1. Chelsea Flower Show launch at the Connaught
The stories were Prince Harry (I had in Mail) and Titch sounding off. Telegraph followed up their rip-off of Mail story with the same story three weeks later.
2. There’s 15 show gardens. Was 16 last year. Diarmuid not in yet. James Wong said he had no sponsor. Jo Thompson is showing dead trees for FERA garden. JT and Andrew Wilson were among designers not there and when I asked why they said they weren’t invited. Maybe get a bigger room so all the hacks and designers can fit in and then the hacks can talk to the designers. Alex Denman was pregnant. Sue Biggs announced a gnome painting competition. One designer said to me: “His design looks like mine with blobs on.”
3. Straight on to Garden Media Guild awards at Marriott across Grosvenor Sq. Wrote up Harry and Titch in Gordon Ramsay’s Maze with Caroline Owen and John Ashley. Coke is £4.50. Not really enough time to report on RHS then go to GMG.
4. On Westland table – thanks to Westland. Next to Stephen Anderton and Keith Nicholson. I was so full of caffeine I got SA and Stephen Lacey muddled. Later SA moved seats to sit next to Andrew Wilson to where the Daily Express woman had not turned up. So was next to Dennis Espley, who was answering customer queries on his iphone. That night at Arsenal there was a GCA leaving event for Gillie Westwood I heard.
5. The awards: All my predictions were wrong. Ken Cox won his category for Fruit and Veg from Scotland, which was good. Conifers did not win. Top selling books.
6. The Garden won mag of the year. Later discussed with Chris Young digest nature of The Garden’s news. He agreed and said it was difficult to do monthly news. But he said everything was improved. I agreed that the ads had moved and Ursula Buchan was no longer involved.
7. Best news story was judged by someone from Indie and PR Liz Anderson. Saw her in pub after. Good story by Marc Rosenberg won. Presenter Chris Packham, who made a joke about lawns having sex and about his Stihl chainsaw, was surprised that (my story on) BQ had put peat in their topsoil. That’s the point. The story is surprising. No one’s surprised Monty won’t list products in Gardener’s World.
8. MR and The Garden news hack Anisa Gress (both ex HW so I thought I’d be in here) judged trade hack of the year won by James Armitage in Garden Design Journal for
Land of the giants
Return of the natives
Get to grips with grasses
Even other GDJ writers had not read these pieces.
a. I entered No Joe Swift for BBC coverage (biggest CFS story, BBC changed policy etc)
b. Ash disease hits Britain (There have been 13,675 ash dieback stories – counted them- published in world media since then, And none before).
c. Beekeepers stung! EU orders a pollen warning on honey jars
But the judges must have thought they were not much cop. I can understand the bee one – Gavin McEwan actually wrote it – not that the judges knew that).
9. Many of the usual suspects won, for typing many of the usual things.
10. Jekka McVicar appeared by Super 8 video link to accept lifetime achievement. She was doing a talk that evening so couldn’t attend.
11. Wrote some more in ‘Maze’ and then went to the Audley or Alderley pub or something and had a few beers with Kris Collins and other hacks. KC was in wedding attire. Martyn Cox, who usually gets hog-whimperingly drunk at these events, and once arm wrestled Carol Klein, left at 6 because he needed to go shopping because retail in his new Southsea home is just Aldi and that.
12. Most drunk were CY and Christopher Woodward. And by the end, me. I walked home via Winter Wonderland feeling like George Bone from Hangover Square by Patrick Hamilton.
Today went to 10 Downing St to see xmas tree erected. They couldn’t get the wrapper off.
Speak Your Mind