Best bits of Chelsea on a hot and crowded visit

A belated post, I know. Blame the fact that it was nearly 30 degrees when I visited the RHS Chelsea Flower Show this year and very crowded. I don't cope well with heat or crowds, so it has taken me 2 full weeks to recover...

Perhaps I was wilting like a bloom on a scorching August afternoon, but I wasn't as excited by Chelsea this year as I had hoped. Many of the show gardens seemed rather samey and I had to agree with whoever the wise person was who said the displays in the Great Pavilion are the real show-stoppers.

However, here are some of my favourite bits:

Joe Swift's Homebase/Teenage Cancer Trust garden hadn't leapt off the page when I'd perused the gardens before my visit, but in reality I loved it. Not necessarily what I'd want for my own garden, but I really admired his commitment to a colour scheme, and I liked the framed views created by the cedar structures, which changed (obviously) depending on where you stood - not a hugely original idea in itself, but the cedar sat more happily in the garden than some of the concrete or metal versions I've seen in other show gardens in the past.

Not my best photograph, but that shouldn't detract from the wonderful DMZ (demilitarised zone) Forbidden Garden, inspired by the space created by the Korean conflict 60 years ago. All the showgardens were, of course, very pretty. But I felt that for some of them that was their only recommendation - still an achievement, but I wanted something more. Garden design is often described as an art, but great art is not just about creating a pretty picture. This garden clearly had a strong concept behind it, and had been designed to exemplify it in every way. Everything made sense and was there for a reason. I particularly enjoyed the use of water: 'A stream flows through the garden, defying the barriers of human conflict and depicting the feelings of love and tension that the designer believes co-exist in the DMZ', according to the show catalogue. Clever, eh?

I think that's enough for one post, so if I can continue to overcome the memories of heat and crowds I shall offer another post separately.