I'm going to start with an invitation, well more of plea really to come along to West Dean soon to admire the wild flowers in the gardens and arboretum - it really is a delightful show and like all good things will come to an end soon.

Sarah Wain, West Dean Gardens' chilli growing expert, grows around 250 varieties of chillies in the Victorian Glasshouses in the Kitchen Gardens. Here, Sarah shares her top ten chillies to grow for their special qualities...

So, after all the planning processes and architect's meetings, it looks like the creation of the Otter Farm Kitchen Garden School will begin this summer. It's hard to imagine diggers, cranes, be-hatted builders and daily deliveries will soon be busying over this space, but hopefully they will.

Any group of plants that combines a cheerful, floriferous disposition with ease of culture should be hugely popular.

One of the great advantages of gardening in Britain is the opportunity to grow an enormous range of plants. For this we owe a great debt to the plant hunters, who have furbished our gardens with treasures gathered, often under considerable duress, from around the world.

May is a busy month in the gardeners' calendar. Here in Sussex, a rather cool north westerly is blowing even though the skies are blue. However spring is well and truly here.

There are around 100 varieties of apples and 45 of pears in the orchards in the Walled Garden at West Dean many grown espalier-style around the walls. Read more in our West Dean Gardens blog.

I'm a great believer in "an Englishman's home is his castle" so I have no desire to proscribe gardening style. Equally I look to nature for inspiration and guidance in how I garden and the first comment in relation to the regimental approach above is that nature doesn't "do" bare soil.

West Dean Gardens is joining the Royal Horticultural Society in celebrating National Gardening Week (13 - 19 April). Launched four years ago by the RHS it has grown into the UK's biggest celebration of gardening.