And the Winner is ....Ted Martin Flowers!

After the votes had been counted and the secret shoppers had secretly shopped, Mary Portas and the Daily Telegraph announced that Ted Martin's beautiful flower shop was the overall winner in the gardening and floristry section of their Best Small Shops in Britain Award.

Well, I certainly wasn't going to argue with that! Having photographed and written two books about her shop, I think it is safe to say that mine has been a long love affair.

But it is lovely to hear others praising the fabulous flowers, the knowledgeable staff and the quietly elegant, country chic that makes the shop what it is.

Ted texted me the news first thing in the morning and it was not long before I was on the doorstep, camera in hand. It is a measure of how excited and thrilled I was, that I forgot to buy myself some flower when I left!

Ted and the girls were in mid Valentine Day's flow so the news hadn't really had a chance to sink in.

But the news was certainly spreading. As Ted and I chatted, customers popped their heads around the door to congratulate her, whilst others beeped their horns and waved as they drove through the village.

It seemed to be a weekend for calling into flower shops from my books. For we have just come from visiting the Flower Boutique near Cambridge which is the first flower shop I discovered on my journey around England in search of gorgeous flower shops.

We were in the area celebrating my daughter Alex's 21st birthday (where did all those years go?!) and had been out for a long lunch with the birthday girl and her sister Libby.

We had just dropped Libby at the station as she had to go back to London, but I wish she had had a chance to see the rosy pink heart wreath on Leen's door.

As many of you will know Libby loves pink - so much so she has written a book all about the colour. Yet despite adoring pink she recently confessed she rarely wears it. This prompted her to experiment with wearing head to toe pink for a week to see what effect it would have on her and others around her. To see how she is getting on with her pink challenge visit www.lovepinklibbypage.blogspot.com

Leen's shop was a delicious mix of pinks and reds with dashes of vanilla and peach.

It was lovely to see Leen again, to catch up with her news and to meet her new assistant, Emily. We gossiped about the florists we both know, swapped news and shared plans for the future.

And this time I did remember to get some flowers!