Don Billington, owner of 'Every Picture Tells a Story', entered Tillandsia 'Samantha' in the 2012 RHS Chelsea Flower Show 'Plant of the Year' competition and his specimen made the shortlist of semifinalists with 19 other completely new plants, which were then judged against each other on the three following qualities:

• Innovation: how different is this plant from what has been seen before?
• Excellence and impact: what level of impact does the plant have? Is it horticulturally excellent?
• Appeal: is the plant likely to have wide appeal?

This year's winner was a new hybrid foxglove, Digitalis Illumination Pink. For the complete story and list of finalists.