The British have long been renowned for their love affair with the lawn, a passion with a pedigree going back at least as far as the 18th century landscape movement.

I have always had a soft spot for primulas even to the extent of making them the subject of my taxonomy paper as a student on the Kew Diploma. Surprisingly that only increased my enthusiasm!

It's official, it's been the wettest winter on record with 425mm of rain falling so far this year - about 17 inches in old money. As a consequence the mighty river Lavant is in fine form whooshing through the gardens lickety-split.