91Èȱ¬

Looking back over the week I think the show has been another great success.

During my more 'sane' moments this week, these are some of the things which gave me most pleasure, in addition to the floral marquee. I particularly admired the flower beds - especially Noah's Ark and the Stoke on Trent to Patagonia bed.

The Visionary Gardens, although not my personal favourites were very much a talking point. I think the category could potentially be extended - even if it is a bit 'Emperor's New Clothes'.

A real highlight for me has been the introduction of the Fruit and Vegetable section, which inspired a great deal of interest among adults and children alike. I hope this section returns and extends next year!

By the way, this is where you could often find me this week, writing my blog in the shelter for rain or sunshine in the Tatton Tent!'

So as 4pm and the great sell off approaches, it's 'hold on to your plants', watch out for walking hanging baskets and here we go for next year!

Entering the RHS summer fruit and vegetable competition marquee is like walking into a village show. It's modest in size and the exhibits are displayed on white plates arranged on wooden tables. As in most village shows, the same names dominate the winners cards. I was surprised to see that a lot of them were from as far away as Plymouth and Essex, but this is a national competition and rather early in the season for northern growers.

Alongside the plates of beetroots and carrots are handy tips for the aspiring exhibitor. Advice like '..to get good colour in your beetroots, water the row with a solution of 10ml of salt in a gallon of water 2 weeks before harvest' or 'after washing your carrots, wrap them in damp kitchen paper and keep them cool - good colour is worth 3 or 4 points', could make all the difference.

The fruit exhibits impressed me most - it was painful looking at huge, luscious black cherries 'Summer Sun' and not being able to taste them. I've never tried the strange looking 'doughnut' peaches, but was assured they are very sweet, have white flesh and a very small stone, 'Saturn' was the variety on show. One allotment society from Yealmhampton near Plymouth had a fantastic display that included a pineapple!

Very helpful fruit enthusiasts from the Northern Fruit Group ( ) are on hand to give advice and answer questions. I found out how to prune a reluctant gooseberry and Clifford from told me there was no excuse for not growing lots of fruit in my small London garden.

I enjoy a quick foray into the National Plant Societies Marquee as there are always a wealth of unusual things on offer that aren't available from the large nurseries. This year the displays put on by all the plant societies of the North West are especially good, with a wide range of plants available, everything from Brugmansia, Agapanthus and succulents to carnivorous Sarracenia.

Where some shows have a small table devoted to each one, at Tatton they do things differently, grouping all the plants together to make displays of mixed plant types from all the different exhibitors. The effect is a great display which really relates to everyday gardens, and shows that anyone can be a national collection holder and still have an interesting and varied garden.

For me the best part of the marquee was the stall, manned by groups from across the north of England and featured a wonderful mixture of different perennials, vegetables and houseplants all grown by the members themselves. Each plant was lovingly grown and labelled, and sold with the helpful advice of the person that propagated it. The effect was like a giant garden fete and certainly offered something for everyone. I was in my element buying far too many plants. Oh well at least I'll be able to take some cuttings and bring some plants back for them to sell next year.

A few years ago if someone had mentioned gabions I wouldn't have known what they were talking about. They were something that was used in civil engineering, large scale industrial landscaping - a million miles away from domestic gardens. Now it seems they are becoming the cool thing to have.

At Tatton there are gabions in the show gardens, in the back to backs and on the trade stands - people are taking home DIY versions!

Basically a gabion is a metal - usually steel, cage filled with stones/rocks or various heavy materials. They are usually used to retain soil in banks and terraces or as barriers. I've seen taller, slim ones used as a wall and smaller, cubed ones made into seats - the permutations are endless, as demonstrated by the two young designers of the Visionary garden, Cubed3, at this year's Tatton.

This gold medal winning design is a modular scheme, gabions are linked together like building blocks and used in different ways - some are filled with rocks as foundations, some are filled with soil and planted and some are placed in the pond, allowing you to walk over the water's surface. Larger cages have been left empty and plants are able to grow up through them - it's very effective.

On the Edible Trends garden the Reaseheath College team have filled their gabions with carefully placed layers of stones and wood in decreasing sizes, creating a very pleasing pattern and a haven for wildlife. Apparently it took them ages to do but it looks fantastic.

A very 'green' way to fill your gabions is with odd bits of bricks, slates and tiles left over from building jobs, plus any empty bottles you may have accumulated. This is what they have used on A Place for Waste, another gold medal winning garden.

As you look around the show you will see all sorts of shapes and fillings and gabions used in many ways. I am feeling quite inspired and am planning to try something with sempervivums and I rather like the idea of turf cubes.

On second thoughts - almost forgot we had the rest of the week to go! (by the way I am writing this from the Tatton tent which is at present being deluged by the tail end of a passing storm - however, we are close to a flower bed containing Noah's Ark so there is an escape route!).

The garden has been a great success with the public. It's also been enhanced this week by the presence of the Cheshire Poet Laureate, W. Terry Fox, reading landscape inspired poetry: his own, some from local school Manor Park Primary in Knutsford and even poems from would-be bards among Tatton staff!

Mingling in and out of the crowds all week have been many gardening celebrities, including two 'bits of lads' I knew when they were students: namely Joe Swift and Toby Buckland. It was good to catch up on old times - though they reckon they are not so old.

