Our 5 days in London flew by and although we had a list of what we wanted to do a few favourites will have to wait until next time.

Timing coincided with the Chelsea flower show and our day turned out fine and sunny after the previous wet days.

There are crowds of people here – but they are all visiting with the same goal – to see the latest gardening trends and be immersed in all things gardening.

There is a massive marque that houses enormous displays of anything from the stunning proteas from South Africa to the many stands grown and bred in the UK – peony roses, chrysanthemums, sweet peas, clematis, roses, enormous delphiniums and the new wave of perennials. Plus, so many more. Many of these people have been exhibiting at Chelsea for years and their displays are renowned.

Surrounding the Marque are the show gardens. In under 3 weeks, these have been created built and planted –many include flowing water, rocks walls and massive trees. All gardens are judged and awarded Gold, Silver Gilt, Silver or Bronze awards. This year’s winner was designed by Tom Massey and Je Ahn. But my favourite was Tom Stuart Smiths garden which layered white perennials under shade trees and included a simple cottage for peace and quiet and gardening endeavours.

There was certainly a theme throughout the gardens which included layering of grasses and perennials to create very full detailed gardens. The use of flowing water was featured in many. However, many were designed to survive without water. Almost all had a peaceful seating space to relax, read or contemplate on the work you have done to achieve your garden, there were clever zones for composting and the use of water storage for irrigation.

Pimm’s is a given at Chelsea and although eye-wateringly expensive they were delicious. However, finding somewhere to sit and drink them was rather difficult, still, many people come here to shop and you could buy anything from a beautiful straw hat to an enormous glasshouse or sculpture for your garden.

Being garden lovers, our visits were based on clever inner London projects designed by landscapers that I follow. We started, with the enormous monolithic Battersea Power Station. Once, one of the biggest power stations in London providing 1/5 of London’s power from the 1930s to the 1980s. It struggled to find developers to deal with the grade 2 listed property. The 42-acre site has now been transformed into a new community of homes, shops, cafes, restaurants, cultural venues and open spaces for Londoners to enjoy.

We took a lift up one of the huge chimneys and popped out the top to get a magnificent 360-degree view. The gardens on the rooftop were obviously not open to the public – but you could look down on them. Battersea Park is also nearby which was full of dog walkers, and, after a lovely walk under the huge trees we managed to find the Chelsea Physics Garden which meant a tick off the list.

The Barbican Centre was another visit where we went to see what Nigel Dunnett has done to the surroundings of the Brutalist architecture of the Barbican Centre. Full of grasses, alliums, perennials and trees. It was in its Spring growth period and these gardens provide interest all year round. It provided an amazing contrast and environment for the apartments.

Ottolenghi Islington is always a favourite and it was so cool to meet up with our Australian niece Grace for lunch.

But Wisely is Royalty in the gardening world. Run by the RHS it has educated generations of gardeners and horticulturists, it offers a huge range of training from day-long courses to degrees. But the gardens are thought-provoking and change like the new Piet Ouldolf border or the magnificent vegetable potager area or the areas that purely encourage people to plant and be rewarded.

London has been the home to our friends Susan and Tom for over 40 years and they always make our visit special. After a life in hospitality, we were spoilt every night with delicious meals and wine, lots of chatter and laughs. They also have friends Lyndon and Leigh who have been in London just as long. Lyndon runs his own nursery and landscaping business plus sells at the Columbia Road market every Sunday. We were so excited to be invited up to the Nursery which was very special and then to meet Lyndon at the market on Sunday along with his helper Paul.

You need to google this man … Paul Pulford. He is remarkable and such a character.

Our time in London ended with a walk along the canal at Coal Drop Yard - again amongst inspirational architecture – apartments built in the massive coal gas storage frames, surrounded by gorgeous planting and overlooking the canal.