When we asked our horticultural correspondent, Georgina Reid, to fly to London for the Chelsea Flower Show, she rubbed her gardening hands with glee. Here, she reports on all the glorious colour of the Show.

And the winner is...
Amid the vibrant buzz and colourful characters at Chelsea Flower Show (see our 2012 Chelsea Flower Show gallery for photos) the stars of the event are the medal-winning show gardens. This year, there were nine gold medals awarded in the Show Gardens category, including:
* The Brewin Dolphin Garden designed by Cleve West who also won Best in Show for the second year in the row.
* The UK's Daily Telegraph garden, designed by Sarah Price
* M&G Investments garden, designed by show veteran, Andy Stugeon
* Quiet Time: DMA Forbidden Garden presented by Muum, Korean Air, The Dowager Viscountess Rothermore and Gardenlink, designed by Jihae Hwang and created to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Korean War.
* Homebase/Teenage Cancer Trust Garden designed by Joe Swift
* Laurent-Perrier Garden designed by Arne Maynard
* Furzey Gardens designed by Chris Beardshaw
* Lands' End Garden designed by Adam Frost
* L'occitane en Provence Immortelle Garden designed by Peter Dowle

Aussie glory
As in previous years, there was a medal-winning Australian exhibit at this year's show. Landscape designer Jason Hodges created the Trailfinders Australian Garden for Fleming's Nurseries this year, earning a highly prized Silver Gilt medal. Other Silver Gilt medals went to:
* Westland Magical Garden designed by Diarmuid Gavin
* The Arthritic Research UK Garden designed by Thomas Hoblyn
* The Soft Machine garden sponsored by Humko Bled and designed by Tomaz Davdez

Being there...
The Chelsea Flower Show is a juxtaposition of sorts - on one hand it's a very serious horticultural competition, attracting the best designers and plant people in the world and established for over 100 years. On the other, it is a whole lot of fun for anyone with vaguely green thumbs. In fact, I would challenge even the blackest of thumbs to not find something interesting, exciting and inspiring at the show. It is not just about the big, glitzy show gardens. Nor is it just about flowers, it is a celebration of all things green. As a landscape designer at my first ever Chelsea Flower Show, I was in horticultural heaven.

England goes batty for the show. Especially if the sun happens to be shining, which as we all know is a rare occurrence in London! Celebrities arrive in droves, inspecting the gardens and posing for photographs. Designers wander around bleary-eyed after 17 long days of building their show gardens, and plant breeders pimp their blooms. It is gardening on steroids.

The dress code is colour, floral-inspired headwear (the bigger, the better) and sensible shoes. It is a gardening show, after all. And we all know of the dangers of combining high heels, grass and mud!

Aside from the main show gardens, there are a number of smaller design categories; the fresh gardens, new this year, and the artisan gardens. These are smaller, lower budget and often a little more experimental than the main show gardens. By the way, the Brewin Dolphin garden, winner of Best in Show, cost around half a million dollars to build! Chelsea Flower Show is big business.

The great pavilion is where all the very serious plant people can be found. Whole stands are dedicated to single breeds of plants. Clematis, Hosta, Chrysanthemum, Allium, you name it... someone has bred a new variety this year and is displaying it at Chelsea Flower Show. The flowers here are phenomenal. Unlike the show gardens, which are about subtle plant combinations and softness, in the pavilion it's all about bigger, bolder and brighter blooms.

And then, of course, it would not be a gardening show without spending lots of money on garden tools, sculptures, knick knacks and plants. From a $2 packet of seeds to a $20,000 sculpture, there are lots of ways you could spend your pay packet at Chelsea.

Chelsea Flower Show is a blast for gardeners and non-gardeners alike. It's mad, inspiring, exhausting, entertaining, and a whole lot of fun!