Comments on: Who wants a garden rosette?

By: The StopWatch Gardener

The StopWatch Gardener — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 21:52:13 +0000

Allan, believe it or not, I am sitting here with Best Borders by Tony Lord on the table beside me – mother in law just gave it to me as late Christmas present. Adore it! Have been trying to incorporate lots of regal purple into the garden and have really enjoyed Lord’s overview of Sissinghurst’s purple zone.

Thank you for kudos. I took a garden photography course with the amazing Andrea Jones — UK dwellers should consider attending these semiannual courses — and she challenged me to take nothing but long shots over the whole weekend! I took this shot & have been trying to wean myself off the uber-closeup; please do share it if you like. I took it in our back garden near Edinburgh in Scotland. I have so struggled to incorporate those seed-grown red geum into the rest of the garden scheme…they are not understated…but as they’re my babies I can’t get rid of them.

Lovely to hear from you and thank you for the kind comments.

By: Allan Becker

Allan Becker — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 02:39:47 +0000

Just found your site, So glad I did. Please tell me more about the flower garden photo.
Where is it located?
Did you or your husband take the picture ?
May I share the photo with my readers with a link back to your site?

Visitors to my blog respond well to beautiful flower gardens. While there is an endless uploading of flower close- ups posted to most garden blogs, very few photographers have been able to capture the beauty of flower gardens. You have. Its a great accomplishment. Kudos!

By: The StopWatch Gardener

The StopWatch Gardener — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 11:13:48 +0000

Hello Grace – thanks for your considered reply and your very kind compliments. You and I think the same, I believe! That flower you mention in the main border is a perennial called geum ‘blazing sunset’ – a closeup is here. I grew it from seed so can’t NOT keep it, but its fire-engine red has been a challenge to integrate into the rest of the border…I’ve surrounded it with blues to tone it down a bit!

It grows strongly from June through October and has a base of rough near-evergreen leaves which I cut away in autumn so that the tulips beneath it can get some light. No scent, but such a great grower.

By: Grace

Grace — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 04:42:54 +0000

Hi SWG~~ Ah such a interesting subject. I’ve received a few of those chain-letter awards. As much as I appreciate receiving them, I don’t pass them along. For one thing, I don’t find the judging process very enjoyable. It’s all SO subjective and it’s extremely easy to hurt someone’s feelings. Who’s to say whose blog is better than the rest? I also shy away from Blotanical’s popularity contests. It’s the same people who are recognized over and over with a few exceptions. The Golden Globe nominees were announced today and I found that many fine actors and movies were overshadowed by the popular, the familiar. Same thing with politics. Incumbents almost always have a greater chance of winning. In a way, it’s almost like being turned down for a first job because you don’t have experience.

As far as the social “reward,” I have met several kindred gardening spirits through blogging, sans awards. And although I enjoy camaraderie and companionship, the accolades I receive are simply the icing on the cake. The cake can stand alone if it needs to. In other words, I garden for ME.

Your blog is impressive and I’m going to visit your gallery. I’m curious about the rosy red flowers in your main border photo on the sidebar. Poppies?

By: Twitted by green_garden

Twitted by green_garden — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 00:59:46 +0000

[...] This post was Twitted by green_garden [...]

By: The StopWatch Gardener

The StopWatch Gardener — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 09:41:46 +0000

Deborah – I hear you. Surely some enterprising soul could get this going in the US/North America, with a few big private gardens on board and a big sponsor or to to defray startup costs? Surely Yellow Book US has been suggested in the past…I wonder about that.

Martyn – Yes good point — I will try to answer clearly altho I am well flu-ey and a bit addled! I don’t mean to sound anti-awards, they are critical for marketing, but imperfect? Yes. I helped organise and judge web awards in Ireland and the resulting prizes were critical for helping providers sell themselves to prospective clients who needed a way to assess these skills that were so foreign to them. I remember the variation in commitment among judges to judge “their” category…some eyeballed entries, some studied them, some blew off the responsibility altogether. This was my point about moving beyond school years: how can we be confident of the calibre and consistency of the judging? But how can this even be raised without looking sour-grapey? Your point about questionable shortlistees is interesting. Anyway thanks for commenting…I did hugely enjoy reading the OMG awards even if I don’t know enough to make suggestions!

By: Martyn Cox

Martyn Cox — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 09:03:28 +0000

Who wants a garden rosette? Answer: I do. I know that there’s an opinion that awards are simply self congratulory back slapping, but as someone who wholely makes their living from writing about gardens and gardening (and has done for the past 13 years), then being recognised by your peers for producing a work of excellence is something to aim for and a sign that your writing is above average (and there’s a lot of average, or below average writing out there). As a direct benefit it can lead to more work for the recipient, something not to be sniffed at in these hard times. Sadly, though, awards rarely live up to expectations and are often derided by those who do make their living from writing. Often the best or most inventive piece of writing, or a ground breaking book, are overlooked for more mediocre or popular TV tie in work. And in the recent Garden Media Guild awards, a blog was shortlisted that is essentially a hastily written and often incoherent stream of consciousness, full of typos and mistakes – work like this sets no standards of excellence at all and leaves the awards open to ridicule. Obviously this is down to the choice of judges, and the judging criteria, and until both are improved, I and others, will take such awards with a pinch of salt.

By: Deborah at Kilbourne Grove

Deborah at Kilbourne Grove — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 14:36:53 +0000

I have often thought that North America needs to have the “Yellow Book”. Lots of horticultural societies will have garden tours of their members, but we need something nationally not just local.
Not one of my personal friends or family, understand what a garden “fanatic” I am, I am happy to have made friends with gardeners who are also obsessed.

By: The StopWatch Gardener

The StopWatch Gardener — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 17:52:37 +0000

Liisa – yes, like you, none of my close friends are garden-obsessed and Blotanical has been great at putting me in touch with people who are! I feel for you being at the end of a dirt road; I’m in the middle of a small village but our garden is hidden round the back…I shamelessly leave the curtains open at the front to let people peep through the front room & out the french doors at the back to see what I’ve done!

Jean – I so enjoy the photos of your garden…I’m coming to Maine next October & maybe we’ll be close enough to you to be within actual oohing and aahing distance! Your & Liisa’s comments make me wonder whether there an equivalent of the Yellow Book could work in the US. There seem to be thousands if not tens of thousands of avid gardeners with ooh-able gardens who would probably love to raise money for charity while also getting some fellow garden fanatics to visit their place. It would require some organising, though!

By: Jean

Jean — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 14:37:05 +0000

I think you’ve got it exactly right here — it’s the need for appreciative garden company that makes garden blogging and garden social networks like Blotanical so addictive. Like Liisa, I live and garden at the end of a dirt road; and, like you, I am aware that my garden is seldom seen by others. I used to sit out in the garden on some days in high summer and wish someone else could see it. Now I take my camera, capture those beautiful garden scenes, and put them up in my blog, where others immediately ooh and ahh over them.
I hope you will apply for the National Garden Scheme; that border ought to be shared.