play a simpleton, she played someone who had a different reality. She was incredibly authentic at that and I will miss that.”

Gary Waldhorn – David Horton

David Horton was the bullish chairman of the Parish council and District Councillor – and Hugo’s cold father. He frequently clashed with Geraldine due to his old-fashioned nature, but the pair came to respect each other as the series went on.

Actor Gary Waldhorn appeared in every episode of the show, including all of the specials. Away from the parish, Gary has appeared in many classic British TV shows such as The Sweeney, Heartbeat and The Bill, as well as Hotel Babylon in 2008. He has also turned to adverts, with his voice being heard on commercials for Green Flag, Kwik Fit and Marmite.

Sadly, Gary died in January 2022, aged 78. In a statement, his grieving son Josh shared: “Classically trained, it was the theatre where he truly flourished and he leaves a legacy of entertainment that saw him frequent the boards of Broadway, the West End and our living rooms on the telly! He leaves behind his two grandsons, Cooper and Bayley and his son Josh. We will all miss him terribly.”

Roger Lloyd-Pack – Owen Newitt

Farmer and parish council member Owen had awful hygiene and was labelled ‘Britain’s B.O. King’. He was the first person to support Geraldine’s appointment as vicar, but was famously always late for council meetings. Owen was one of many people to propose to the vicar, but she did join him for Christmas dinner in 1996, meaning he finally didn’t spend it alone.

The man behind the character, Roger Lloyd-Pack, is best known for playing Trigger in Only Fools and Horses. He also became known to a new generation of fans through his Doctor Who appearances and for his role of Barty Crouch Sr. in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Roger also had roles in The Catherine Tate Show, The Bill and Doc Martin – with his final role in an episode of Law & Order: UK in 2014.

The popular actor tragically died from pancreatic cancer in January 2014 at the age of 69, with Only Fools co-stars David Jason and Nicholas Lyndhurst attending his funeral. Dawn hosted a special 10-minute tribute to her co-star on the BBC, telling viewers he was “a really lovely, interesting, complicated man”, before adding that there could be no better tribute than the repeat of the first ever episode of Only Fools and Horses.

Trevor Peacock – Jim Trott

Known for his catchphrase of “no-no-no-no-no”, council member Jim once lost on Deal or No Deal because of his stuttering. Jim did have a wife but he was always flirting with the vicar, then proposed to her in the final episode.

Actor Trevor Peacock, who appeared in all 20 episodes, has also appeared in My Family, Hotel Babylon and Jonathan Creek. He also played Alfie Moon’s war veteran pal Sid in an episode of EastEnders. Trevor has two famous acting sons; Daniel Peacock who played ‘Mental Mickey’ in Only Fools and Horses, and Harry who was in Toast of London.

Sadly, Trevor was diagnosed with dementia in 2009, but he stayed strong and appeared in the 2015 Vicar of Dibley Comic Relief Special. By 2017 the illness was advanced, so he retired from acting and was living in a nursing home in Yeovil. He later died on 8 March 2021, aged 89.

John Bluthal – Frank Pickle

Boring Frank was the parish council secretary – and was dubbed ‘The Most Boring Man in Britain’ in a newspaper headline. His tales about the milkman being 47 minutes late and the pub running out of crisps sent people to sleep. After keeping his sexuality secret for 40 years, Frank bravely announced he was homosexual on the radio, but only Geraldine was listening.

Actor John Bluthall had an incredible career with an extensive work in the British theatre as well as TV classics such as Last of the Summer Wine and Casualty. He was also a major film star, having appeared in multiple Carry On films and as various characters in the 1967 version of Bond movie Casino Royale. In 2016 he starred in the Coen brothers hit film Hail, Caesar!, and his final role was in the Daniel Radcliffe movie Jungle.

Tragically, John was one of two cast members to die in the same year, and passed away in November 2018 at the age of 89. In an emotional tribute, Dawn penned: “Tons of happy laughs remembered today. Cheeky, naughty, hilarious. Bye darlin’ Bluey.”

James Fleet – Hugo Horton

Hugo Horton was the sweet but dim son of the council leader, who was bullied by his cruel father. He finally stood up to his dad by marrying Alice against his father’s wishes after Geraldine played Cupid for the couple.

Aside from The Vicar of Dibley, James is well-known for playing bumbling Tom in Four Weddings and a Funeral. A star of stage, radio and TV, James has also appeared in Grange Hill, The Bill and starred in the Kevin & Perry Go Large move in 2000 and 2018 film The Spy Who Loved Me.

He also appeared in the BBC Three comedy Bad Education, and his Coronation Street character Robbie Sloane was shot dead after kidnapping Carla Connor in 2010. James reprised his role as Hugo for the Christmas special The Vicar Of Dibley in Lockdown and his still bagging big roles, recently starring in Netflix’s Bridgerton prequel, Queen Charlotte, as King George III in his elder years.

Liz Smith – Letitia Cropley

Dibley church organist and Parish council member Letitia Cropley was a popular character during the first series of the show. Known for her strange recipes, including a Marmite cake and Branston Pickle icing, she was dubbed ‘The Queen of Cordon Bleurgh’ and ‘The Dibley Poisoner’. The character died in the 1996 Easter special, in which forgetful Letitia asked almost everyone to take over her role as the Easter bunny as her dying request.

The wonderful Liz Smith was part of two iconic British comedy series – The Vicar of Dibley and The Royle Family. She became a household name playing Letitia until the character was killed off, then had us in stitches again in the role of Nana in The Royle Family. In a similar ending to her time on The Vicar of Dibley, Liz’s character died during a special episode in 2006.

Liz also starred in the first series of Lark Rise to Candleford and was made an MBE in the 2009 New Year’s Honours. Heartbreakingly, the veteran TV star died on Christmas Eve 2016 at the age of 95, just days after a repeat of her emotional final The Royle Family episode had aired.