91Èȱ¬

Our final session was on whereby the moor did not disappoint: yes, horizontal rain and thick mist - you couldn't even see . We kept having to stop for a quick mop down as HD TV picks up on water droplets on ones face. Mind you, a misty moor is kind of de rigeur and would've looked odd in full sun. All in all, a good day.

Rhododendron yakushianum (photo: Mischa Haller)

As I drove back up to Suffolk, thoughts of the rhodos in bloom came back. Yes we have had a very mild spring and it was far too hot for this time of year.

The next day I did my nursery rounds to check up on my plants: rhodos are at swollen bud stage with one of my Cunningham's Blush beginning to bloom. Deepdale Trees owner, Matthias assured me that the shock of re-potting and transportation to the UK will retard flowering sufficiently - phew. In fact, the same with all my shrubs, Cornus controversa, kousa, etc. Except for Viburnum plicatum, that was in full bloom, so I need to start thinking about a substitute. Not overly bothered as Viburnum is a bit overused at Chelsea and it did feel a bit of a kop out to use them.

My visit to Howard nurseries, grower of my perennials, wasn't so good. A lot of my first-time-seen-at-Chelsea plants were in full flower. Even though in a shade tunnel, my Disporum cantoniense was blooming furiously. Fortunately David Howard has been doing this for 30+ years and was not perturbed; Disporum has fantastic berries and he is going to push them on passed flowering. As for the rest, pray for cooler weather.

Mid-nursery rounds I went to do my Chelsea 91Èȱ¬ red button thingy where you sit in the gardens at and pretend to be sitting in your Chelsea garden for the camera. All around me were plants I was using for the show garden - but in full bloom. As though taunting me: Polygonatum x hybridum, Uvularia grandiflora. But one must have faith in one's nurseryman, I keep telling myself.

Then today, after four weeks of 20+ degree weather and religiously checking the metoffice every few minutes, the weather breaks; it is six degrees cooler and are forecasting rain for the Royal Wedding this Friday.Ìý Sorry Kate, but unlike the rest of population, I'll be praying for rain this week....but, look at me, I said I wouldn't moan about the weather for an entire blog.

's debut at Chelsea in 2008 resulted in a gold medal, followed by a Silver medal in 2009 and silver Gilt in 2010. Follow the ups and downs of the creation of his most ambitious Chelsea Show Garden to date on this blog in the coming weeks.

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