IT is the world's greatest celebration of gardening- a bonanza of blooms... a feast of flowers. 

And for horticulture-lovers from Oxfordshire, there is plenty to pique the interest at this year's RHS Chelsea Flower Show- and reasons to be proud.

David Bingley of Abingdon Horticultural Society selects his pick of the best of Chelsea...

FOR those lucky enough to be attending the world's premier flower show, or those getting their  flower fix from the television, join me for a wander round a few of the show's highlights for a wander round a few of the show's highlights...

We start with the Artisan Gardens, where the designers work their magic to emphasise their sponsor's themes.

The Family Monsters Garden celebrates 150 years of the Family Action charity, which supports families across the country. The pathway meanders through silver birch and coppiced hazel with under planting of hydrangea, iris, foxgloves and grasses. The path takes you to the tranquil pool area with seating for the family to address the issues and pressures faced by every family.

Memories of the past are highlighted in the Motor Neurone Disease Association Garden, named The High Maintenance Garden – to reflect the limitations of a person suffering with motor neurone disease.

The designer, Sue Hayward, has worked hard to recreate a garden neglected due to physical decline, with a well trodden path to an abandoned sports car in the garage.

The vigour of the taller trees and the British woodland perennials shows how our own gardens would soon naturalise without our labours.

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A true Gold Medal winning garden, The Donkey Sanctuary sponsored garden transports our imagination to an arid country. Featuring a donkey shelter and water well, the lavender banks are shaded by specimen Mediterranean cypresses and prunus trees. Aliums, verbascums and a range of drought tolerant grasses compliment the dry stone wall work of the garden. Baskets of lavender symbolise the burdens of the donkeys.

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Donkey Sanctuary Garden

No-one leaves the Artisan gardens without ideas to take home or inspiration from the work of the sponsors.

The two 'walk through' gardens are not judged, but one in particular was receiving massive interest from visitors and the TV.

Co designed by HRH the Duches of Cambridge, the RHS Back to Nature Garden does exactly what it says on the tin. Woodland, water and places to play in a natural environment.

The centerpiece treehouse clad in oak has a ladder that just has to be climbed! A wooden wigwam and swing in a sheltered garden provides areas for children to play together or have time on their own to dream.

The Beech tree canopy provides a shaded area for the highly scented Guelder rose shrubs, the wide range of ferns and wild strawberry plants and mosses to flourish. The wooden walk ways criss cross the shallow stream creating different areas within the garden. The edible plants add an interesting special feature to the garden.

The other walk through garden is the RHS's own garden highlighting the creation of their new Bridgewater garden in Salford.

The site called the 'triangle' is ideal for walking through and in such a small space you are taken on a garden journey.

The red steel framework gives a cube shape to the rest of the diverse shapes within the garden. The mound of the site takes you through hidden areas only revealed as you arrive! Very clever in such a relatively small area.

Time spent in each space is rewarding and a notepad will help you to record plants of interest for your home garden. Chinese dogwood trees for cover, specimen clipped beech for division and areas planted with herbaceous perennials, but as much of the Bridgewater garden soil is damp and mossy the iris, hostas, rodgersia and thalictrum 'Elin' are ideally suitable.

The taller thalictrum 'Elin', with its feathery flowers and diverse leaf shapes and colours, is ideal for the garden – and is one to note! After the show ends on Saturday, the garden will be relocated to the Bridgewater garden for us all to admire when it opens in July 2020.

The Main Avenue, as always, features the the show gardens: an impessive range of gardens designed by people at the top of their game.

The M&G Garden was designed by Andy Sturgeon, a previous Chelsea gold medal winner. The burnt oak sculptures give division to the garden but their colour gives a starting point for the theme of regeneratioin. The stream and pools within the garden lead your eye to the planted areas of green and white. The mature trees underplanted with primordial horsetails, purple gunnera and Himalayan cobra lilies. A gold medal winning garden and winner of the Best in Show Garden award.

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Andy Sturgeon's garden

The centrepiece of the Welcome to Yorkshire Garden is an original canal lock with lock keeper's cottage. Eye catching with the cottage garden planting scheme and canal side willows.

The tow path leads through the wild side of the canal to the cultivated beds of the cottage. Foxgloves, delphiniums, lupins and forget me nots grow in the cultivated areas with a stunning white flowered climbing hydrangea against the lock keeper's cottage. Common nettle and rye grasses have been planted along the canal sides.

A break with tradition meant a show garden was in the Great Pavilion. 'Gardening Will Save The World' sponsored by IKEA explores how we can all make a positive impact by altering what we eat with sustainably-grown food.

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The two stage 'garden' enabled people to explore the hyper-tech food growing area and then climb to the elevated hyper-natural garden. A vision of the future – perhaps!

The smaller 'Space to Grow' gardens are some of my favourites. The Facebook sponsored 'Beyond the Screen Garden' celebrates communities coming together to enjoy shared interests. Social media has become more important for gardeners of all ages.

The Abingdon Horticultural Society facebook page is regularly used by members to share information and gardening tips.The show garden features the 'Edible Oxford' community group who are based in the Rose Hill Community Centre. Their Edible Show Garden in Florence Park is the result of hard work and planning. Rachel Hammond representing the group at Chelsea is a real inspiration for those involved in edible landscaping and horticulture.

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The Edible Oxford team

Their next project and training week end will be developing an edible garden at Peers School. The vegetable boxes on display were top quality.

A number of these smaller gardens feature the concept of gardening sustainability and the positive interaction between the soil, plants and animals. The 'Harmonious Garden of Life' developed this theme.

Planting bamboo, which absorbs 50 per cent more carbon dioxide than other plants and a clover lawn, which fixes atmospheric nitrogen to be released as a plant food.The water is purified by a range of filtering flower beds and the medicinal plants around the borders act as a reminder of their value to us all.

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The 'Harmonious Garden of Life'

On the edge of the show ground in front of the Chelsea Barracks the 'D-Day Revisited' garden is a poignant reminder of the D-Day landings 75 years ago.

The two main sculptures, one in stone and one in welded metal washers are of Bill Pendell MM, [Military Medal] as an old man looking at his younger self 75 years ago landing on Gold beach in France.

Sadly, Bill, who lived in Stanford in the Vale, died in December 2018. The grave stones were surrounded by Thrift a sea air tolerant plant. Immediately after the show, the garden is to be relocated to a permanent site in Arromanches, France – overlooking Gold beach. The garden is to be in France for the opening ceremony on the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings – June 6, 2019. The veterens will receive the recognition and appreciation they deserve on the anniversary.

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The Great Pavilion is a gardeners paradise to browse and buy. The stands this year are fabulous, magnificent delphiniums, dinner plate sized begonias and highly scented roses.

National collections, cottage garden plants and the work of college students showing off their horticultural skills. Birmingham City Council have linked with Floella Benjamin's vision of a sustainable future. The garden was a credit to the gardeners from the council for the exceptional quality of the design and plants.The central obelisk this year is dedicated to David Austin for the work he did breeding very special roses – a fitting tribute from the RHS.

Area heats had been held for the Floral Art competitions, Zoe Rawlinson, manager of 'Fabulous Flowers' on Banbury Road, Oxford won her area heats and is a finalist in the Chelsea Young Florist of 2019 competition.

What a bloomin' spectacle! 

* The RHS Chelsea Flower Show contiues until Saturday.

rhs.org.uk/shows-events/rhs-chelsea-flower-show