Finally we met up with Gilly, chief blogger for this event!

So all it remains is to dismantle everything early next week, put everything in store and continue to plan for next year. See you then!

Today I went along to the back to back garden called The Lunch Hour Garden to catch up with Sue Beesley, one of our previous Gardener of the Year winners. Since winning the competition Sue has gone from being an IT consultant to nurserywoman and gardening guru. She gives talks, writes for two magazines and does radio and television for her local region; in fact she's so much in demand that she has had to employ a PR agency this year!

Sue tells me that her nursery () is coming along well, it's hard work and not very lucrative as yet, but she loves it and is building a strong client base. Ideally she would like to concentrate on the nursery work in the spring and summer and write in the winter - sounds perfect.

The show garden she has created with her co-designer Isabelle Brooke is the sort of garden that we all wish offices would provide for their workers - a lovely, plant filled space for eating, meetings and getting away from your desk when you're having a bad day! It's quite a big garden, double the size of the other back to backs and I wondered if Sue and Isabelle would be having a go at a big show garden, at Chelsea perhaps? Given their progress so far, I wouldn't be surprised.

If you fancy following in Sue's footsteps and taking part in 91Èȱ¬ Gardener of the Year download an application form today and send it in before next Wednesday.

I'm never quite sure what to make of the floristry tents at shows, the displays are always fantastic but I'm not sure quite what the average person can take away from them. Tatton is no exception, this year the tent is dominated by an enormous display of giant bamboo canes each supporting a tropical arrangement. This 'Bamboo Forest' is all the work of the Welsh College of Horticulture, (the team that brought us the giant ball of flowers at last year's show).

Once again their display was awarded gold, and I have to admit that it was very striking so I could see why. While nobody is going to create an arrangement on anything like this scale at home, there were some nice plant combinations of orchids and exotic foliage that would look great on anyone's dining table.

While wandering through the display my eyes were also drawn to a large exhibit created by North Warwickshire and Hinckley College that has been inspired by the planets of the solar system. Very apt considering it was only a few days ago, that we were all celebrating the anniversary of the first moon landings. Each of the planets were created in different colours, with red anthuriums for Mars and equisetum strands for the rings of Saturn. At the centre of the display the Sun was created with a stream of exotic orange and yellow arum and some kangaroo paw cascading down like flares radiating out from the centre.

Fruit is always a big thing at Tatton, more so than at other shows because, of course, now is the time when the berries are ripening and looking luscious and tempting. So I was looking forward to meeting Sharon Hockenhull on her garden, 'Be Fruitful'.

It's a back to back designed to show how a small space can be productive and child friendly yet still look modern and stylish. As Sharon points out, a fruit garden was the obvious choice - growing veg is hard work if you are a working mother. Her children are three and five and she runs her own gardening business.

For children, having things like strawberries and apples ready to pick and eat in their own garden is wonderful. No boring digging and cooking involved, it's instant food. Sharon has some great ideas for fun ways to grow fruit ( ). I particularly like the idea of making a wigwam of poles and growing thornless raspberries and/or blackberries over it, a few strawberry plants round the outside and the kids have a fruity den.

Fruit growing involves much less day to day management than most vegetables and the rewards are high. You plant the trees or bushes and they will crop year after year, with increasing yields.

It's these increasing yields that bother Sharon, so much goes to waste, particularly apples and pears. She has had the bright idea to initiate the aim being, to make surplus fruit available to others.

She has nominated the 24th/25th October as weekend. People who want to take part can register their address and those who want fruit can come round and get it. You could either put your excess fruit in bags outside your house or have an open day and have a bit of a party. Sounds like a fruity date for the diary!

I don't generally approve of plants in houses - they never look quite comfortable, not in my home, at least. I've been lucky enough to travel to places where Ficus benjamina are the size of oak trees and Monstera deliciosa are climbing towards a forest canopy. For me it just doesn't feel right to grow them next to the TV.

But it's a plantaholic's prerogative to change their mind. So I must confess I was secretly delighted to discover at Tatton what could become my ideal houseplant.
The Hawaiian palm (brighamia) is not so much a jungle escapee desperately pining for the rainforest - it's more of an endangered species in need of fostering. Raised from seed by Dutch nursery Plant Planet, these beautiful plants can be grown happily in your living room. And as there are only seven specimens left in the wild, the IUCN is desperate to bring attention to them.

That's a pretty good reason to grow one. They need little watering and have the added bonus of flowering in deepest, darkest winter. I think I have the perfect spot in mind.

Camilla Phelps, Gardening Editor

One of the things I love about the Tatton show is the way the RHS are so encouraging to young designers. Many young hopefuls have started here with a small back to back garden and have then gone on to bigger and better things, a successful career being one of them.

This year, for the first time, there was a special competition for young designers under 25 from the north-west region. Two finalists were selected and invited to build gardens that were to be judged alongside the other show gardens and awarded RHS medals. Next year the Young Designer of the Year competition goes national and there will be three lucky garden-builders having a go.

Lee Belgrau is a student at Reaseheath College and his design, 'Red Rhythm', was one of the two chosen this year.

