More Olympic gardening with the medal winners, music special, win a prize

Thompson & Morgan tree lily competition entry. My boy is 9’6” tall btw.

1. The Crown Estate in Windso had an unveiling of Lie of the Land, an artwork by John Edgar in the New Zealand Garden at the Savill Garden. I went along. Met Mahe Drysdale. He’s the NZ rower who won the single sculls at the Olympics. He wants to carry on to Rio. Also there, ex All Black Anton Oliver, seven more rowers including two more winners and three more thirds (bronzes in Olympic speak). Sam Martin designed the garden. The oarsmen looked a bit bemused by skirt-wearing mohawked Kiwi plantsman James Fraser. On the way there the taxi driver pointed out where Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, Brucie and Ernie Els live.

2. At Mr Fothergill’s seed trial at Newmarket the other day. Part of the journalists’ calendar. Thompson & Morgan’s similar event dropped off it this year, as did Unwins’ a few years ago. It’s the year of the sweetpea, say Mr F’s. Colin Hambidge ate six puddings and Liz Dobbs was first to leave lunch to survey the trials.

Music special:

3. At Royal Parks event at BT London Live Site in Hyde Park with the Greater London Authority (GLA).
Dodgy and Cast headlined. I watched the golds roll in on the telly while swigging Pimms. Better than when I last saw Dodgy and Cast in student union swigging 10p a pint promo lager.

4. Jake Shillingford played at a wedding I went to at Cambridge University Kings College last week. The happy couple met thru the My Life Story Facebook page. Keynes, Turing, Rushdie, Zoe Smith and Baddiel are alumni. Met the editor of antipodean expat mag TNT there.

5. Stephen Lacey has had another go for the Telegraph at the Olympic gardens after they published a piece by a guy who hadn’t been. Probably a bit late after Guardian, Standard and Gardeners World had covered (some more successfully than others). DT makes a point of saying SL visited. There’s def a debate to be had on whether you need to go somewhere to write about it.

6. Morrissey being nasty about Olympics. Is an event mostly for middle classes and higher? All the bunting is in the nice areas, unlike for the football tournaments.

7. Olympic stadium hot choc stand. “Sorry we’re not doing it anymore because we’ll get too many complaints”.

8. Chelsea latest. Spoke to Anne-Marie Powell. Me: Who’s at CFS 2013? AMP? Tom Stuart-Smith on the triangle. Goes to show, if you start a rumour it may become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Jinny Blom now in frame. Sturgeon and Cleve West out.

9. BBC press office for The Flowerpot Gang (15 Aug 8pm BBC1). I heard the presenter of this new feelgood hospice garden makeover series Phil Tufnell let cat out of bag on cricket radio commentary in May. So I asked BBC press office for details (title, channel, series length). They wouldn’t give any. I ran the story with what Tuffers had said on the radio. The next week they press released all the details, but didn’t send them to me.

10. New feature-Whose shoes? Prize: Olympic gold medal (chocolate) – or packet of seeds (for vegans). Clue: They’re Ugg boots.

Next week. Whose skisuit?

11. Invitation of the week:
Ronnie Wood: A Major Retrospective of 50 years of Rock and Roll at the Symbolic London pop-up showroom, Thursday 9 August to 9 November, 34 Bruton Street, London, W1J 6QX . PRESS PREVIEW WITH GUEST APPEARANCE FROM RONNIE WOOD: 13 August, 2.30pm – 4.30pm. Strict RSVP only policy.