I have just about come down to earth with a bang after the Chelsea Flower Show, which was a glorious affair this year. One of show gardens was inspired by Waddesdon Manor’s ornate Rococo aviary and this Sunday there is a Plant Fair at the garden (see below).

Oxford resident Jane Owen (a lecturer, author and television presenter) was awarded a gold medal for The Green and Black’s Rainforest Garden designed with Ann-Marie Powell. Jane was inspired by a visit to The Cameroon last year and a group of ladies from the indigenous Baka and Bagyeli communities created a a mongulu — a traditional shelter made from banana leaves. The garden highlighted the threat to the Cameroon rainforest and a chainsaw, gun and miner’s helmet (symbolising logging, poaching and mining) were displayed on the garden. Much of the Cameroon rainforest has already gone and their traditional way of life is disappearing. Forest clearing has greater implications: it accelerates climate change globally.

Raymond Blanc was also present at Chelsea accompanied by his wonderful head gardener Anne-Marie Owens. Forced to slow down by a broken leg, he was moving at the pace of mere mortals. Anne-Marie has been with Raymond since 1985 and she is still there working her own brand of magic. His garden has to have a wow factor for hotel guests and it also has to provide food for the restaurant. Jo Campbell has just joined the Manoir team following a successful restoration of a walled Victorian vegetable garden in North Yorkshire. The hotel is expanding its range of edible plants all the time with the help of experts like Will Sibley, who advises on fruit. Raymond warmly embraced Jekka McVicar, the Queen of the Herbs. Jekka, who grows 600 different herbs at her herb farm, has a new cookery book that combines gardening and cookery. It runs through the A to Z of herbs from angelica to wild strawberry and there is a description and history of each one followed by harvesting tips and recipes. It’s a brilliant read and a beautifully presented book too. All the art work is by Jekka’s daughter Hannah (see A Good Read).

Jekka is passionate about food and makes all her own salads and herb dressings from plants grown on the farm.

This seems perfectly normal now, but when Jekka started, most of were using cardboard packets and not a living plant. She was considered quite eccentric — even keen gardeners didn’t pick their own!

As her plants are mainly edible and she has always been organic, so Jekka’s Herb Farm was awarded a soil association logo. The nursery, based near Thornbury in Bristol, sells herbs by mail order. There are special open weekends in June (from 11-13), July (from 23-25) and in September (from 3-5) held between 10am and 4pm. Entry is free on the Friday, but on Saturday and Sunday there is an entry charge of £2 per person. Jekka also holds pre-booked workshops on topics like taking cuttings and butterfly and bee herbs. These take place at midday and last for approximately 45 minutes. There are also farm tours (www.jekkasherbfarm.co.uk/01454 418878).

  • Waddesdon Plant Fair is on Saturday and Sunday from 10.30am-4pm.