I think it's stunning - one of the most accomplished here. Lee says that his inspiration came from the shiny red posts that are the first thing you notice, rising up out of a beautiful raised bed. The five verticals are continued horizontally across a broad path of rough cut blocks of slate - creating a satisfying contrast of textures.

He has carried the red into the planting. It's vibrant and sophisticated; Crocosmia 'Lucifer', Dahlia 'Bishop of Llandaff' and dark Helenium 'Moerheim Beauty' lead the way. On the shadier side of the path, large specimens of Photinia 'Red Robin' and Astilbe 'Burgundy Red' continue the theme. I like the way that Lee has designed the garden with young clients in mind, it's ideal for a smaller, urban space, perfect for socialising.

Lee got a well-deserved Gold medal, a fantastic achievement for his first show garden. He has demonstrated that good design is about scale, function, harmony and, of course, rhythm. I shall be looking out for his name at future shows and I'm also quite tempted to look out for some shiny red posts...

After a few nervous moments yesterday when I almost missed meeting up with the judges I can now reveal (with much excitement) that we won a gold medal for our display. I'm really pleased for everyone involved; all the hard work has finally paid off.

Of course now that the medal's been awarded there's no stopping me; I've already got a great idea for next year!

This year's Tatton soundtrack might have to include: It only happens when it rains, raindrops keep falling on my head, singing in the rain... I could go on, so please let me know if you have any less clichéd suggestions. But, there's no getting away from it, the weather for the build up has been truly appalling. It's been a challenge for the show organisers, garden designers, nursery folk and TV crews alike. High-vis jacket-wearing was extended the full duration of press day yesterday as conditions got muddier.

But against such odds, they have all delivered a fantastic flower show, sunshine bright with colour. And somehow, against the wet, slate-coloured skies, the plants of high summer seem all the more vibrant. From show gardens to nursery stands, the stars of the show are easily gem-like crocosmias in a glorious range of orange shades from tangerine to gold; flat heads of raspberry ripple achilleas are also stand out performers.

But my favourite plant combination today was the gorgeously delicate Agrostis nebulosa with Astrantia 'Roma' - a fuzzy cloud of bronze grass with jewel-like blooms just peeping through, unfazed by the downpours, raindrops glistening prettily as the sun re-emerged.

Camilla Phelps, Gardening Editor

At Tatton this year, colour themed planting schemes where the tones of the planting pick up the colours painted on the fencing or hard landscaping are all the rage. One of the best is the fiery red scheme of 'Red Rhythm' designed by Lee Belgrau and Reaseheath College, a design where the scarlet tones of the crocosmia, dahlia and helenium, complement the red paint used in the hard landscaping.

If you prefer things a bit paler then the yellow theme, used by Phillipa Probert in her office courtyard entitled 'Revolution'. This would be a welcome retreat for any office worker, taking time out from the stresses of work to relax among the pastel plantings of white agapanthus and pale yellow anthemis.

Sticking with the single colour theme, the bright orange colours of 'Lose the Shoes' are the perfect antidote to a grey day (and today was very grey). Here, designer Bernie Quinn has carefully woven together bright orange crocosmia, geum and dark flowered Cosmos atrosanguineus, the perfect complement to the vibrant orange walls.

There's no turning back now the garden is finished and despite the torrential downpours and the blustery weather it is looking good!

We had a 'near miss' Saturday when one of my staff lost his footing on the top of the cave and nearly disappeared -just managing to save himself at the last moment.

Last minute tasks are in hand: putting in the posts to hold the rope to prevent marauding crowds from surging forward and destroying the garden; final positioning of the skull and bones; briefing of the staff on the plants, plan and the final tweak on the garden itself.

The judges' scouts have already been about. They are the ones who try to ascertain what medal an exhibitor deserves and also to warn what 'horrors' or otherwise they may face at the next exhibit.

I nearly missed meeting up with them as they were earlier than their allotted time and I was busy helping someone across the other avenue.

However it all worked out in the end and I think I may get a 'highly commended'. Watch this space!

When I was a child I had no interest in gardening - it was an activity that kept my parents away from me for hours on end and so I resented it. I was amazed recently talking to two horticulturist friends of mine when they agreed that, as boys, the highlight of their week was watching Gardeners' World! It also seemed the influence of their grandparents was the important thing. I hear that my fellow blogger, Sam Youd, Head Gardener at Tatton Park has seven grandchildren under the age of six, I wonder how many of them will catch the bug?

If I were a child today, it would be a different story. I'd be counting the days til my day out at this year's show.

Children are admitted free and the RHS have made sure there are plenty of stimulating and fun ways to introduce them to the world of horticulture.

If your children are very young and you don't want to spend the day buying and then mopping up, ice cream, there's lots of hands-on playing activities to amuse them. They can make animals out of vegetables, do floor puzzles and have fun getting dirty messing about with earth, plus a few worms if they're lucky. Arts About Manchester are planning a circus style tent plus a balloon garden and will be showing a screening of Bee Movie, which might be a welcome chance for a sit down (and a snooze) for tired parents.

One of the show gardens, is giving away pumpkin plants to the first 100 children to visit the garden, so that they can grow them for Halloween. If you miss that and you're feeling peckish, try the Waitrose outdoor kitchen, where your budding Jamie Oliver can have a go at creating a salad lunch.

