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In May the flowers are in bloom and the English are busy pottering about the garden, planting and pruning. And London itself celebrates with bursts of color from window boxes, flower shows and…pachyderms. Elephants in London Brilliantly colored elephants have been appearing all over the city since the beginning of the month…in Hyde Park, on the streets of Mayfair near Harrods, outside the Royal Academy of Art, and inside railroad stations. And these are no ordinary elephants. They've been especially designed by the city's top fashionistas, such as Alice Temperley and Lulu Guiness, in sky blue, with fluffy clouds, paisley, or even chintz. There are some 250 fiberglass tuskers placed around the city to raise awareness of the plight of the endangered Asian elephant. They'll be here until July, when they are to be auctioned off at Sotheby's. free, elephantparadelondon.org. The Chelsea Flower Show 25–29 MayThe British are passionate about gardening. This is a country whose citizens sit glued to the TV on weekend nights watching reality TV shows about gardening; where the locals discuss roses, peonies, and magnolias with the gusto which Americans reserve for the Super Bowl. May sees the biggest annual celebration of the English garden with the Chelsea Flower Show. This takes place in a huge open space next to the Thames. It's one of the largest flower shows in the world, covering 11 acres and attended by some 160,000 people, including the Royal Family. Tickets ($28) are selling like hotcakes. rhs.org.uk Regent's Park Open Air Theater From May and through the summer summer, the Open Air Theatre company performs drama under the stars in one of the city's prettiest green spaces, Regent's Park. This year's season kicks off with Arthur Miller's The Crucible and continues through the summer with a healthy brace of Shakespeare plays which include the Comedy of Errors and Macbeth. visitlondon.com tickets from about $7. openairtheatre.org The Soccer FA Cup May 15 sees the biggest event in the annual domestic Soccer season, the FA Cup played in the sport's premier venue, Wembley Stadium in northwest London. Tickets for the 2010 game, which is a match between London club Chelsea and south coast underdogs Portsmouth, have long sold out. But beer-bellied British the capital over will be congregating in sports bars and pubs to cheer and jeer from kickoff at 3 p.m. Loyal Chelsea fans unable to make the game will descend in a riotous sea of blue at the former Shed Bar (now called Blues Sports Bar) in Chelsea Village at the clubs grounds in Chelsea itself. free. Painting for kids and teenagers at London's top galleries Two of London's top art galleries are running free activity days for kids this month. Somerset House's Wet Wash on May 29 invites 6–12 year olds to play around with pots of watercolor paint under the supervision of an artist. Meanwhile, on May 31, the National Portrait Gallery begins a week of workshops for 14-to-21 year-olds inspired by their current Indian Portrait exhibition. free, somersethouse.org.uk. Plan your trip on our London City Page!

Trash LaGuardia and rebuild it. That's what Chris Ward, the Port Authority chief, said recently. Ward's agency oversees the airport, and he thinks it can't cope with modern demands. Ward said, "LaGuardia should not be the gateway for domestic fliers into New York City. He added that the airport "should fundamentally be torn down and rebuilt." Good news: Three months ago, the Port Authority approved a $40 million contract to plan a re-design for the airport's largest terminal. LaGuardia's delays make everyone in the country late. About 30 out of every 100 flights out of this airport were delayed last year, with effects rippling across the nation. LaGuardia's terminals are chaotic, dirty, and over-burdened, especially when compared to Terminal 5* at JFK, JetBlue's recently renovated space. Pilots hate LaGuardia, too: Says one, after a typical take-off: The taxiways are asphalt so the plane sinks every time we stop. 40% power on one engine won't move the plane, so we have to gun it. Every plane is shaking every other plane trying to get going. They land on a crossing runway and with the IFR spacing restrictions, takeoffs happen half as often as normal. Why would rebuilding LaGuardia be good for the city? New York City could become a global showcase for transport. Redesigned runways would be safer and more efficient. Easy-to-understand, speedy rail links into Manhattan, would allow visitors to hop trains and shuttles that run into the wee hours. The city could exploit its position between China and Europe and create an infrastructure to support a truly 24-hour airport for a truly 24-hour city. It would make a positive first impression on visitors. Yet a wholesale rebuild isn't likely given our financial crisis. The Port Authority is low on cash, partly because the federal government puts limits on the so-called passenger facility charges that are added to plane tickets and are currently $4.50 per passenger, according to the Federal Aviation Administration's site. One solution: Privatize the airport. A private firm might much more quickly hand out the contracts to cutting edge design and architecture and engineering firms, reinventing LaGuardia more cheaply. What do you think? Should LaGuardia—invented as part of F.D.R.'s New Deal for about $600 million in today's dollars—be re-built from scratch, in phases? Or should we make do with what we have, which has been working well enough? Post updated on May 12 to add the quote from the pilot. CORRECTION: Post updated on May 14 to correct the name of JetBlue's JFK Terminal. Sorry.