May I have a word about… the Chelsea flower show having a moment?

Well, thank heavens that’s over – all the hype, hoopla, near toxic levels of hot air and more redundant column inches than you could shake a stick at.

No, not the royal wedding, but the Chelsea flower show. What was once a staid and civilised occasion is now a circus of overcrowding and corporate entertaining, its show gardens showing increasingly ugly things to do with concrete and mirrors, for which I blame Diarmuid Gavin. And in all the verbiage, one quote leapt out: “The lupin is having a moment.” What, the lupin is suddenly popular? Nonsense – this magnificent and statuesque plant has long been an essential element of a well-dressed garden. Mind you, the lupin is in good company: foreign language books are having a moment in Australia; oud, an ancient fragrance, is having one, too; as are Thomas the Tank Engine and Atlanta actor Brian Tyree Henry.

Quite where this phrase came from is beyond me, but it adds precisely nothing to the language and the kindest thing to do is consign it to the compost bin soonest. And if anyone suggests that that horticultural excrescence, the red hot poker, is having a moment, I’ll know that the gardening world has gone truly bonkers.

Meanwhile, back in the real world, the question of how best to deal with the demands of an ageing population continues to vex. George McNamara, of the older people’s charity Independent Age, spoke on the subject: “Older people are often penalised when it comes to policy making by not having a champion within government. This must change… We need a minister for older people that has real teeth.”

Know what you mean, George, but perhaps not the most apposite phrase.