For teenagers, the floristry tent might offer some unexpected inspiration. The floral jewellery workshops might offer something for even the most disaffected youth - and if you remember the spectacular hats at Chelsea, the results could be amazing.

Artistic teenagers might also be inspired by Jack Dunckley, the 16-year-old, medal-winning, garden designer (silver medal at this year). Take them to have a look at the gardens in the Young Designer of the Year category, you never know, they might want to have a go.

This week we interviewed the candidates from the hermit shortlist - there were two! We invited them to Tatton to see how at home they would be living in a cave, with a skull to contemplate and very little else. They were so good, we have decided to let them do half a day each on press day.

We also managed this week to smuggle in our gnome to the site ('banned' under RHS rules). However, he did have his reflective jacket and safety boots on. He continues to remain elusive due to not having a 'gnome pass'. Look out for him when you visit the show as he is apt to hide amongst the vegetation until close of play on the Sunday of the show.

The guy across the way has offered a replacement for the gnome and the hermit and has a full size dragon he says he can lend me. Quite honestly, I think he is just trying to palm his mother in law off on us for the duration of the show - I'll keep you posted!

Travelled back home with the family late Sunday afternoon and arrived back in Cumbria late evening.

It was wonderful to see all the animals and walk around my garden with Tony and the children.

I didn't want to see the show garden be taken apart, so my last memory is seeing it full of happy people....hopefully the bees didn't object too much when the lavender was taken away.

I've had such a lovely welcome back from family and friends and so many lovely comments from those who either came to see us, or watched us on tv. Thanks to everyone who posted lovely comments on the blog.

My youngest son Louie had his 8th birthday this week and we went to our favourite pub for roast beef and giant yorkshire puddings!!

The whole expereince has been an amazing roller coaster of highs and lows, but mostly highs and that's what I've ended on.

I've been asked by many people if I'll do it again, and the answer has to be............" I'll bee back"!!

Things are starting to 'warm up' as the build up for your garden approaches. We have selected our plants (tender ferns from New Zealand to Japan) and are trying to make sure they neither get too cold nor too hot in this unpredictable weather.

We have had a good response to a request for a potential hermit for our grotto, and I look forward to interviewing potential candidates.

We've finally managed to deliver a lot of rock and old wood to the show site and to fence it off so as not to have the site damaged by vehicles; this was after I was refused entry the first time for not wearing my safety boots!

Our neighbours were shocked when we told them we were constructing a garden with a wild theme - and that the heap of rock and wood we had just tipped was in fact our garden. That should give them something to talk and think about over weekend until we arrive on Monday morning to put it all together! (Our neighbour's some bloke called Beardshaw - he was next to us last year also, obviously a glutton for punishment)

Everywhere else on site everyone seems quite laid back and relaxed. I'm sure that will be about to change next week when the site starts to get snarled up with delivery vehicles - by which time we will be working away happily under our gazebo to shade us from the summer sun (we hope!?) Here are a few old pro's tips for surviving the build-up:

• Don't get dehydrated - like plants we need plenty of water!
• Hats are not necessarily the best protection - the sun bounces off the trackway, onto the brim of your hat and right into your face
• Keep plenty of sun cream to hand ...
• And keep a sense of humour.. It's supposed to be fun after all!

As you struggle through the crowds at Hampton Court Palace Flower Show it's always fascinating to see what plants are filling the bags and pull-along trolleys of the visitors. This year the little pink heads of Sanguisorba officinalis 'Pink Tanna' can be seen waving in the breeze as dozens and dozens of them start their journey to their new home.

Who knows why this easy, sun-loving, herbaceous perennial has suddenly become the plant of the moment? A white variety features in Jane Seymour's garden in the Wives of Henry VIII category and it has been used in several others. It's a plant that looks good in naturalistic planting schemes. It marries well with grasses, having delicate ferny foliage and of course it looks good at the moment.

The plants that are doing it for me this year, apart from succulents of course (I've only bought three so far), are grasses. I know grasses have been fashionable for a while now, but it's not so much the plants, as how they are grown, that caught my eye this time.

Knoll Gardens ( ) have a stylish display outside their tent, all the grasses are planted in rusted metal containers. They are various heights but some are quite tall - 1m at least, this really shows off the cascading varieties and brings the shorter ones up to stroking height. That's the trouble with a lot of grasses, you just have to run your hands through them. On Oak Tree Nursery's () stand they have a sign saying 'Please try not to touch the plants' - it's an almost irresistible urge.

I think the most beautiful of the danglers in Knoll's display is Carex testacea. The fine, bronze-tinted leaves are quite springy but the flower heads hang gracefully, way down the sides of the pot. Another, similar carex called 'Dark Horse' has dark brown bobbly flower heads which look great against the rusty surface. For a bit more colour I loved Eragrostis 'Totnes Burgundy', it gradually changes from green to red as it falls. Hakonechloa macra 'Alba aurea' , a bright, gold and green variegated grass that fans out quite horizontally, also looks good in a tall container, whereas Stipa arundinacea or Pheasant grass, needs to be a bit lower because it is taller - approx 60cms.

