AS THE mad rush and buzz of the Chelsea Flower Show becomes a distant memory for another year, Sticklepath hosta growers Roger and Ann Bowden are back at home packaging parcels to send all around the world.

The green-fingered couple, who swapped haulage for horticulture more than 20 years ago, have just celebrated another medal win at the country's premier flower show and gained a whole host of new fans.

But when hours of sweat and toil rewarded them with the silver gilt medal for their display in the plant marquee, a tinge of disappointment was felt as the gold they had aspired to win again, after success three years ago escaped them.

'We felt we had overcome the judges' criticisms from the year before,' said Ann. 'I was a bit miffed that they did not come back this time and tell us why we missed out on the gold, but I suppose there is always next year.'

Like a drug, Chelsea draws exhibitors back year after year but the Bowdens explain that their main reason for taking part, at the large cost of around £5,000, is to let people know they still exist.

'We now do four shows a year – Malvern Spring Show, Chelsea, Gardener's World Live at the NEC and Hampton Court and each time we come back exhausted,' said Ann.

'Chelsea is always nice because you meet people from all over the world and a lot of our customers come down here. There is a certain aura about it that you do not get anywhere else.'

From 6am on the Saturday through to the early hours of Monday morning frantic exhibitors work by spotlight to get their displays finished ready for the opening day of Chelsea when all the press and celebrities attend.

'This is the day that people actually come to look at each other rather than the plants,' said Roger, who admits he is pretty rusty on his celebs.

'Some of the faces I recognise but when it comes to all the pop stars I am lost,' he said. 'Of course, the gardening experts are a bit more familiar and Penelope Keith once asked us how we stop slugs eating hostas.'

The couple's first Chelsea experience was five years ago and Roger remembers it as being a very enlightening experience.

'We finally finished about 3.30 in the morning and were trying to hail a taxi to get to our lodgings which were across the river but to no avail,' he said.

'We held each other up staggering across the bridge and it was thanks to a snack bar halfway across that we actually made it — I always say it saved our life that night.'

Squashed plants in transit and bad weather conditions mean improvisation is a key factor at Chelsea, but it usually all comes right in the end.

'It's all worth it when you see the finished result and people's faces,' added Ann. 'One of the best things is meeting customers in the flesh and this year one Japanese lady was so excited she kept hugging me and named me her English mother.'

The Bowdens, who have more than 900 varieties of hosta and house the National Collection in their garden and polytunnels at Cleave House, Sticklepath, send out approximately 2,000 orders a year to as far as South Africa, Russia, the United States, Poland and Estonia.

The current trend in bold foliage plants is paying off for the couple, whose interest in hostas started when the late John Goater, a local nurseryman, introduced them to this huge family of plants.

'When John died very suddenly a mutual friend asked if we would take over his stock and he had about 13 varieties at the time,' said Ann, a keen flower arranger. 'We were eventually persuaded by an American to go out to the States and we came back with 23 new varieties. From then it just grew like Topsy.'

Many of the Bowdens' hostas begin with the name 'Devon' or 'Dartmoor' and plants range from three inches across to ten foot across. Fashionable additions to the garden, many people like hostas because they are a good foil to bright colours. The Japanese even eat hostas!

Having run a busy haulage business for 25 years, the Bowdens say they are much happier nurturing plants and life is a lot less stressful.

'When we were in haulage the customers were always a bit antagonistic – I suppose we were the whipping boy really,' said Roger. 'But if haulage customers become plant customers they are nice as pie and another thing – plants don't break down.'

So what is the answer to that most frequently asked question – how do I stop slugs and snails eating my hostas?

Ann, who admits she has to resort to a few slug pellets to keep them at bay but still has a garden teaming with wildlife, says: 'I ask people to think about slugs and snails on Valentine's Day because if you see two, it will not be long before they multiply out of control.

'I think by now the Bowden name is quite often heard on Valentine's Day.'

Cleave House Garden is open occasionally throughout the year under the National Gardens Scheme and by appointment.

To contact Roger and Ann Bowden telephone 01837 840481 or take a look at the website: http://www.hostas-uk.com">www.hostas-uk.com