Gardener's world

I have to apologise for the lack of blogs over the last few weeks but that doesn't mean I haven't been busy. We were very lucky with the weather for our trip to BBC Gardener's World, which we really enjoyed. I'm not sure I agreed with the best in show choice, which was the Highways Agency garden, but on a purely personal rather than technical basis, I really did love David Domoney's The Croft Spot Tranquillity Garden. This designer is really growing on me and the more I see his gardens the more I like them.

I felt there was something of the colonial 30s about this garden which I really love and this is not the first time I have had that impression about his planting. It was really lovely and I don't think the picture I attach does the garden justice but if you didn't get to the show then it might give you a flavour.

My own garden has been taking up my time and growing apace but the recent spell of heavy rain has been a blessing as things were starting to get very dry - apologies if you are on holiday - so I attach a pic of my own garden for a change! The roses have been wonderful but the good old blackspot is now starting to show its ugly head so I can expect a lot of dropping leaves any time now.

What I like about visiting shows is seeing all the ideas that people come up with for different and zany focus points in the garden. At Birmingham on the Time Well Spent Garden they used a kitchen colander for hanging baskets, really effective and natty.

This year the show comprised three shows in one so visitors really have a chance to enjoy not only gardening but also food and home/lifestyle. I am not too sure you would get round it all in one day though because the three shows are rather large but we did a good deal in the several hours we spent there.

Now its preparation time for Hampton Court - one of my absolute favourite shows - and I only hope that we have the fantastic weather that we had last year.