Yes it’s that time of the year again, The Chelsea Flower Show, and yet again I’m not there. Every year I say I’ll go next year instead of just sitting at home and watching it on TV but this year I’ve been so busy I even missed some of the TV programmes, I hope I can catch up with them.

I didn’t even vote on which garden was my favourite, but only because I just couldn’t make up my mind. I really hated the one called Skin Deep though. Lots of concrete blocks of differing heights don’t make up a garden as far as I’m concerned.

If you want to see the gardens you can look here

One of my favourites is the Welcome to Yorkshire garden. It’s old fashioned, maybe a bit twee but it looks like a great place to relax in.

Gardening as an aid to mental health has been a theme this year. This is something that professionals in mental health seem to have just discovered, but if they had only asked hands-on gardeners we could have told them years ago that even just looking at plants and gardens will make you feel good. Actually getting stuck into the work can be a life-saver for some people though. It’s always a thrill to see a plant growing and thriving, especially if you have planted it or grown it from seed. I’m just going to gloss over the failures though, all gardeners have them, but I was so relieved to hear both Monty Don and Joe Swift admitting that they had struggled to grow Meconopsis – blue poppies. I know I’ve inadvertently killed at least three of them, but I’m still trying!

I know that it’s still May, but to me it’s definitely summer, what with the warm weather and the Chelsea Flower Show. Chelsea is my definition of the start of summer.

So I’ve been enjoying the BBC coverage in the afternoon and the evenings, and salivating over the beautiful plants. It’s pornography for gardeners really! If you haven’t been able to see it yet, why not watch it on the BBC iplayer.

I went on to the Chelsea Flower Show website and voted for my favourite gardens.

In the Show category I decided to vote for Kazahana which was designed by Kazuyuki Ishihara. I think that he was terribly disappointed that he only got a silver medal.

I don’t blame him. The judges were terribly harsh and mean on him. I loved the garden design. I’ve got a thing for Japanese maples. But the poor wee soul still managed a bow and thank you when he received his award. That’s class.

I found it more difficult to decide what to vote for in the Courtyard category, but in the end I went for Music on the Moors which was designed by Christina Williams.

It seems to have been a great year for the plants which is nothing short of miraculous considering the atrocious weather that we’ve had over this last year.

I always tell myself that you can see these better on T.V. because I know I would hate the crowds of people if I actualy went there. But it would be fab (absolutely) to be able to get to the plant sale at the end of the week. I love to see people struggling out with enormous delphiniums and such like. They’re always intending to take them home on the tube too.

I think 450 miles is just a wee bit too far to travel for it though.