Postcard from Chelsea: Friday

(c) Thompson & Morgan

 The Plant of the Year stand is a funny one: a motley collection of plants out of context, drawn from all over the Pavilion. It's a bit like the 'remainders' trolley in the garden centre, only with good-quality plants.

Anyway, almost everyone who brings a new plant to Chelsea nominates it for the award: but only the very best make it onto the white podiums for the public to look at.

Among this year's 20 finalists were a massive pitcher plant (Nepenthes 'Linda') from Hampshire Carnivorous Plants, rubbing shoulders with one of Peter Beales's roses ('Queen's Jubilee' - of course), a ridiculously vivid blue hyacinth ('Royal Navy', from J S Pennings de Bilt) and two new aeoniums from Trewidden in Cornwall - 'Cornish Tribute' is compact and has extraordinary purple rosettes with a glowing lime green centre: and 'Logan Rock', which turns purple in summer.

My own tip for the top was a foxglove, Digitalis 'Silver Cub' - a fabulous silver-foliage perennial white foxglove which just shone out from the stand and made you want to stroke its leaves. It flowers in its first year from sowing and has multiple stems - seriously lovely thing.

But the winner was another foxglove altogether, D. 'Illumination Pink', bred by Thompson & Morgan. Though on appearance I still prefer the 'Silver Cub' you've got to take your hat off to them for achieving what was thought impossible: a cross between Digitalis purpurea and the evergreen Canary Island foxglove, variously referred to as D. canariensis or Isoplexis canariensis depending on whether you think it's botanically a foxglove or not. T&M's achievement would suggest that it is.

Its exotic origins have given it a very un-foxglove like colouring of candy pink with butter yellow centres. On the plus side, it's perennial, semi-evergreen, flowers for absolutely ages, and is nice and sturdy so it doesn't need staking. On the minus side, it's sterile - clever marketing ploy, but disappointing for gardeners who like to raise their own plants from seed.

Postcard from Chelsea: Thursday

Podophyllum 'Spotty Dotty', a gorgeous specimen and in flower, too: my plant of the week, spotted on the Edulis stand (also my exhibit of the week - I'm so delighted they've made it to Chelsea at last, and though they're first-timers they've shown off an exceptional collection of edibles, many of which I'd never come across before).

I adore podophyllums - big, blowsy foliage plants and as this one shows, no slouch on the flowering front either. 'Spotty Dotty', a cross between P. delavayi and P. difforme, is one of the most colourful with its generous brown-spodged leaves.

I've always struggled to grow them a little in my old garden, bone-dry acid sand that it was: but I think I might have another go in this one as it has plenty of nice shady damp corners - right up Dotty's street. I was a little surprised to see it nestled among the other Edulis plants until I found out that though most parts of the plant are toxic, its ripe, yellowish or red fruit is known as the May apple (in this case, the Chinese May apple). About the size of a crabapple, it's said to taste a little inspid - but I'd really like to give it a try.

Postcard from Chelsea: Wednesday

Sorry - this simply doesn't do justice to the spectacular exhibit that is the HW Hyde & Son lily display in the Great Pavilion, winner not only of a Gold but also of the coveted award for the best exhibit in the show.

It's a walk-through stand - this is one of two paths around a central island. There are more walk-through displays than I've seen for a long time this year: Hardy's, both David Austin and Peter Beales' Roses, and Hyde's allow you to wander through the plants, immersing yourself in them and surrounding yourself with them.

Massive-flowered oriental lilies are almost impossible to place in a garden: they're just too big, too blowsy, too 'look at me'. I don't care: I love them anyway.

I have several in containers around the place: they get very little care, far less than they should have I expect, but they come back year after year. As long as I can defend them from the horrors of the lily beetle (can there be any larvae more disgusting than those of the lily beetle, I wonder?) they're incredibly easy, yet incredibly breathtaking when those long fat buds finally break.

Not one of them, though, is a patch on the sensational glamourpusses on Hyde's, though. Here are just a few.

 'Choco'

 'Big Brother'

'Nymph'