Postcard from Chelsea: Medals Day

Congratulations - once again - to the wonderful Cleve West, winner for the second year running of Best in Show for his sublime topiary garden for Brewin Dolphin.

Rumour has it he thought they'd made a mistake when they told him. But this is a garden which creeps up on you gradually: go back a few times, take another look, and you'll find yourself slowly falling in love.

At first glance you take it for your standard formal symmetric stately home style layout.

Then you take some photos, and realise it isn't actually symmetrical at all.

The craggy well head wall sculpture at one end has a corner knocked off; the weighty topiary, like anchors holding the garden in place, is a little wonky in places.

Unlike conventional 'symmetrical' gardens, you can't see it all at once: you try taking a photo of the whole thing and it's just about impossible.

Slowly it dawns on you: the whole thing is one big illusion, a mischievous game played with a twinkle in the eye. I found it enchanting.

And the planting... It was vintage Cleve: romantic, beautifully judged, passionate. Soft umbels, little fireworks of green and sparkles of white valerian over a froth of Geranium pyrenaicum 'Bill Wallis' (one of my own favourites - I have it gambolling about my garden and adore it with a passion). And all lifted with just the perfect splash of ravishing scarlet here and there from dancing 'Ladybird' poppies.

I loved the contrast between the solid, reliable topiary sitting there like grumpy old granddads while the light twinkly fairy plants danced about their knees. Here's another picture. Actually I took quite a lot. It really was very, very lovely, especially today when the sun came out.

It took me a little while to 'get' it but when I did, this garden stood head and shoulders above the rest for me. Quite, quite brilliant.

Postcard from Chelsea: Medals Day

Cleve West's garden for the Daily Telegraph: one of eight gold medal winners and also this year's Best in Show. Dramatic sculpture, the most wonderful ochre-painted wall, cobbles, Sophora trees, artless, jewel-like planting.... oh, I love this garden!

So much so that I've got another postcard today too - here's a closer look at that planting.

Myrtus communis subsp. tarentina, Dianthus cruentus (plant of the show for me), bronze fennel, Artemisia 'Valerie Finnis', Allium nigrum, Euphorbia cyparissias 'Fens Ruby', Eryngium eburneum, and Libertia grandiflora, in case you want to do this at home.

The Wisley glasshouse

One of the great privileges I have with my garden writers' hat on is that I get to go to sneak previews - and last night I went along to the unveiling of the new glasshouse at RHS Wisley, which opens to the public for the first time today.

Since I'm such a regular visitor to Wisley, I've been watching this amazing structure going up gradually over the years, and went along to another press bash in February to see it as the planting went in - well, then it was almost entirely under water after a winter of torrential rain, and we were all taking bets on whether it would be ready in time to open.

We needn't have worried. It's quite amazing what they've done in the four months since then: it still looks very "new", and the planting outside (designed by Tom Stuart-Smith) is just in so will take some to show what it's made of: but inside it is breathtaking. It's going to be wonderful watching it grow over the months and years to come.

Here it is: a little stark, perhaps, until the exterior landscaping develops, but a remarkable structure nonetheless. It was designed in Holland, and doubles-up as a water collection system.

At the centre is a magnificent waterfall - you walk behind it as you pass from the temperate side into the tropical. The rock is artificial, and hides a "root zone" exhibit underneath.

There were orchids in the palm trees: I wasn't quite sure if they were there for our benefit, or if they're going to stay! They looked fantastic, anyway.

And then there were the plants... these Philodendron leaves were up to two feet long and that soft, velvety texture was so utterly gorgeous. And this is just a baby plant...

Outside in Cleve West's teaching garden, there were loads of great ideas - I'm going to nick this fantastic birch-log path for the jungle area around my pond.