Is Chelsea sci-fi?

Lisa carried on working for Amateur Gardening, answering questions from readers, and I’d write periodic features – plus a veg growing guide called ‘Grow, Cook and Eat’. I’d also speak at the annual AG Show at Shepton Mallet in Somerset.

This was an amazing event held as summer was losing its grip and tumbling into autumn. It was like a village fete on steroids, with pumpkins the size of whales (I mustn’t exaggerate, make that West Glamorgan), chrysanthemums of every hue and more dahlias than you can get in a giant cow shed which, if memory serves, was the building at the heart of the showground.

The show was a fabulous family day out and is sadly no more, but its memory lives on and I can see why the editors I worked for in recent years preferred it to the

Royal Horticultural Society’s Chelsea Flower Show.

I started writing for AG regularly when I became a presenter on BBC Gardeners’ World and the BBC’s Chelsea coverage, and I’d often see the AG team and editors Tim Rumball and later Garry Coward-Williams in SW3. Both would point out how the show gardens held very little interest to most gardeners compared with the shows and displays of old.

They had a point, but likening Chelsea to any other event is like comparing a sci-fi film with a much-loved soap opera. You go to the movies to see stunts and effects that aren’t real but tune into a soap because it’s relatable. And this relevance to real gardening is why AG is essential reading 140 years after it was first published. I can’t wait to get stuck into the nitty gritty of practical garden advice again. And here’s to the next 140 years of AG!