#Useful knotes dave root Patch#

I caught up with Carol while she was in make-up and asked her what she thought of the Great Pavilion: Just when you think you know Chelsea, it turns round and amazes you all over again. I must have taken a good look at this garden half a dozen times this week: but not once did I give the rarest plant in the world so much as a glance. Sometimes it's so intricate you can overlook real gems: it took Sue to point out to me that what looks like quite a nice flower in a pot on the step of the croft is in fact Cerastium nigrescens, the Shetland Mouse-ear, which grows nowhere else in the world. The tiny size of these gardens means designers really have to pack in the detail.

#Useful knotes dave root Patch#

Sue told me the patch of turf lining a ditch was given to them by a neighbour after they arrived without any: they planted it up with cowslips and orchids and it looks as natural as any wild grassland. There's tremendous camaraderie among designers, especially along the Serpentine Walk where the Courtyard Gardens are, a little removed from the hustle and bustle of Main Avenue. The small gardens are little microcosms of what Chelsea is all about. 'You almost forget that people are going to look at it in the end - the fact that we've had that reaction as well is brilliant.' Sue - who's never designed a show garden at Chelsea before - told me she was overwhelmed: 'It almost means more than the gold medal,' she said. This year the award went to the delightful Shetland Croft House Garden, one of the tiny courtyard gardens designed for the Motor Neurone Disease charity by Sue Hayward and Martin Anderson. It's a great way to give these talented people some of the recognition they so richly deserve. Alan Titchmarsh leads the way through the crowds and - to the surprise of the visitors who happen to be in front of the winning garden at the time - presents a rather snazzy trophy to the delighted designers. One of my favourite moments on the last day of the Chelsea Flower Show is when the People's Award for Best Small Show Garden is presented. We're exhausted but so privileged to have had a chance to put up temporary residence at the greatest flower show on Earth.' The final two-minute music montage on tonight's show is a tear-jerker but sums up the sadness we're feeling too. 'A Garden for Nicky' was delivered on a tea-tray. The original urban garden was Nicki's favourite small garden and its designer, Kazuyuki Ishihara entered his own garden - exempt from voting - in our backstage competition. Modelled on 'The Green Door' it has a moss-covered green wall and fountain. It comes complete - appropriately enough - with the sound of birdsong. Everyone writes their own brief.though some of the sentiments expressed in them are unrepeatable in this blog! One of my favourites is The Sound Engineers' Garden.

The standard has just got better and better. Alan, Joe and Andy judged them at lunchtime and the teams are eagerly awaiting the announcement later this evening of our 'Best in Show'. As usual the production team has created a dozen show gardens of their own behind the scenes in our compound. No one wants to miss the last day at Chelsea.Įveryone has had plenty to work on nevertheless. With just one programme left to complete, many of the crew were scheduled a well-deserved day off, but they've all turned up today anyway. A party atmosphere has descended on the BBC compound. 'Well, it's nearly over.the best week of the year. Our executive producer Owen Gay sums up our Chelsea experience