Lim In Chong likes to be known as Inch. Last year at the Gardening World Cup he was quiet, unassuming and just got on with the job. Inch is from Malaysia and at home as well as being a garden designer he’s on the senate of the Christian Church. His plot was in a corner of the site, away from the hustle and bustle and no-one took much notice of what he was up to. Until judging day that is, when we realised that he had created an unusual mesmeric garden which was streets ahead of the competition. He won a gold medal but to our surprise didn’t win the prize for “best in show”. Politics were involved. But in everyone’s eyes he was the honorary winner.
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Last year Inch was very jealous of the roses in my “Mr McGregor’s” garden and asked my permission to speak to the lady from the Sasebo Rose Society who supplied them. As it happens, we weren’t fighting against each other this year and I was delighted to see that roses featured prominently in his garden, which was called “Eye to Eye”. Judging took place today and Inch finally got his due with the top prize. Last year the winner only got a medal, but this year there’s also a cash prize of Yen 500,000. I’m sure it’s been worth the wait.

Twenty years ago today the Chancellor of the Exchequer raised interest rates to 15%, after Britain had been forced out of the ERM; VAT had recently been hiked to an all time high of 17.5%, and the rate of corporation tax on small companies’ profits was 25%.  Not that there was much chance of making a profit because England was in the middle of one of its worst ever recessions.  This wasn’t the time to be embarking on a new business venture.  Fortunately, I was completely oblivious to all that and I invested everything I had in buying the Newby Bridge Hotel in the Lake District.  ​

My favourite tree in the garden at this time of year is the Persian Silk Tree. I have three, which are strategically placed at the lower entrance to the Italian Terrace garden. You have to push past the branches to get into the garden and at that stage the trees seem to be unexceptional, with long acacia or mimosa type leaves. But as you rise up the steps of the terrace you can see that the tops of the trees are covered in a mass of beautiful pink flowers. ​

Which are the most poisonous plants in my garden?  The yew has to be a strong contender.  The yew trees have started to shed their berries now and the ground beneath the trees is covered with bright red fruit, but although it looks lethal this is the only part of the yew which isn’t poisonous and the birds love them.  It’s the leaves which are poisonous, but they are more dangerous to horses and cattle than to us.  One of the nastiest plants in my garden is the Echium pininana, whose stems are covered in little hairs which will cause severe blistering if touched.  ​

Paloma Faith said this was the first pop festival she’d ever been to where you could get something decent to eat. She clearly loves her food and doesn’t mind the consequences. To prove it, she sang a song called “Cellulite” – in celebration of all those wobbly bits – and gave us a treat by lifting her dress above her knickers and giving her thighs a good wobble. The video below shows an earlier live performance of the song and her hilarious introduction to it.
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Paloma was right about the amazing food on offer at Feastival, not surprising considering that it was organised by Jamie Oliver and Alex James. Jamie’s Italian had a scrumptious pork belly, but the queues were longest for Mark Hix’s amazing fish and chips. As the photo shows, they were served very simply, in a bun with piped mushy peas. But the best part was the serving girls who were still full of beans after 7 hours on the go. In real life, they are chefs in Mark Hix’s kitchen and they were clearly loving their day out.