I could go on but I'll spare you - my point is that it's worth choosing the right shape of container for your grasses to really show them off. Something like a chimney pot would be fun to try.

In the last few months, the recession has really helped the idea of growing your own take off, as everyone starts to realise just how much cash you can save by cultivating your own crops.

This is all well and good for people in the country with large gardens, or even those lucky enough to have a small plot in the city, but what do you do if you only have a balcony or large windowsill? This is a problem the RHS have tackled at Hampton with a whole range of displays showing you how to grow in a very restricted space.

Some of the ideas go a bit far, containers made from old lampshades and hard hats aren't to everyone's taste and are unlikely to catch on, but hidden among the more wacky ideas, were some handy pots for growing lettuce and seeds made from old fruit juice cartons and boxes. Being made of waxed paper, these make perfect pots and can look surprisingly good when stacked together. If you only have a windowsill this is an easy and inexpensive way to get into gardening.

On another balcony, the designers have created a makeshift hanging mini -propagator from an old lemonade bottle with a hole cut in the side. This allows small pots to be placed inside so that they get a bit of protection as they grow. It's certainly something I'll be trying next year to get my seedlings through the cold nights of spring.

Years ago I had an allotment. It was huge and nothing but weeds, but I had big plans and a picture in my mind of how I wanted it to be. Alas it wasn't to be - my children were very young, the weeds were indestructible, the soil was thin and the tap was miles away. Reluctantly I gave up and now there's a long waiting list.

When I saw the Gold medal, Best in Show winning 'Growing Tastes Allotment Garden', I saw my dream allotment from all those years ago. It's perfect without being artificial and you feel you could just get right in and start working on it.

The first thing that caught my eye was the standard redcurrants, such a good idea. Apart from the fact that they look so gorgeous with the jewel-like fruit hanging down, it makes the picking really easy. Last year I bought my parents a standard gooseberry for the same reason and they were thrilled with it.

Looking colourful and a bit messy is the children's section. There's a sandpit, a few toys and raised beds for jolly flowers and veg. If only I'd thought of that - I used to have to bribe my children to keep them quiet, a penny for every dandelion they dug up!

I'm so jealous of the little greenhouse with the cold frames beside it - I remember how tedious it was going backwards and forwards with trays of seedlings. Having somewhere for early tomatoes and tender veg is a joy, not to mention somewhere to go when it's raining.

A cutting garden - what a luxury. This one is beautiful with dahlias, cosmos, cornflowers and lots of other favourites, there's even a row of ornamental annual grasses. Imagine never having to buy your flowers: you could stroll down the straw-lined path in the evening and pick and choose.

There's everything you could want in this marvellous allotment garden, fruit trees, compost bins, even hens; and I haven't even mentioned the rows and rows of healthy vegetables. I did have to ask one of the designers about the kohl rabi - it's one of those veg that no-one confesses to have eaten. Apparently it tastes like cabbage stalks, oh well, never mind - it looks pretty.

I hope I'll have an allotment again one day, I know it's a lot of work and the pests are waiting to get you, but I can dream...

Today I'm feeling really exhausted. Although it's lovely talking to all the visitors, I can feel my throat going.

Thank goodness I was sharing my talk with Rosie Hardy, as she had brought loads of plants and is an old hand at this sort of thing!

Needless to say, I was asked about beekeeping. I managed OK but at the end I had to ask the audience a question. So I asked what was the colour spectrum that bees preferred, someone knew the answer - ultraviolet i.e. blues and purples, like my planting.

Rachel de Thame came to film on my garden yesterday - she was very complimentary and said we should have got a Gold! I told her that I was upset at having to miss my children's school play and she said she was missing something of her children's too.

Later on we had Joe Swift and a couple of bee experts filming an interview on my bench. So, one way and another, the garden really has been buzzing.

I hid myself in the apiary for a phone call to my children (it must have sounded strange to the visitors outside !) I wanted to wish them luck for their play and give them special permission to stay up late and see mummy on television.

I really have missed them this week but they're coming to the show on Saturday with my husband - I can't wait.

This year there are nine entries in the Inspiring Spaces category, all designed to inspire you to think creatively about container planting.

The Gold medal winning entry by the Ebrington and District Gardening Club chose a day out at Wimbledon as its theme, with an umpire's ladder chair be-decked with strawberries and a panama hat planted with white alyssum as the cream. The rest of the planting was mainly white including some lovely clematis, which sprawled over a lush green lawn, demonstrating that they can be grown as a trailing plant where there is no room for them to climb.

The simple plant combination of graduating box balls, marigolds and spider plants in copper-effect boxes was the dramatic entry from the London Gardens Society. It demonstrated that for smart, urban spaces, a bold, limited palette is often the better choice.

The idea that could probably be incorporated into most people's garden comes from the Capel Gardener's Society. Their inspiring space is called 'We'll keep a welcome in the woodpile' and shows what can be done if you have an old dead tree and a few bits of wood in a corner of your garden. The top of the tree stump is cleverly carved out to form a birdbath and the logs are piled up around it. Plants such as violas and ferns are poked in among them. The whole area becomes a haven for all sorts of wildlife and looks really pretty.

