Chelsea Flower Show 2006

The Royal Horticultural Society's annual Chelsea Flower Show is with us yet again. So is the rain. Today was celebs day. Ringo was fooling around as usual. Tomorrow it opens to the hoi polloi. Despite the title, which emphasizes flowers, this show offers us what must be the most popular art exhibition in the world. Art? Eh? What? Yes. If you visit your local library you'll find Landscape Gardening somewhere between Architecture and Artists. The garden designers who win gold medals at the Chelsea Flower Show are true artists. And we, the public, get to vote for our favourite garden design. Last year's nostalgic pub garden from a veteran designer was a masterpiece. Tracy Emin's rumpled beds couldn't hope for even a bronze at Chelsea.