What ’s New and Book Giveaway
But really this whole Charles William Post was an excuse to catch up with Graham , with whom I ’ve had the luck to advert out a few time in garden around the neighborhood . He told me about the frightening vole pandemic his Pennsylvania garden suffered this yr – the uncollectible ever . He says voles are more destructive than deer because they do n’t just mulch on Hosta ; they rust the centers and stamp out the whole plant . At least the family computed tomography had a good year – it bagged over 50 voles over the season , more than earning its keep in kibble .
Of course I asked about Graham ’s next Holy Scripture and I wish I could report on the answer but he ’s keeping the item under wraps(Here ’s his big tease about it ) . And he ’s still pondering what the one after that will be but he tells me he never runs out of Holy Writ ideas . Or web log post ideas . Or cartridge holder article idea . Ca n’t imagine that .
And Graham ’s a Twitterer ! ( @Graham_Rice ) . Facebook , not so much .
Transatlantic Media Commentary
Graham is my go - to guy for U.S.-U.K. comparison , and this time he enlightened me with these tidbits :
Digitally , there ’s a lag , withgarden blogscatching on here first . He believe he was the first British garden author with his own site or web log .
Asked to name his favoritegarden writers , Graham ( guardedly , wisely ) refer Christopher Lloyd , whose Christian Bible about leaf made him express joy out aloud . Another source of gag wasReginald Farrer , now long gone . AndPat Stone , editor ofGreenprintsand the Weeder ’s Digest , is also live to be rummy .
I was sad to hear that Englishgardening magazine , admired by so many American gardener , are shrinking in number . Still holding on are the top guns – BBC ’s “ Gardens Illustrated , ” and the Royal Hort Society ’s “ The Garden , ” but other magazine have stopped pay for picture – at all . The causa is the same challenge faced by all print media , of course – have to compete for adman with online media outlets that can track results to the accurate act of orb .
Speaking of garden writers , the U.K. has no equivalent of our bad Garden Writers Symposium – because they do n’t take it ; they see each other all the metre . It ’s a small position – the body politic , and the world of garden writing .
Transatlantic Hot Topic Comparison
Organicsare a red-hot topic in the U.K. , as here , butnatives and invasives , much less so than here . Of of course I had to inquire aboutlawns . We quetch about boring , resourcefulness - intensive lawns here but what about the homeland of the greensward , where supplemental watering is seldom needed ? Graham ca n’t remember see anything on the issue in the British press or other media – zip . He think that ’s because they have such diminutive lawn , anyway – or none at all – on their much small properties , particularly in or near cities . They ’re much more likely to habituate decks or paving for their outside way , and no lawn at al . And keep the lawn they do have seldom postulate the use of pesticide like grubkillers . Just a bit of fertilizer , thanks .
Off - Topic : Brit immix
Honestly , my favorite thing to peach to garden author about is what ELSE are they interested in ? And in Graham ’s case he has an actual medium outlet for his other passion – medicine , British music . He has his own radio show , fer crissakes – Brit Mix , broadcast on 90.5 FM Radio Catskill – that spread over “ British music right through from the 1960s to next hebdomad ” . I ’m a big common people fan myself , so ask for a tip in that genre – that would be June Tabor , with her mix of traditional and present-day .
