Garden Rant

Titan Arum,Time Lapse

George Foreman, Master Gardener

Imagine this: You’re an enormous theme park and entertainment company. You’ve got 3500 acres of manicured, landscaped space in the middle of–what do you call it again?  Oh yeah, the happiest place on earth.  You want to show those gardens off, so who do you call?  George Foreman, of...

I had to see for myself: HGTV gardening shows, part one (plus hydrangea discussion)

All this talk about HGTV got me—well, maybe not intrigued—but at least mildly curious in an irritated way. I had to know what the deal was, so I taped a whole bunch, steeled myself, and watched—two of them. (So far.) This is really not my kind of thing; I...

HGTV Update

by SusanIt’s time to check in with the channel we love to rant about – Home and Garden Television, which many believe would be more accurately named Home Television.  (Yes, we seem to be losing our G.) HOSTThe most obvious change is the addition of Eric Stromer as uber-host...

Silly YouTube Videos

Why?  Because time-lapse photography of seeds germinating makes us inexplicably happy.

Gardening Experts – Wanna be a Video Star?

by Susan HarrisI recently surveyed video how-to sites – About, Expert Village and View-Do – and concluded that at least their gardening content is pretty bad.  (And how about the name View-Do itself?  Ick!) The UK’s Videojug has more professionally made gardening videos but I found them so dang...

On-Line Gardening Videos –
They’re free but are they worth anything?

I’ve surveyed general-interest video websites and here’s what’s available for gardeners and gardener wannabees in need of a little instruction.  Videos on gardening sites will be covered in a separate post. ABOUT.COMReaders may remember that I’ve ranted about this site, specifically about their landscaping writer’s lack of qualifications and...

More on HGTV’s campaign to alienate gardeners, plus thoughts on the co-opting of Master Gardeners

Are you ready for another gripe session about HGTV?  Here’s a little behind-the-scenes look at the station we love to rant about. A few weeks ago someone wrote to the local horticulture Yahoo group requesting a good-looking garden to use in an HGTV program.  It promised a chance to...

Edible Estates and the Foti Family

This just in from Treehugger TV– a short video on the Edible Estates project and the Foti family. More in our ongoing discussion about–well, ripping out the lawn, for starters. And when you’re done with that, check out Treehugger’s radio interview with Ed Begley, Jr.  

The Urban Homesteader in Los Angeles

We’ve always been a fan of the Path to Freedom project.  Anyone who drops out of the rat race, rips up the lawn, plants a vegetable garden, goes solar, and starts raising chickens gets our wholehearted support, but the Dervaes family did it in Pasadena, of all places.  A...

Richard Dawkins, Douglas Adams, and a Bee’s-Eye View of the Garden

Do you ever regret that you didn’t pay more attention during science class?  Wouldn’t all that botany knowledge be totally helpful right about now? Thanks to YouTube, you can sit in on a botany lecture anytime you want.  Today we present the first two parts of a lecture by...

TV Jumps on the Green Bandwagon

Man, wouldn’t it get our attention to see Tony Soprano driving a sky-blue Prius on his way to whack somebody? Well, we won’t hold our breath.  But Sundance Channel is developing a new series called THE GREEN, starring none other than Robert Redford.  And Discovery Channel is rebranding their...

Who’s Your Daddy?

Unfortunately, the "embed" function has been disabled on this video, so you’re going to have to head right over to YouTube to watch these two amorous ladybugs get it on. What I love about this video is not so much the ladybug love itself–we’ve all seen it, and come...

Paul James – You’ve Got Mail, and on the Sorry State of HGTV

Paul’s show has been reduced from twice on Saturday and twice on Sunday to once on Saturday, a cutback of 75 percent for the mathematically challenged.  In some parts of the country his show is gone altogether.  "It was the only show I looked forward to besides ‘Monk’". Gone...

Who Needs a Plant-Sitter Over the Holidays When You’ve Got One of These?

It’s been too long since we’ve had a garden video.  Enjoy.

Stripper-turned-Landscaper Debuts on Oprah

Hey Stuart, thanks for alerting us to Aussie Jamie Durie’s debut on "Oprah".  Quoting Stuart: "He’s a perpetual celebrity fave and his charismatic personality has increased gardening’s image to wide audiences here in Oz."  But what Stuart didn’t report – surely proof that he’s of the hetero persuasion –...

John Woo’s Gardening Tips

What if John Woo, director of Mission Impossible II, had a gardening show?

The Garden Gnome Chomsky

It’s time once again for our all-too-infrequent feature in which we present the most extraordinary and most obscure garden videos the Internet has to offer.  Send us yours, won’t you?  But don’t forget to read our friendly, simple guidelines first. And now, this.  From the truly remarkable people at...

Designer Matt James, Easy on the Eyes

My research reveals more reasons to cast your vote for Matt: His "heroes" start with the gods Paul McCartney and Jimmy Hendrix and continue in the garden design world with Piet Oudolf, Alan Titchmarsh, and Noel Kingsbury.  (He left me in the dark after Oudolf, so I’ll be looking...