Chelsea Flower Show Blog

Series producer Sarah Eglin thanks her team. "I have to say a huge thank you to the team, the camera crews who worked tirelessly in the pouring rain, the picture editors who did a sterling job, Joe and Rachel who were not grumpy for one single second through the adverse weather conditions and were a joy to work with and the stars of the show, the horticultural researchers who worked brilliantly. I'm looking forward to the first day in 8 without wellies, I'll feel like I'm wearing ballet slippers! I'll be back at Hampton this weekend as a visitor this time, I'm bringing my 2 little girls to the show, they want to see the gardens and what I've been up to all week"

For some of the show gardens here, the show ain't over when it's over. Five of the show gardens have new homes lined up and will be dismantled and reconstructed again - one, the gold-medal winning conceptual garden Ecstasy in a Very Black Box, is even going to a private art collector (look out for this one in a future Turner Prize line-up). Three more are on sale to the general public, so if it's ever been your ambition to own a piece of Hampton Court, now's your chance. Two schools will be getting an instant school garden over the summer holidays: one lucky primary school in Dorset will even have the Best In Show garden, the Dorset Cereals Edible Playground, reconstructed in its grounds, complete with potting shed. The other will have the conceptual garden, Gambling Environments (silver-gilt), re-built in its grounds to encourage children think about looking after their environment. Two other gardens will be going back to horticultural colleges: the Anglian Green Black and White Garden (silver-gilt) will be rebuilt at Capel Manor College in Enfield, while Plumpton College horticultural students will reconstruct their small garden, Shades of Barragan (silver-gilt) as a demonstration garden on the campus. The ones you have a chance to buy are the small gardens Convergence of the Elements, which won a silver medal for Down to Earth Partners Ltd, and Breathing Space... Thinking Place, for the Samaritans (bronze), which is currently up for online auction with charity auction site Buy Once Give Twice. "I think someone's going to get a bargain, actually," says Wendy Allen, who co-designed the garden with Catherine Kenny. "In total, the garden's worth about £25,000 - so far the bidding is up to £1,500. People do wait till the last minute, but I think whatever it comes to it's not going to be the full value." For your money, you'll get a unique steel arch sculpture with twin seats, bespoke paving and a water wall - plus a large silver birch tree and hundreds of pounds' worth of choice plants. And if you're wondering how it'll arrive - well, they'll deliver it on a lorry and leave it on your doorstep as part of the price, or if you pay a bit more, they'll install it for you. "We'll recreate it exactly as it is here in its new space," says Wendy, "All the elements you see here will be included." The sale ends at midnight tonight, so you're still in with a chance - the proceeds go to the Samaritans, so you'll be contributing to a good cause, too.

There are two water gardens at Hampton Court this year and they're always something I look forward to as this category is unique to Hampton. This year they are slightly different in that they both have large raised ponds within a garden setting. The Dorset Water Lily Company garden, Romantic Charm (Silver) is a real corner of the Mediterranean, I had a good look at it on my way across the showground and with the early morning sunshine on it (yes the sun has made an appearance!) I felt as if I could have been in Tuscany! The lavender, thyme and santolinas are really shown-off by the crushed stone mulch, the ancient olives and Italian cypress add a true sense of classical drama. The raised pool, planted simply with water lilies, adds to the calming atmosphere of this convincing Mediterranean style garden. The World of Water Garden (Silver) also sports raised ponds but this time they surround a sunken patio area which you have to walk through to reach the timber shelter, the perfect spot to view the garden. This garden has a distinctly traditional lay-out that is cleverly is relaxed by the pretty mixed perennial and shrub planting around the raised pools, I think you'd have to invest in a pair of waders to maintain this one but it'd be well worth it. The Anglian Green, Black and White garden (Silver-gilt) is a show garden but has water as part of its design, this time it is formal but works well in this modern setting. Discovery garden by Libra school (Silver) even brought us a canal complete with authentic narrowboat, quite an achievement. The Burgbad Sanctuary's (Silver) watery element is not what you might expect but it just goes to show there's something for all tastes, it's a bath! On a glorious sunny evening I can't think of anything nicer than an alfresco dip in the tub, don't know what the neighbours would think though!

It's one of the things I love about this project...everyone thinks working in radio is glamorous, yet I spend most of my time at a computer, making phone calls. Working at the flower shows means I get out of the office and even though it's raining I'd rather be here than chained to a desk. It's not glamorous being a radio producer either though - it's all about being dry, warm and comfortable and for me that means sturdy boots, old jeans and a T-shirt but more importantly this week, a waterproof jacket and hat. Lots of visitors to the shows like to dress up for the occasion and around every corner is a gentleman in a cream linen suit or a woman in a floral dress. I've even seen handbags in the shape of watering cans! I'm certainly not going to win any prizes for sartorial elegance...