Tuesday, September 5, 2017

Hortus TV, this is fantastic!

Each Garden Bloggers Fling has an amazing array of door prizes and swag — of course the DC Fling was no different. There were so many great things to be given away, that we were each given a handful of raffle tickets and then had to chose which prizes we wanted a chance at winning. I was thrilled to receive both a copy of Victoria Summerley's Great Gardens of London and a year's subscription to Hortus TV...

What's Hortus TV you ask? It's "Television for Gardeners"!!! Those crazy British view gardening as a worthy pastime, and have multiple TV series dedicated to it. Hortus TV is your passport to all those wonderful gardening shows...

Hortus TV has its roots in Canada, but of course is just as watchable here in the USA.

And yes, I know some of these programs are available on YouTube, but I prefer Hortus because there's a huge selection, no advertisements, and it keeps track of what I've watched and what I want to watch. Plus it's so darn easy! YouTube is work (to me at least) and busy. There's no simplicity and elegance to it.

That said Mony Don's "Around The World In 80 Gardens" is not available on Hortus TV, so I am going to have to grit my teeth and watch that one on YouTube...

So what have I been watching on Hortus? Multiple seasons of Gardener's World...

With Monty and Carol and all those eminently British characters.

Visiting great gardens of every style.

Dan Pearson's Routes Around the World is an oldie, but oh so fun to watch. Here he's visiting the Ruth Bancroft Garden and chatting with Ruth herself...

And I've watched a few episodes of  Carol Klien's "Open Gardens" and though it's very much a "reality show" (who will get in the RGS Yellow Book!?....OMG, the drama!) it's done with such a even hand and there's no voting off the island or "you're fired!" going on. Instead the drama is just about whether or not someone's garden will be seen as "worthy" of opening for others to tour, and in the end of course they all are. Can you even imagine that kind of show making it here in the USA?

HortusTV is subscription based, just $6.99/month and they're currently offering a week's free trial (here). What a great way to get your gardening fix, especially during the winter months! No I'm not getting paid to post about this, I just wanted to share the excitement!

Here's a still from Monty Don's "Italian Gardens" series. It's so good! Do yourself a favor and take that free trial!


Weather Diary, Sept 4: Hi 91, Low 62/ Precip 0 — the heavy smoke in the air kept the temperatures from rising to the predicted 100+. A light coating of ash covers everything this morning from the Eagle Creek fire approximately 40 miles away.

All photos are screen shots taken on my iPad to illustrate the great offerings of HortusTV. All written material © 2009-2017 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

29 comments:

  1. British garden shows have the added bonus of being about gardens, but I find all British shows extremely addictive, fun and uniquely British. And not just because of fabulous accent. How lucky are you to win this in a raffle!

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    1. That's so true! I enjoy their television so much more than our American shows.

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  2. I'm so glad you're enjoying it. I might have to think about it. The coverage of previous seasons of Gardener's World is spotty on Youtube. You'll love Around the World in Eighty Gardens, which I watched on Youtube. We've also been watching Big Dreams, Small Gardens, which Monty Don hosts, which is kind of a reality makeover show. If they have his four-part show The Secret History of British Gardens, that's good too.

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    1. Thanks for the recommendations!

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    2. Also, you should read his book about Nigel. I think you'll love it, being a dog person. https://smile.amazon.com/Monty-Don-Nigel-Paperback-2017/dp/B072Q3N54Y/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1504720149&sr=8-3&keywords=Nigel+Monty+Don

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  3. I've adored Monty Don (and his wife Sarah) ever since I read The Jewel Garden. I've watched lots of these shows on youtube but maybe I will give this service a try. Monty's Around the World in 80 gardens is great, esp. the one on China. Love seeing Dan Pearson as such a youngster. Thanks for this info.

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  4. I watch a lot of the British garden shows on YouTube but the quality is variable and hunting them down can be annoying. I may have to try Hortus TV too. It annoys me that HGTV is currently oblivious to the market for such coverage but then on-demand programming will probably push the old school network model out of business eventually anyway.

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    1. I love watching british garden shows on YouTube too, but after some episodes the enticing and gorgeous english gardens with peonies, clematis and David Austin roses make me feel bitterly frustrated about what I can grow in my un-british climate...zone denial is hard to overcome.

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    2. Kris - it's amazing isn't that our country is so deaf to gardening?

      MDN - zonal denial is real, I suffer too.

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  5. I watch Gardener's World weekly. I do admit that a friend sends us the link. No fuss for me, but Hortus TV sounds good. I will look into it.

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    1. I have a friend who has shared all the ways to hack into watching the British shows here, but it's so much work! This is easy...

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  6. Looks like some good winter watching!

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    1. Do you really ever have time to watch TV?

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  7. Oh wow--lucky you! I love Monty Don. I watched several of his programs to get ideas of which gardens to visit in Italy and London. He's so enthusiastic, it's contagious. :) Congrats on your prizes!

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    1. Enthusiastic, yet reserved. I LOVE the intro where he almost whispers "welcome to Gardener's World" ... no flash bang screaming as there would be on American TV.

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  8. My sister is addicted to this show! :)

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    1. Maybe it's time for you to be as well???

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    2. She's trying! I'm not much of a TV watcher.

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  9. I'm very fond of Monty and Gardeners World-one of my You Tube go-to shows.

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    1. Has anyone ever asked what's up with the purple smock?

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  10. WHAT?! OMG thank you so much for letting us know about this. Once the BBC iPlayer went behind the TV License paywall I just about lost my mind. Some kind person on YouTube has been making Gardeners' World available weekly, but sometimes it cuts off 3/4 of the way through. I can't wait to check this out.

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  11. Oh my gosh, this is a game-changer. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I have to go watch t.v. now. See you in a year.

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  12. OMG! So much for me getting anything done this week!

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  13. I will have to look into this. I watched the Monty Don stuff on you tube, and it was good stuff.

    There's not just winter for tv watching. There's night.

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