Although some rather murky clouds drifted on the horizon, the weather was kind to us on the day, bringing fresh breezes and the odd ray of sunshine, perfect for a gentle stroll around the show gardens outside.  Although all the gardens displayed exceptional talent, two became our particular favourites.

The Secret Garden by second year horticultural students at Solihull College showed a wealth of ability and imagination.  Interpreting the Edwardian novel by Francis Hodgson Burnett, the students have painted a virtual masterpiece of dusky, rambling roses, cottage garden favourites and formal ornamentals, punctuated by the remnants of weathered stone columns.

We loved their creative touches from the novel, such as Mary Lennox's straw hat perched on her bath chair and Ben the gardener peeping over the wall!

The Modern Cottage Garden by B&Q, designed by Jan Robinson combined both fashionable and traditional materials with the soft, low maintenance planting evocative of old cottage gardens, demonstrating a restful effect which could be adapted to almost any small city patch.  We particularly liked how the gentle colour of the summerhouse complimented the modern steel finish of the furniture, setting off the relaxed planting scheme Jan had chosen.  Water cascaded down a richly plum coloured, natural stone plinth, its coolness balancing the warmth and imagination of the planting.

The Celebrity Theatre was packed throughout the day, giving visitors the chance to hear experts like Chris Beardshaw and Monty Don talking about Gardeners' World.  At the Meet the Experts open air stage, we enjoyed an alfresco lunch whilst watching Alan Titchmarsh, Tommy Walsh and Charlie Dimmock chatting informally with the audience.  As usual, they were entertaining, knowledgeable and honest, with Tommy supplying the requisite flow of humour and cheeky comments!

We love visiting events like Gardeners' World which give everyone the chance to get together with like-minded amateurs and experts alike.  A day is never enough to see everyone and everything you want to, but it's such fun to see the barrows getting fuller with gardening goodies as the day goes by, and watch the stems of tall shrubs magically bobbing along above everyone's heads.  Well-deserved RHS award medals shone out from many of the breathtaking specialist displays which have taken literally months of back breaking work to perfect.  The Plant Mall was spectacular again this year and our barrows just weren't big enough to carry everything we would have liked to buy.  If you don't fancy lugging everything round with you, the plant creches are an excellent place to leave your purchases until the end of the day. 

And now, of course, preparations start all over again for next year.......
2005 ticket information: http://www.bbcgardenersworldlive.co.uk/tickets.html.