Bourne Valley Garden Centre has gone all out to show that fruit and veg can be grown ' Anyplace, anywhere' and they've got some old wellies with chives sprouting from the top to prove it!

I'll be taking a look at the contents of my attic in a whole new light when I get home...

For me flower shows are all about the plants. I always wander around looking for what's new and unusual, what's in fashion and most importantly what's a bargain. There is always much deliberation before I make a purchase. What do I have room for in my garden? Will the plants I'm admiring really grow in the dry shady spot that needs filling in the corner?

I put my hands up, after all this thinking I nearly always go with an impulse buy. This year is was salvias. Not the gaudy red ones you see in park bedding schemes but the more refined shrubby perennial ones. I've found these to be surprisingly hardy and they provide a subtle display of flowers right through the summer without much effort from me. They are definitely a plant that deserves wider popularity, and are clearly in fashion this year as different varieties including the vibrant red and white Salvia 'Hot lips' and magenta 'Pink Blush' were present on a number of the stands.

I bought a couple from Wall End Nursery, Salvia greggi 'Desert Blaze' with variegated foliage and scarlet flowers and 'Raspberry Royale' a compact variety with reddish pink flowers. Both of them will look great in my sheltered borders, where they can fill in the spaces left by early flowering perennials.

After that things really went down hill and I succumbed to buying another Pennisetum setaceum 'Rubrum'. For the past five years I've bought one of these from Hampton, telling myself that I'm going to bring it into the house early and really treasure it. Sadly each year I forget and it is killed off by the cold weather. Fingers crossed this time I'll remember. I wonder if they'll do a discount if I order 12 months in advance?

One of my highlights at Hampton Court is the Conceptual Gardens section. Many of the gardens may look like 'installations' - the 'concept' part dominant over the 'garden' part, but increasingly ideas from conceptual gardens are creeping into the mainstream.

The most obvious example of this is Tony Smith's garden entitled 'The Quilted Velvet Garden' (judged as a Show Garden at Hampton Court 2009). Last year his garden 'Ecstasy in a Very Black Box' about bi-polar disorder was easily the most outstanding of all the Conceptual gardens, a simple black, brick wall enclosure to show the imprisonment of the soul in darker moments, inside bright shards of coloured Perspex on a mound of freshly sprung, lime green lettuce leaves, summing up the ecstasy.

Smith received the recognition he deserved when Quilted Velvet asked him to build three show gardens this year. (Chelsea was the first, Tatton Park will be the third). His second garden, which has just won a gold medal, once again touches you in a way that works on many levels. The theme is an environmental one, highlighting the need to plant new trees as we use up existing forests. 30,000 miniature oaks are encased by broad planks made of green oak, each with a shorter slab set at an angle on top. Three blue cedar trees are surrounded by fallen trees in the middle. The whole garden has a magical feel to it, something you would like to walk into a clearing in the forest and find - natural materials very clearly ordered symmetrically, placed there by man. The planks on top face the sun reminiscent of wooden windmills. They stare at the sun but are they beaming from the earth or receiving a message from the universe? Not only would I love to see this structure being moved to a sculpture park or a forest, this garden would also be just as powerful in an open field, standing alone in contrast to the flatness around.
"That's exactly how I always imagine my work" says Smith. "I love doing show gardens but it can be frustrating because they are none of those things - in my head I always see them in a forest, a field or even a white room in a gallery."

Three other honourable mentions in the Conceptual Gardens category:
'It's Hard To See' by Rebecca Butterworth, Victoria Pustygina, Ludovica Ginanneschi is a sunken garden with mirrors lining a cube filled with lush, green planting. The execution was first class (and it was rightly awarded Best Conceptual Show Garden by judges). The message was an anti-materialistic one: the middle part representing the vibrant and beautiful within us all, if we only take time out of the rat race to stop and look inwards.

Concreation by Sim Flemons and John Warland looks at the precarious relationship between man and nature. (Nature, in many cases does a pretty good job at fighting back).
The large, polished concrete plinth with a crack in the middle filled with plants was dramatic and a favourite with many show goers.

Lastly, but always interestingly, was Spaniard Fernando Gonzalez's 'Monstruosa' (Spanish for Monster), a computer generated design painted in silver and planted with carnivorous plants.

The idea was that the tentacled monster from outer space lands on the earth and colonises the carnivorous plants which will help it to take over the world.
There is no doubt that Gonzalez's head is stuffed full of ideas, but the finish on this creation is what really let it down (he received a Bronze medal). To have made this installation in chrome would have been sensational (and prohibitively expensive), but then to have made it in cast polystyrene then sprayed it with silver (the joins in the piece were also rather crude) interfered with the flow of the piece as a whole. Gonzalez has something of a 'devil may care' attitude when it comes to conforming but he is an interesting designer to watch.

Heather's been having a bit of a bad time of it lately apparently, no, I'm not talking about EastEnders. The heather I'm referring to is the bonny purple heather of the Scottish highlands and the moorlands of England and Wales.

Since the seventies and eighties sales of heather plants have dropped dramatically as it has fallen rapidly out of fashion, probably because it was associated with rather gloomy conifer gardens. The heather growers were in despair and in danger of going out of business. This year, they and the Heather Society () decided to do something to revamp their image.

