It's Chelsea time

Oh no it does not move me. I don't want to go to Chelsea! At least that's what Elvis Costello thought about it. I, on the other hand, love going to Chelsea - the Chelsea Flower Show, that is. And that's where I was today and will be for the next three days - so don't expect any replies to your e-mail enquiries until I get back.

I've been going to, and working at, this show every year since 1988. Being a gardening journalist it's one of THE places to find out what's going on in the world of horticulture, check out the latest trends and see what's new. For the last seven years I've been there to produce the live, virtual flower show for the RHS. This involves long days, early mornings and late nights and a lot of running around with camera and notebook in hand. But I love it!

I'll let you know how I get on over the next few days. In the meantime, to view the full coverage visit RHS Online, the RHS website.

Three-day Weekend

You can't beat it - apart from the four days at Easter!
Apart from the antics in the veg patch and my appearance on Dougan Does Gardening on BBC Radio Cambridgeshire on Sunday, both of which you can read about on my RHS veg blog, my only other main gardening antic this weekend was to help Clare cut back the large holly and the cotoneaster growing underneath it to reclaim some new planting areas.
The shade and the room covered by the holly meant that this area has been much under-used. The bed was also quite narrow, so we stripped off more turf (which makes the lawn smaller and reduces mowing - hurrah!). Next job was to dig in some old, well-rotted leafmould from two years ago and some compost.
I'm still vigilant for lily beetles - even though I've sprayed them with Provado Ultimate Bug Killer. I've found another four, but they're obviously very drowsy from the Provado and just fall into my hand.
Have a great gardening week.