1. Rumours of a garden centre to be built at Buckingham Palace.

2. Spotted: Jim Broadbent at Almeida theatre watching Rope. Lisa Snowdon on the phone in Piccadilly. Alan Titchmarsh and Lawrence Llewellyn-Bowen at B&Q launch. Spoke to Titch on working with B&Q. Wonder what BBC thinks? Titch is back at Gardeners’ World Live. He’s filming for BBC this summer. Might write a book about him.

3. Vinnie Jones from Celeb Big brother spends £2,000 a week on a gardener and other home helps.

4. look-alikes special Paul Pleydell: Shakespeare, Richard O’Brien, Bill Bailey, orc, Terry Nutkins.

Dan Thurlow: Neil Lennon, Prince Harry, Alex McLeish.

Jonathan Porritt: Michael McIntyre.

5. I was at the enjoyable GCA conference this week but they asked me not to blog about it. But I will mention massaging Andrew Evans’ shoulders from Ruxley Manor garden centre.

6. Was at London College of Garden Design first anniversary event at Regents Park College last week. Spoke to Annabel Downs, Mark Gregory, AFT, Andrew Wilson, Joanna Fortnam, Sam Martin etc. Theme for Chelsea-pizza ovens in gardens.  Oh yeah, and Stephen Lacey talking about standing as next RHS president on a ticket of buying an RHS yacht. LCGD exhibition 8-11 July at London Design Centre in Islington.

7. Crosswords cost five times as much for cryptics than general-£20 to £100.

8. Went to Wisley last week. Saw Jim Gardiner and Hayley Monckton. One bit that got cut out of my interview was that On the horizon are Robert Myers' rose garden, which runs down in terraces from the 1960s Bowes Lyon pavilion. Growers Harkness and Austin are advising on which roses to plant. Gardiner says the gardens, paid for by Witan Investments, will have much in place by next winter. They will include a structure of yew and Gardiner's beloved magnolia, and paths made from Bradstone stone, rather than Chelsea 2007-09 sponsor Marshalls'.
Gardiner says: "Why should the RHS be associated with Marshalls all the time? We have to support the landscape industry and we felt Bradstone was the most appropriate product for the design."

I’ve had 28 emails from Gary Dunlop this week. All interesting though.

9. A Christopher Lloyd exhibition opens at Garden Museum on 1 April. In October this column questioned Lloyd’s legacy. Was he over-rated?

Going to the Titchmarsh/Penelope Keith event next month at the museum.Unmissable.

10. Also been to Haskins and Blue Diamond in Spalding this week. Lots of people in the cafes. Do garden centres do catering better than they do the other stuff? The GCA conference scores suggested so.

11. Alys Fowler’s chickens are called Alice B Toklas and Gertrude. Her dog is called Isabel. Win a copy of her new book The Edible garden if you can tell me who Alice B Toklas is.

12. Best sellers in garden centres-steak, pie, fish and chips, fish, chicken, lamb, curry, lasagne, roast, scampi. Most profitable-pie, fish, chicken, lasagne, steak, sandwiches, fish and chips, sausages, burger, lamb, omelette.

13. Retail guru close the deal coach Alf Dunbar mantra: “Is there anything else you need today?” Tony Kendle from the Eden Project said next year’s Big Lunch on 19 July could involve the 4m people who said they wished they’d eaten as a community this year.

14. Duty log mental:

#Is this article and the majority of comments for real?

Is being 'toothless', unshaven' and/or 'cockney' some kind of crime? The gentleman concerned sounds like the hero of the episode.

You all need to think about Haiti and have a long hard look at yourselves.

#If you've never listened to Arlo Guthrie's 'Alice's Restaurant' re littering with your address intact please do!

#Mattew, a bit out of order in my opinion.