They approached garden designers Claire Bryant and Jackie Edwards to come up with some fresh ideas. The result was a small garden called 'Back to Front' which was awarded a Silver-Gilt medal and has been wowing the visitors.

They have used heathers in all sorts of clever new ways to show the versatility of this diverse family of plants. There are two trendy vertical panels using lovely fresh green Erica carnea 'Foxhollow', which has lavender flowers and goes slightly bronze in winter. It requires good irrigation and regular trimming to keep it flat. Heather also lends itself surprisingly well to hedging and topiary. Here, Erica erigena is used in containers, clipped into soft pyramids and as a ball in the bed, making a welcome change from the ubiquitous Box.

There's a colourful border of summer flowering Daboecia varieties along the front of the garden and flat growing, greyish leaved Calluna vulgaris 'White Lawn' spreads over the stoney bike parking area. The more you look, the more heathers you see and yet at first glance it's the last plant you would think of. Most of the heathers they've used are lime tolerant and of course, they are evergreen and low maintenance.

The future of heathers could be looking a lot more rosy if gardeners try some of these great planting ideas - you'll have to watch EastEnders to find out about Ms Trott.

In Friday's programme Joe Swift and Simon Thornton-Wood from the RHS will talk about their peat policy for future shows and some of the growers will be voicing their concerns. If you're concerned about the use of peat and have a question you'd like to ask, post it here.

Lovely Dave Parkinson, grower of the even lovelier Disa orchids, is a grower that's worried about the issue. The dainty, brightly coloured Disa orchids that Dave breeds and grows at home in Goole, E Yorkshire, originate from South Africa, where they grow on the slopes of Table Mountain. They thrive in very specific conditions, wet, acid, low nutrient, peaty bogs and Dave has worked hard to get his growing medium just right. This is where the problem arises, Dave has found that his ideal mix is a combination of 60% peat and 40% perlite and, try as he might, nothing else works as well, or is as close to the orchids' natural environment.

The RHS policy on the use of peat is clear, it fully supports the government target of a 90% peat reduction in all growing media by 2010. This policy extends to all its gardens and it encourages all exhibitors at RHS shows to follow suit.

Exhibiting at flower shows is crucial to Dave's business. Shows are where he showcases his Disas (he has won 7 RHS gold medals), and where his customers can place orders. He is worried about how the RHS 'no peat' rule will affect him - will the exhibitors be policed and possibly excluded for using peat?

Is there a case for limited, responsible use of peat in horticulture ?

There are vast world reserves of peat and the industry does seem to be taking notice of environmental concerns. Canada has 25% of the world's peat supply, they only harvest a tiny fraction of their reserves and would have you believe they are responsible environmentalists.

You can read more about their policy for peat use here:

The Canadians also claim to be finding ways to speed up the regeneration process after peat harvesting, but it's very hard to know who to believe when so many 'experts' have vested interests.

In this country it seems that gardeners have taken notice of warnings about the unsustainability of peat harvesting and the government target of a 40% reduction in peat usage by 2005, was met. However Defra have admitted that the next target of 90% replacement of peat by 2010 is too ambitious. Practically, that means that 84% of growing media used should be non-peat. This will not be achieved, but it's moving in the right direction, so gardeners and growers are to be congratulated.

It's a pity that golfers in desert countries can't be persuaded to take up beach volley ball or boules instead - that would save a few million tons of Baltic peat. Apparently peat is also used in feminine hygiene products - not quite sure how, but ladies, do your duty - ask for 'peat free' in future.

Yesterday morning saw me rushing around doing last minute tweaking and tidying in a panic. The 91Èȱ¬ came round to film the garden five minutes before the judges arrived. I stood there and watched, worrying about the few dead leaves I spotted on the turf.

All of a sudden the judges were there. I had to abandon my garden to them and I suddenly felt very emotional. There was nothing more I could do - I walked away.

As the day went on there was more and more press interest and some early evening visitors arrived. It was such a relief to think that I had no more work to do and could take off my high-viz jacket and, joy of joys, my boots.

In late afternoon we saw the camera crews gathering at Tony Smith's garden next door, my heart was beating like mad. Before I knew it, a voice asked "Would you like to know what your medal is ?"

It was a Silver-gilt which was absolutely fantastic. I was really thrilled, particularly as it was my first show garden and everyone says that's an excellent award.

It was such a lovely moment later on, at about 6 o'clock, when Radio Cumbria, my local station, phoned and we did a live broadcast interview. Afterwards we sat and drank champagne, listened to the music and watched the fireworks.

Today has been fantastic. I wish I had brought a visitor's book to record all the lovely, appreciative comments from the visitors that are walking round the garden, it makes it all worthwhile.

I want to visit Slovenia. In particular I want to visit the Karst region. It's a beautiful, historic area of red soil and rocks, famed for its wine and its stonemasons.

Borut Benedejcic dreamed of becoming a wine producer in the Karst, but it wasn't possible for a young man who hadn't been born into an existing wine dynasty. Instead he became a horticulturist.

On a visit to England four years ago he visited The RHS Chelsea Flower Show. There and then he decided that one day he too would build a show garden alongside the best in the world.

