How Does Your Garden Grow? (6 Jan. 1991)
"Agatha Christie's Poirot" How Does Your Garden Grow? (original title)

At a flower show, an older woman in a wheelchair approaches Poirot, gives him an empty seed packet, and asks him to visit her the next day. When Poirot arrives the next day, the woman is dead, murdered with poison.

Director:

Brian Farnham

Writer:

Andrew Marshall (dramatized by)

Stars:

David Suchet, Hugh Fraser, Philip Jackson

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
David Suchet	...	Hercule Poirot
Hugh Fraser	...	Captain Hastings
Philip Jackson	...	Chief Inspector Japp
Pauline Moran	...	Miss Lemon
Anne Stallybrass	...	Mary Delafontaine
Tim Wylton	...	Henry Delafontaine
Margery Mason	...	Amelia Barrowby
Catherine Russell	...	Katrina Reiger
Peter Birch	...	Nicholai
Ralph Nossek	...	Dr Sims
John Burgess	...	Mr Harrison
Dorcas Morgan	...	Lucy
Trevor Danby	...	Mr Trumper
John Rogan	...	Pathologist
Stephen Petcher	...	Photographer

Storyline

Poirot and Miss Lemon travel to Surrey to visit Miss Amelia Barrowby but arrive to learn that she has died during the night. Poirot had an odd encounter with her the previous day at a flower show when she made the odd gesture of giving him an empty seed packet. Upon returning home, he finds that she has written him seeking his assistance. Poirot suspects foul play and the pathologist confirms that the woman was poisoned with strychnine. Initial suspects are Miss Barrowby's niece and her husband, but when the dead woman's Russian companion runs away, Inspector Japp thinks he has the culprit. Poirot thinks otherwise.

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Plot Keywords:

murder mystery | punctuation in title | question in title

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Crime | Thriller

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English Russian

Release Date:

6 January 1991 (UK)

Filming Locations:

Twickenham Studios, Twickenham, Middlesex, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

ITV Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

50 min 50 min (36 episodes)

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Goofs

Before the credits even roll, there is a scene at the embassy of the USSR. The brass plate at the entrance to the embassy reads, "Union of the Soviet Socialist Republic," although the correct form is "Union of Soviet Socialist Republics."

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Quotes

[first lines]
Nicholai: Spasibo.

User Reviews

The title is the best thing about this episode

Hercule Poirot receives a letter from a rich old lady (whom he had bumped into earlier at a flower show), in which she claims that her life may be in danger. When he arrives at her house, he finds her dead

• and soon enough, it is discovered that she had been poisoned.

Inspector Japp suspects the old woman's Russian companion, but Poirot is not so sure....

"How Does Your Garden Grow?" has an intriguing title (taken from a nursery rhyme that is somewhat related to the plot), but it is not one of the most exciting episodes of the series. There is just not much that's very special about it, apart from Poirot being accompanied in his investigations by Miss Lemon instead of Captain Hastings (because he is suffering from a persistent sneeze), and one well-done bit involving horses and a hidden message. (**1/2)