Postcard from Chelsea: Saturday

A rare treat this year: waiting for a taxi after finishing particularly late, I went for a wander up Main Avenue and got to see the magical world that is Chelsea after dark.

Andy Sturgeon's garden in particular came to life after the sun went down. I'll confess that until this point I haven't really been that taken with it. It was all right - the planting was lovely and it was beautifully judged - but I felt the copper sculpture was swamped by the monolithic and mildly brutalist walls marching down the back. For me they were too distracting and diminished the rest of the garden.

By night, though, those walls fade into the background and the copper bubble sculpture shines and dances like a thing alive. The holes in the walls are black by daylight: but by night they light up like glowing circles of gold, echoes of the gleaming sculpture winding through the plants.

There were other gardens, too, which were transformed by light: Tony Smith's "Green with..." was positively funky in red and silver while Diarmuid Gavin's tower became more like the Hanging Gardens of Babylon and less like a theme park as the scaffolding retreated under gentle lighting.

There should be special tickets for people to come in and see Chelsea's gardens lit up like this. In fact I think Andy's should have stayed under wraps until post-9pm just so people could see it at its best. It completely changed my mind about it: which begs the question, why show it to the public at a time when it's patently not the most beautiful it can be?

But then that would mean all those bankers and society sorts couldn't have their swanky parties (for this is what Chelsea becomes after the gates close at 8pm: one huge party in which there are no longer ropes around the gardens and everyone gets to actually use those beautiful buildings for which Chelsea is so famous). I think one evening, though, could be set aside to let the public in: this is one sight which really shouldn't be missed.

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'

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: Press Day

Oh I know: Press Day at Chelsea is all about celebrity spotting (Michael Caine, Jerry Hall, Sir Cliff Richard, gardening telly presenters passim, and I was working with the marvellously talented and charming Johnny Ball all morning, since you ask).

But for me the real stars of today were these wonderful Chelsea pensioners, who are deceptively sprightly and climbed on to that grown-up's playground glorified climbing frame spectacular 80ft tall vertical show garden by Diarmuid Gavin to have their photos taken this afternoon.

The garden towers above the BBC compound, where I'm working this week, and the delicious sight of rows of red-clad pensioners waving and smiling had us all out of our Portakabins en masse amid a mad scramble to find cameramen (and for those of us who like the still kind of picture, cameras) to capture the moment. Now that's what I call star quality.