This year he applied and as an unknown quantity, was guided by the RHS to have a go at The Hampton Court Palace Flower Show first, with a small garden.

He called his design Pepa's Karst Garden. Pepa is the typical name of a traditional Karst woman and Borut has lovingly recreated her cottage.

With his wife Tanya and a stonemason or two, he brought over all 46 tons of plants and materials from Slovenia in two big trucks. The stone door and window frames are over 200 years old and are from an old cottage. They will be returned after the show. In the front garden is an original old wellhead and vines climbing up wooden posts.

The highlight of the garden without a doubt, is the dry stone wall around the front. It is a work of art made of skilfully knapped stones with small chips filling the gaps. Over the wall sedums and sempervivums grow as if they had been there for years.

The whole garden is built with such love and respect for the Karst heritage that it just looks completely right and comfortable.

The judges obviously thought so to and awarded it a Gold medal and Best Small Garden. A very happy Borut and Tanya are already planning that Chelsea garden!

A few weeks ago the RHS put a call out to women around the country to donate their bras. Not for any sort of unusual mulch or even anything kinky, but to turn them into recycled containers for plants.

Now that the show has arrived we can see some of the 'hanging braskets' in action (their pun not mine). I was sceptical about the idea at first, but it has to be said that some of them make surprisingly good containers, provided of course that the lady who donated her undergarment was fairly well endowed.

Much has been made of the historical feel to the show this year, and references to Henry VIII are everywhere. While I'm not sure the display is something he would have chosen for his front lawn, I think he would have approved, he was fond of the odd buxom wench or two after all.

It's been a long hot week and the garden is really coming together now. All of our planting is in, the Apiary is now finished and proportionally correct and we are now down to the all important fine tuning and design detail.

The lads have been working flat out and our latest treat is that an ice cream van has appeared on site!

The blacksmith Chris knitted together some sisal for our boundary fence and I found the easiest way to carry it was around my neck, hence my new hair extensions in the photo.

We are praying that the storm forecast is no more than a passing shower, although the surrounding gardens are putting up shelters to protect their plants. This is starting to make me worry!

Fingers crossed everything will be ok, but for now it's time to get some much needed sleep.

There's a lot of flesh on view at Hampton Court at the moment and most of it is very pink. It makes for an unfortunate combination with the livid, fluorescent yellow of the compulsory high-viz jackets but it is testament to the glorious sunshine of the last few weeks.

It must have been ghastly, having to dig and heave things about in the relentless heat, with only a snack bar on site to keep you going. But as far as I can tell at this stage, the results of all that sweat and sunburn look fantastic.

Some of the show gardens are finished and the flowers look perky and fresh. No garish colour combinations here. I saw one with a whole bed of reddish achillea mixed with coppery echinacea - it was simply beautiful and stopped me in my tracks.

At this time of year there are so many lovely blues around, like agapanthus, dark Lavender 'Hidcote', aconitum and fluffy ageratum. I saw some of these combined with purple-leaved cabbages, silvery artichokes and glorious sweet peas - you felt cooler just looking at it.

On her Garden Energy exhibit Sarah Eberle has some of the greenest turf I've ever seen - it's so fine and dense, I had to check it was real. Maybe this is what golfers are used to, but compared to the rather brown fields of the showground it looked extraordinary.

I came across one designer who was painting his grass black! He wanted the effect of the new shoots coming through it, like emeralds, it was strangely moving. Green is just a colour, but so emotionally charged.

Soon all the high-viz will be gone, the painful pink will have turned to desirable brown and the show will be open. I can't wait - it's huge and exciting. Henry VIII would have loved it!

'Complete silence, a ban on bathing and an appreciation of solitude are all part of the job description for a position that's has become available at Tatton Park after remaining vacant for the last 150 years'. No this is not an advertisement for a new Gardens Manager, but a press release sent out last week to appeal for a 'hermit' to take up residence in our show garden: 'Hermit's Grotto: Inspiration for Imagination'

But no response so far. John Harris, a celebrated Cheshire hermit, was not quite so reticent and needed no encouragement to become a cave dweller. Heartbroken after his family forbad him from marrying an Anne Egerton, he went to live as a hermit in a cave near Chester until he was 'discovered' at the ripe old age of 99 years! I'll keep you posted as to our recruitment drive ...

Our garden has certainly been inspiring imagination already - in particular, among a group of much younger people from Manor Park Primary School in Knutsford, who have written some hermit poetry. The 'winning' entries will be recited by the Cheshire Poet Laureate, Terry W. Fox on the Thursday and Friday of the show from the hermit's grotto. Be sure to be there!

By the time we've finished the garden our team will probably look like hermits too: unshaven and unwashed for the week and a half of the build-up. We've finished forming our cave and we're just in the process of sorting out the rock to face it with. We are using tufa stone which cuts your hands like a million razors. It also has a strange colour and looks great, really grotesque. At the moment we're also searching for old tree roots to provide the correct environment for a hermit habitat. I hope the judges like it!

Our neighbours at the show will be Chris Beardshaw and his team who are building a garden which will represent a 'plant cell'. Sounds far too biological for me and painful. I can't decide if I've got a problem with my xylem or my phloem and my medullary rays feel stretched to the limit.